Should You Worry About Biocept, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:BIOC) CEO Salary Level?
Mike Nall has been the CEO of Biocept, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIOC) since 2013. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Then we’ll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels.
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How Does Mike Nall’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, Biocept, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$9.3m, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth US$1.2m. (This figure is for the year to 2017). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$395k. We examined a group of similar sized companies, with market capitalizations of below US$200m. The median CEO compensation in that group is US$300k.
It would therefore appear that Biocept, Inc. pays Mike Nall more than the median CEO remuneration at companies of a similar size, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn’t mean the remuneration is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous.
You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Biocept, below.
Is Biocept, Inc. Growing?
Over the last three years Biocept, Inc. has grown its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 66% per year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is down -37% over last year.
This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. Revenue growth is a real positive for growth, but ultimately profits are more important.
Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts. .
Has Biocept, Inc. Been A Good Investment?
Since shareholders would have lost about 98% over three years, some Biocept, Inc. shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.
In Summary…
We compared total CEO remuneration at Biocept, Inc. with the amount paid at companies with a similar market capitalization. As discussed above, we discovered that the company pays more than the median of that group.
Importantly, though, the company has impressed with its earnings per share growth, over three years. However, the returns to investors are far less impressive, over the same period. Considering the per share profit growth, but keeping in mind the weak returns, we’d need more time to form a view on CEO compensation. Shareholders may want to check for free if Biocept insiders are buying or selling shares.
Or you might prefer this data-rich interactive visualization of historic revenue and earnings.
To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.
