The Idiot Index

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Sector
Shareholder ExtractionApplied to enterprise and developer-platform software companies. COGS captures hosting, support, and customer-success costs; the Markup Ratio is meaningful but the Operational Markup is the load-bearing indicator because most platform investment flows through OpEx (R&D, S&M).
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Shareholder Extraction in Software Platform · FY 2023

25 of 40 companies · highest first
  1. 1
    VRSKVerisk
    $14.08 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Top 2%
    14.08
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  2. 2
    JKHYJack Henry
    $5.18 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Top 6%
    5.1843
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  3. 3
    DOCNDigitalOcean
    $3.03 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Top 10%
    3.0255
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  4. 4
    MSFTMicrosoft
    $2.12 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Top 14%
    2.1194
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  5. 5
    FTNTFortinet
    $1.75 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Top 18%
    1.7487
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  6. 6
    AKAMAkamai
    $1.56 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Top 22%
    1.5572
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  7. 7
    DBXDropbox
    $1.40 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Median range
    1.4003
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  8. 8
    MANHManhattan Associates
    $1.23 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Median range
    1.2334
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  9. 9
    PANWPalo Alto Networks
    $1.03 to shareholders for every $1 in R&D
    sector median 0.4876Median range
    1.0331
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D
  10. 10
    INTUIntuit
    $0.98 to shareholders per $1 in R&D — net reinvesting
    sector median 0.4876Median range
    0.9839
    × buybacks+dividends / R&D

Not yet covered (15)

These companies are in the Software Platform cohort but don't have a Shareholder Extraction computed for FY 2023. Either the underlying inputs aren't tagged in their XBRL filings, the DEF 14A pay-ratio narrative didn't parse cleanly, or this fiscal year hasn't been ingested for them yet.

What this measures

Full methodology →

Dollars sent to shareholders for every dollar invested in R&D.

Ratio
Shareholder Extraction
Sector
Software Platform
Methodology version
v1.0.0
Formula
(Buybacks + Dividends) / R&DExpense
Sector context

Applied to enterprise and developer-platform software companies. COGS captures hosting, support, and customer-success costs; the Markup Ratio is meaningful but the Operational Markup is the load-bearing indicator because most platform investment flows through OpEx (R&D, S&M).

Whether the company invests in future productive capacity or extracts current value to shareholders. A ratio above 3.0 typically indicates an extraction-dominant capital allocation policy. A ratio below 1.0 indicates the company is investing more in its future than returning to shareholders.

Source data: PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock, PaymentsOfDividends, ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense (us-gaap) or equivalents in IFRS.