Total Shareholder Return - TSR

Aww, those poor dividends. They get ignored all the time.

See the word "total" in there? Why is it even needed? Well, you'll note that financial journalists seem to quote a stock market return of 7.3% of whatever the number is, in a given year, ignoring the fact that the market, on average, also paid a 2.6% dividend. So the return was not 7.3%; the total return from the market that year was, in fact, 9.9%. Do this for over a decade, and the total returns, especially if those dividends are reinvested to buy more stock...is massive.

It's a little bit like compensation. If you make a $57,000 salary but also get a bonus of $12,000 for A, B, and C going right, and then you get $4,200 worth of healthcare and other benefits, and you then also get $3,100 in 401(k) matching contributions, and then you report that your compensation was $57,000...you've totally made your company look like misers when, in fact, they were hugely generous in your total compensation. And that doesn't even count the 5,000 stock options you were granted as well.