Bed Bath & Beyond Admits Backdating

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) just completed a big internal probe and has found that the company practiced options backdating. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Bed Bath & Beyond said its internal probe examining the period from its 1992 initial public offering through May 2006 found that the company had misdated options on 44 occasions, 37 of them in favor of the recipients. In many cases, the probe concluded, executives used “hindsight” to select favorable grant dates in the past when the stock was trading at low points.

As a shareholder, I’m not happy with what BBBY has done, but I’m impressed with the way the company has handled this. Here’s the company’s report.
This should have no effect on the stock. The company said that it won’t restate historical results, but it will take an $8 million charge next quarter, which is about three cents a share.

Posted by on October 11th, 2006 at 9:09 am


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.