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Apple Announces More Options Troubles
fremen writes "Apple today announced that they will be withdrawing their financial reports back to September 29, 2002 and delaying the filing of future reports after finding more backdated options problems. Companies backdate their stock options by looking back over a period of time and choosing a historical low as the option strike price. While not illegal, this must be fully disclosed to investors and properly accounted. Expect more uncertainty in the coming weeks as regulators must now uncover how much of Apple's record profits were incorrect as well as whether or not Steve Jobs will be able to continue leading the company."
Ok, how about the WSJ article from this morning. You guys who are defending him are crazy. "Apple wouldn't say which grant to Mr. Jobs was at issue, though he received an option to purchase 10 million shares in January 2000 dated on the stock's lowest closing price of the month. Apple shares shot up in the following days. In yesterday's announcement, Apple didn't mention any grants to Mr. Jobs." "Irregularities" is financial code for "soon to be prosecuted". -R Apple Spots More Options Missteps Results Likely to Be Restated As Internal Probe UncoversAdditional 'Irregularities' By CHARLES FORELLE and NICK WINGFIELD August 4, 2006; Page A3 Apple Computer Inc. said a review of stock-option troubles turned up "additional evidence of irregularities" that will likely cause the computer maker to restate financial results. The disclosure, made late yesterday, marked a noticeable shift in Apple's posture over its options problems. Two weeks ago, the Cupertino, Calif., company said it didn't believe it would need a "material adjustment" to its financials unless its investigation turned up something else. Apple gave scant information in a news release issued yesterday, saying only that its anticipated restatement contemplates charges for compensation expense related to past options. Apple said it would delay filing its quarterly results. A company spokesman wouldn't detail the new findings, or even confirm that they directly related to option grants. Also not clear is just what the "irregularities" are. Other companies reporting option-grant problems have commonly said they found that grant dates they used "differed" from what they should have been. "Irregularities" bears a more serious tone; Apple also used the word a month ago when it first disclosed problems with option grants. It said then it had found problems with grants between 1997-2001. The computer maker is among the highest-profile names to be caught up in the stock-option scandal that is hitting many companies in Silicon Valley, and others across the country. In a number of cases, probes initially focused on the timing of option grants have unfolded into other areas. Mercury Interactive Corp., of Mountain View, Calif., which restated several years of results last month, found in a probe that its executives had been given loans to exercise options that in some cases weren't fully paid back. And Brooks Automation Inc., of Chelmsford, Mass., says an investigation found that two directors and its former chief executive signed a "false" document to allow the executive to exercise an expired option. The executive says his actions were appropriate. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling declined to clarify whether the new irregularities involved the timing of option grants, or other issues, though the language of Apple's news release suggests that the irregularities are somehow related to options. "We're refraining from making any further comment until the independent investigation is concluded," Mr. Dowling said. Apple said in its news release that it had filed a form with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying that certain of its past financial statements shouldn't be relied upon. An Apple spokeswoman said the company had filed the form yesterday. It wasn't available on the SEC's Web site yesterday evening, which the spokeswoman attributed to a time lag. Apple appears to have missed the 5:30 p.m. EDT filing deadline. More than 80 companies are facing federal investigation over options matters, and two former executives have been charged criminally. The probes are focusing on the practice of backdating, by which the grant date of an option is retroactively moved to a time when the stock price is lower. That is important because options give their holders the right to buy stock at a fixed price, typically the market value on the date they were granted, meaning the holder makes money when the shares go up. Manipulating this date to lower the "exercise price" gives the recipient the potential for extra profit or creates profit where none would otherwise have been made. Incor