14. Stock-Based Compensation and Retirement Plans

As of December 31, 2025, we maintained the 2024 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan (the “2024 Plan”), which replaced the Second Amended and Restated Gogo Inc. 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”). The 2024 Plan provides for the grant of both equity and cash awards, including non-qualified stock options, incentive stock options, stock appreciation rights, performance awards (shares and units), restricted stock, RSUs, deferred share units (“DSUs”) and other stock-based awards and dividend equivalents to eligible employees, directors and consultants, as determined by the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors (the “Compensation Committee”). Concurrent with the effectiveness of the 2024 Plan on June 4, 2024, no further grants are being made under the 2016 Plan. The 2016 Plan remains in effect for all awards outstanding thereunder on or after June 4, 2024. The majority of our equity grants are awarded on an annual basis.

Additionally, in connection with the Company’s acquisition of Satcom Direct on December 3, 2024, 2,275,000 shares were granted, consisting of a combination of RSUs and performance-based restricted stock units (“PSUs”) (together, the “Inducement Awards”) by the Compensation Committee to certain executives of the Company. The RSUs will vest in equal annual installments over the five-year period following the grant date. The PSUs are subject to performance-based vesting and will vest when the performance-based vesting conditions are met. Though not awarded pursuant to the 2024 Plan, the Inducement Awards have been issued subject to the terms and conditions of the 2024 Plan.

Upon effectiveness of the 2024 Plan on June 4, 2024, 6,940,644 shares of common stock were reserved for issuance. As of December 31, 2025, 3,429,888 shares remained available for grant under the 2024 Plan. The contractual life of granted options is 10 years. Except as otherwise approved by the Compensation Committee, all options that are unvested as of the date on which a recipient’s employment terminates, as well as vested options that are not exercised within a prescribed period following termination, are forfeited and become available for future grants.

We grant RSUs, which generally vest in equal annual increments over a four-year period. Vested RSUs will be settled, at the discretion of the Compensation Committee, in shares of our common stock or in cash equal to the value of the applicable number of shares of our common stock on the vesting date. We also grant DSUs to directors, some of which vest on the grant date and others on the first anniversary of the grant date. DSUs will be settled in shares of our common stock after the director ceases to serve as a director. We intend to settle RSU and DSU awards in stock.

The following is a summary of our stock-based compensation expense included in the consolidated statements of operations, for the years December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):

 

 

For the Years Ended December 31,

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

Cost of service revenue

 

$

1,707

 

 

$

1,927

 

 

$

1,701

 

Cost of equipment revenue

 

 

1,048

 

 

 

1,535

 

 

 

1,363

 

Engineering, design and development

 

 

3,369

 

 

 

4,064

 

 

 

3,569

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

2,865

 

 

 

4,010

 

 

 

3,678

 

General and administrative

 

 

15,083

 

 

 

9,241

 

 

 

10,977

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

 

$

24,072

 

 

$

20,777

 

 

$

21,288

 

 

A summary of stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2025 is as follows:

 

Number of
Options

 

 

Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
Per
Share

 

 

Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Life

 

 

Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
(in thousands)

 

Options outstanding – January 1, 2025

 

 

3,468,716

 

 

$

4.22

 

 

 

2.97

 

 

$

15,134

 

Granted

 

 

 

 

$

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercised

 

 

(1,523,441

)

 

$

3.23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forfeited

 

 

 

 

$

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expired

 

 

(82,171

)

 

$

17.93

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options outstanding – December 31, 2025

 

 

1,863,104

 

 

$

4.42

 

 

 

3.52

 

 

$

2,620

 

Options exercisable – December 31, 2025

 

 

1,863,104

 

 

$

4.42

 

 

 

3.52

 

 

$

2,620

 

The total grant date fair value of stock options vested in 2024 and 2023 was approximately $0.1 million and $0.3 million, respectively.

The following table summarizes the activities for our unvested RSUs, PSUs and DSUs for the year ended December 31, 2025:

 

Number of
Underlying
Shares

 

 

Weighted
Average
Grant Date
Fair Value

 

Unvested – January 1, 2025

 

 

6,119,261

 

 

$

10.13

 

Granted

 

 

3,125,746

 

 

$

9.78

 

Vested

 

 

(2,533,637

)

 

$

10.53

 

Forfeited/canceled

 

 

(652,344

)

 

$

10.52

 

Unvested – December 31, 2025

 

 

6,059,026

 

 

$

9.72

 

As of December 31, 2025, there was approximately $46 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested employee RSUs and PSUs. This amount is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.8 years. The total grant date fair value of RSUs and DSUs vested in 2025 was approximately $27 million.

In connection with the acquisition of Satcom Direct discussed in Note 2, “Acquisition of Satcom Direct,” the Company issued PSUs to certain executives that vest upon the achievement of pre-established metrics tied to the price of the Company’s common stock. The PSUs have an indefinite contractual life and are expensed over the estimated expected life of the award. We estimated the fair value of PSUs using a Monte Carlo simulation. The significant assumptions used in the Monte Carlo simulation were as follows:

 

 

For the Years Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2024

 

Approximate risk-free interest rate

 

 

4.4

%

Average expected life (years)

 

 

3.21

 

Dividend yield

 

N/A

 

Volatility

 

 

67.2

%

Weighted average grant date fair value of PSUs granted

 

$

7.91

 

The risk-free interest rate assumption was based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve for the term that mirrored the Monte Carlo simulation term. The expected life of the PSUs represents the derived service period that is inferred from the median of the distribution of share price paths on which the PSU conditions are satisfied. The dividend yield was based on expected dividends at the time of grant. Volatility was calculated using the historical volatility of the Company’s common stock.

ESPP - In 2024, the Board of Directors and stockholders approved the 2024 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”), which became effective June 4, 2024. The prior ESPP expired during 2023. The ESPP allows eligible employees to purchase a limited number of shares of common stock during pre-specified offering periods at a discount established by the Compensation Committee which may not exceed 15% of the fair market value of the common stock at the beginning or end of the offering period (whichever was lower). Under the ESPP, 700,000 shares were reserved for issuance and 110,337 shares of common stock were issued during the year ended December 31, 2025. As of December 31, 2025, 552,959 shares remained available for purchase under the ESPP.

Retirement Plans - We have a 401(k) plan for U.S.-based employees, as well as various defined contribution plans for international employees. Under our 401(k) plan, all employees who are eligible to participate are entitled to make tax-deferred

contributions, subject to Internal Revenue Service limitations. We match 100% of the employee’s first 4% of 401(k) contributions made, subject to annual limitations. Our matching contributions for all plans were $4.1 million, $2.8 million, and $2.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Feb 27, 2026Showing above
2024Mar 14, 2025

About Stock Compensation Disclosures

Stock-based compensation disclosures detail the equity awards granted to employees and executives — including stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), and performance shares — along with the valuation methods and assumptions used to expense them. This section reveals the true cost of talent retention and the alignment between management incentives and shareholder interests.

Key signals: total unrecognized compensation expense and its expected recognition period signal future earnings headwinds from already-granted awards. For stock options, examine Black-Scholes assumptions — expected volatility, risk-free rate, and expected term — as understating any of these reduces reported compensation expense. Compare stock compensation expense as a percentage of revenue against peers to assess dilution cost. Watch vesting schedules for acceleration clauses tied to change-of-control events. Performance-based awards with undemanding targets may indicate weak governance. Add back stock compensation to operating cash flow to calculate a more conservative free cash flow figure.