Diluted Shares, Treasury Stock Method

I know you're supposed to use treasury stock method to calculate total shares, but pretty much every company has "diluted shares outstanding" in their 10k.

This should already take into account options, right? If so, why is there always a treasury stock method section?

27 Comments
 

diluted shares outstanding includes options warrants converts etc to begin with but does not assume repurchase of common shares with the proceeds from those. so if the options etc bring in cash, then that cash is used to buy back shares in the open market to lower diluted shares. the reported number is just the possible number of shares outstanding if everything was converted

 

I believe the treasury stock method is applied on the figures on the financial statements, but correct me if i'm wrong.

The diluted shares figure in the 10k is the weighted average diluted shares oustanding, used to calucualte the diluted EPS. For valuation purpose, the conversion of the diluted shares represents the shares oustanding at a point of time, so the figures will be different.

 

The other factor to keep in mind is that the diluted shares number in most financial statements only takes into account options/warrants that are currently vested/exercisable. They typically do not include dilution from securities that may vest or otherwise become exercisable upon a change of control.

Additionally, the fully diluted share count may not include the appropriate dilution from convertible debt if the impact adding the convertible shares would be "anti-dilutive" (for example, in the case of a company with negative earnings, a higher share count would result in a "less-negative" EPS).

This is why it is necessary to perform the fully diluted share calculation separately and not rely on the figures given in public filings or earnings announcements.

 

You can do either. Both can be important metrics, depending what kind of analysis you are doing. Investors care more about adjusted EPS (sometimes diluted adjusted EPS). They won't always take the Adj EPS that the company provides at face value though. Many investors take GAAP EPS and make any and all (or no) adjustments that they feel are necessary to arrive a good indication of a company's ongoing financial performance.

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
 
Best Response

Based on the number of questions that you have been asking I would suggest you check out an online resource such as Coursera's Wharton Online Accounting class, which is currently wrapping up but all of the videos are still available. There is a very helpful video on this specific topic. Also, investopedia offers a pretty straight forward explanation.

The rationale for focusing on diluted EPS is because it is the most conservative perspective and you have to assume that you will be diluted down (which is obviously a bad thing...as share counts increases you are getting less of the pie).

Diluted EPS will always be the same or lower than basic EPS because of the changes in the denominator (share count), which are determined based on whether or not the company has convertible securities (such as convertible debt, convertible preferred, options/warrants, etc. ). For example, if a company has convertible debt you would calculate the numerator and denominator on an as converted basis (assume beginning of year) so in the numerator you would add back after-tax interest expense to earnings (because there would be no convertible debt as it would have been converted to common) and the denominator would be increased by the converted # of shares. In the money options would increase the denominator while out of the money options would have no effect.

One important note is that convertible securities are really only an issue when the company and the stock are performing well. In a down case scenario, convertible debt holders would be unlikely to convert to riskier common and option holders would be unable to convert (assuming the stock price is languishing below the option strike price).

 

http://www.ibankingfaq.com/category/interviewing-technical-questions/#v…

There's a pretty good set of questions (in the Enterprise Value and Equity Value section) that explain this.

Basically though, the difference between common shares and fully diluted shares is that fully diluted is the number of shares outstanding, plus all of the number of shares that could be exercised via stock options, convertible debt, etc. Therefore, there is a "dilutive" effect on the EPS for the company, because, holding the earnings constant, the EPS would be lower given the higher number of shares in the market.

Sorry if that doesn't completely make sense, but I'm always bad at typing out accounting stuff. That link should cover most of it though.

 

Didn't read the link, but Diluted shares should be used when calculating EV because it provides a more accurate value of companies than just 'shares outstanding'. CapIQ has a formula for it, but it is best to always get the diluted value directly from a company's latest 10 filing. It will show the most up-to-date total shares outstanding and also show their Option Table, which can be used to calc the # of shares to add in via in-the-money options.

 

neither - the filings are giving you an average share count over that period. if you're doing valuation you should use current share price and options / warrants schedule to get to today's diluted share count and use that. if you're doing a DCF or CF-based analysis of sorts then you'd take the implied equity value and use the current options / warrants schedule to back into an implied share price

 

Why would options issued by another entity affect the company you are modeling? The point of TSM is to account for additional shares that can be created by the exercising of options that are in-the-money. As you obviously know, exercising these contracts creates additional shares (thus dilution), but TSM states that all proceeds from these contracts being exercised will be used to buy back new shares. i.e. $Proceeds / Current Share price = Additional shares purchased. (Subtract that from your amount).

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
 

I obviously meant to write number of options ITM - sorry about that!

I asked because in the textbook I read, it did not clarify who the underwriter is - just wanted to make sure I understood the concept.

Thanks guys

 

Voluptates sunt quia eveniet voluptas. Atque non optio quaerat voluptatum. Est aut ut tempora dicta. Nesciunt repudiandae omnis ratione accusantium dicta. Incidunt adipisci esse consequatur fugiat impedit veniam nulla.

Cumque aperiam distinctio repudiandae assumenda reprehenderit doloribus totam rerum. Aliquam sint dolores sit aliquid voluptatem. Voluptas amet eveniet ipsum.

 

Culpa nihil eum ipsa beatae velit asperiores delectus assumenda. Eum consectetur ratione blanditiis sequi. Cumque accusantium a voluptatem officiis. Quaerat iure in consequatur consequatur magnam enim labore voluptatibus.

Qui est dolores doloremque quia libero vitae. Cum est repellat vel.

Incidunt et voluptatem dignissimos. Sequi quidem esse cupiditate perspiciatis cumque. Quam rem quod eius molestiae dolor. Voluptatem est illum minima dolor quisquam voluptates. Ipsum magni non voluptatum quia molestias voluptates aliquam. Aliquid soluta fugit et odit quisquam autem eius. Ut sapiente ut ipsum quidem modi natus cupiditate.

Vero voluptatem vel soluta molestiae voluptas sit. Autem voluptates quos ipsam ex perferendis delectus voluptatibus. Debitis error ipsam consequuntur. Cumque quidem rem repellat autem accusantium. Aut dignissimos nihil necessitatibus.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”