Amazon, Facebook lead tech firms in reporting results based on GAAP

San Francisco

FOR more than a decade, technology companies doled out heaps of stock to recruit top talent - then pretended this wasn't a normal part of doing business by reporting profit numbers that subtracted the cost. That's changing as the industry grows up and responds to pressure from regulators and investors.

Amazon.com started breaking out stock-based compensation in the results of its different businesses in the first quarter. This is "the way we now evaluate our business performance and manage our operations", chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky told analysts after the earnings report last week.