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Dell Computer Corporation – Share Repurchase Program Questions: 1. Why do companies use stock options to compensate employees? What are the advantages of stock options relative to cash compensation? What, if any, are their disadvantages? 2. What, if any, risks do Dell’s shareholders face from Dell’s stock option program? Draw terminal payoff diagrams to illustrate the risk. Is this risk something that shareholders of Dell expect to bear when investing in Dell? 3. How does Dell remove, or hedge, the perceived risk of the stock options program for shareholders? Draw terminal payoff diagrams to illustrate. 4. Why does Dell transact in both call and put options? Use put-call parity to reformulate the put and call …show more content…

However, when certain options are exercised, companies receive a tax deduction, which can provide significant income tax savings. There are two arguments that you'll commonly find against the use of stock options: Dilution of ownership and overstatement of operating income. When an employee exercises her stock options, the company has to either issue new shares or go out on the open market and purchase shares. If new shares are issued, then your ownership is diluted. If the company purchases shares on the open market, then the company, which only receives the exercise price from the employee, has to pay market price for the shares it purchases. This results in a net cash outflow for the company. Since the impact of the compensation deduction that a corporation can claim for tax purposes is not included in a company's GAAP income, many take the view that using options enables the company to overstate its income. Risks to Dell shareholders: Dell Share holders bear the risk in the form of cost of potentially issuing the stock at below market values if the employees do convert the options into stock when the options are in-the-money. However, if the options expires out of the money, the shareholders realize equally better benefits. In this case, the firm obtains labor from employees without having paid for the labor by issuing shares. The employee stock options provides a cushioning from the full burnt

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