Most tech companies don’t take stock options into account when calculating employee compensation expenses. Therefore the earnings numbers they publicize are bullshit.
Amazon (AMZN)’s P/E ratio, when calculated using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is 1192.9. That’s twice as high as any other large-cap stock out there.
Notable exceptions in the tech world include Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC), and Apple (AAPL), which report only GAAP earnings.
See Also:
How Much Do Silicon Valley Firms Really Earn? –Barrons (if you have trouble viewing the page, try grappling hook)
I think you may be missing the meaning of paper money, stocks, or bits on a computer. Their only true cost is the cost of printing and any market fee to do so. With all of them you only have to worry about people’s opinion (faith) in the fictitious value (last sale price). Cash adds the extra burden of having to borrow from the bank and hoping they believe in you.