Intel Corp. shareholders turned against management's recommendations Wednesday and approved an advisory proposal calling on the chip-making giant to expense stock options in its financial reports.
Though the measure received only about 54 percent of the vote, its passage was a major victory for supporters of expensing options, as Intel has led the opposition against the practice.
Immediately after the vote, Intel CEO Craig Barrett said the company would not take any action on the nonbinding vote until the issue is decided by accounting regulators and Congress — something expected by the end of the year.
"It would be imprudent to move forward today without knowing what the expensing format is going to look like," he said.
The proposal by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Pension Fund was also voted on last year, when it received nearly 48 percent of the vote.
Intel joins a number of high-tech companies whose shareholders have passed such proposals, including IBM Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Apple Computer Co., Novell Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc.