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SBC Run Rate

The trailing-four-quarter average of stock-based compensation expense expressed as a percentage of trailing-four-quarter revenue. The run rate is the right diagnostic because any single quarter is lumpy — performance-share vesting cliffs, IPO-related grants, and executive-recruitment packages all produce one-quarter spikes that do not reflect the underlying compensation structure. A run rate that has held steady at 22 percent for eight quarters is a structural feature of the business model; a 22 percent quarter that arrived after eight quarters of 14 percent is a one-time grant that will normalize. The run-rate framing is essential for sizing the dilution drag on per-share returns.

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Related terms

Accounts Payable · Adjusted EBITDA · Adjusted EBITDA Ex-SBC · ADR · ARPU · Average Length Of Stay

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