Cummins has announced the payment of its quarterly two-dollar-a-share dividend, the one it hiked back in July. The markets call it confidence. The rest of us should call it fear. The louder the criticism gets, the fatter the pacifier grows.
The company’s still spinning momentum and strong fundamentals to Wall Street while trying to drown out a year of exposure, bad optics and unanswered questions. Real innovation can wait. Investor reassurance cannot.
The Bribe Behind the Smile
The two-dollar payout costs around 280 million dollars. Not small change for a firm already hit by fines, delayed launches and growing scrutiny over its partners and practices. It isn’t strategy. It’s sedation. A corporate lullaby for the institutions who might otherwise start reading.
Every time the pressure ticks up, from media, campaigners or the analytics Cummins pretends not to watch, the company finds a way to whisper, you’re still getting paid.
Timing That Tells the Story
The payment date lands in December, a neat book-end for a bruising year. It follows the usual routine: soften the noise, throw cash, keep the herd calm. The July hike bought them months of quiet. This new reminder keeps the silence running through Christmas.
Cummins doesn’t control the conversation anymore, but it can still buy calm. That’s what this dividend is: a cash anaesthetic for shareholders jittery about what’s surfacing online.
The Real Calculation
It’s a pattern now. When the brand takes a beating, the cheques get bigger. When the noise grows, the yield grows with it. Cummins calls it returning value. Everyone else should call it what it is – hush money for the faithful.
Two dollars a share to forget what’s being said. Two dollars a share to believe the noise isn’t real. Two dollars a share to keep pretending nothing’s wrong.. Two dollars a share to believe the noise isn’t real. Two dollars a share to keep pretending nothing’s wrong.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project