Compare the growth rate of net income to the growth rate of earnings per share. Net income up 20% and EPS up 20% — share count is stable. Net income up 20% and EPS up only 8% — meaningful dilution. And if EPS grew faster than net income, the company is buying back shares and enlarging your slice.

Even more direct: just look at the share count over five years. Rising, falling or flat? That single number tells a whole story about how management treats shareholders.

Many companies, especially in technology, pay a large part of salaries in shares. That is a genuine expense — it simply doesn't leave the bank as cash. Which makes it especially convenient to "adjust" away: strip it out of the adjusted result and the company looks far more profitable than it is.

The test: stock-based compensation as a share of revenue. Under 5% — negligible. Over 15% — you're handing a substantial part of the business to employees every year, and any "adjusted" result that ignores it represents nothing real.

A company burning cash will eventually raise, usually by issuing new shares. That dilutes everyone already holding, and often prices below the market. A long-term investor always checks two things together: how much cash remains and the burn rate — because together they predict whether dilution is coming.