Companies That Pay Dividends—And Those That Don't

Dividends are corporate earnings that companies pass on to their shareholders. They can be in the form of cash payments, shares of stock, or other property. Dividends may be issued over various timeframes and payout rates. There are a number of reasons why a corporation may choose to pass some of its earnings on as dividends, and several other reasons why it might prefer to reinvest all of its earnings back into the company.

Why Some Companies Issue Dividends

Here's why issuing dividends can be a good idea for a mature company with stable earnings that doesn't need to reinvest as much in itself:

• Many investors like the steady income associated with dividends, so they will be more likely to buy that company's stock.
• Investors also see a dividend payment as a sign of a company's strength and a sign that management has positive expectations for future earnings, which again makes the stock more attractive. Greater demand for a company's stock will increase its price.

Companies that pay dividends include Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Verizon (VZ).

Paying dividends sends a clear, powerful message about a company's future prospects and performance, and its willingness and ability to pay steady dividends over time provides a solid demonstration of financial strength.

Why Some Companies Choose Not to Pay Dividends

Companies that expand quickly typically won't make dividend payments. That's because it's fiscally shrewder to re-invest the cashback into operations during pivotal growth stages. But even well-established companies often reinvest their earnings to fund new initiatives, acquire other companies, or pay down debt. All of these activities tend to spike share prices.

The choice not to pay dividends may be more beneficial to investors from a tax perspective:

• Non-qualified dividends are taxable to investors as ordinary income, which means an investor's tax rate on dividends is the same as their marginal tax rate.
• Marginal tax rates can be as high as 37%—as of 2021.
• For qualified dividends, the tax rate is either 0%, 15%, or 20%, depending on the marginal income tax bracket that the investor falls under.
• The capital gains on the sale of appreciated stock can have a lower, long-term capital gains tax rate—typically up to 20% as of 2021—if the investor has held the stock for more than a year.

Companies often reinvest earnings in lieu of making dividend payments, in order to avoid the potentially high costs associated with issuing new stock.

The following notable technology companies have historically declined to issue dividends:

• Alphabet (GOOG)
• Meta (META), formerly Facebook
• Amazon (AMZN)
• Biogen (BIIB)
• Tesla (TSLA)

The Bottom Line

When a company pays dividends, it returns some of its profits directly to shareholders, sending a signal to the market of stable and reliable operations. Newer companies, or those in the technology space, often opt instead to re-direct profits back into the company for growth and expansion, so they do not pay dividends. Rather, this reinvestment of retained earnings is often reflected in a rising share price and capital gains for investors.