Lulu's Fashion Lounge Holdings, Inc. Stock Compensation Disclosure
10.Equity-Based Compensation
Omnibus Equity Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Plan
In connection with the closing of the IPO, the Company adopted the Omnibus Equity Plan and the ESPP.
Under the Omnibus Equity Plan, incentive awards may be granted to employees, directors, and consultants of the Company. The Company initially reserved 3,719,000 shares of common stock for future issuance under the Omnibus Equity Plan, including any shares subject to awards under the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2021 Equity Plan”) that are forfeited or lapse unexercised. The number of shares reserved for issuance under the Omnibus Equity Plan will automatically increase on the first day of each fiscal year, starting in 2022 and continuing through 2031, by a number of shares equal to (a) 4% of the total number of shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year or (b) such smaller number of shares as determined by the Company’s Board of Directors.
Under the ESPP, the Company initially reserved 743,803 shares of common stock for future issuance. The number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance will automatically increase on the first day of each fiscal year beginning in 2022 and ending in 2031, by a number of shares equal to (a) 1% of the total number of shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year or (b) such smaller number of shares as determined by the Company’s Board of Directors.
On April 1, 2022, the Company filed a Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the “Form S-8”) with the SEC for the purpose of registering an additional 5,921,056 shares of the Company’s common stock, inclusive of 1,536,845 and 384,211 shares associated with automatic increases that occurred on January 3, 2022 under the Omnibus Equity Plan and ESPP, respectively. This registration also included 3,200,000 and 800,000 shares for the Omnibus Equity Plan and the ESPP, respectively, representing two years’ worth of estimated future automatic increases in availability for these plans.
On March 8, 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the Fiscal 2023 Bonus Plan (the “2023 Bonus Plan”) that granted RSUs to eligible employees on April 1, 2024, in lieu of a cash bonus. On April 1, 2024, 95,912 RSUs were
awarded to eligible employees under the 2023 Bonus Plan, and all such RSUs vested fully on that date subject to any forfeitures.
On June 29, 2023, the Company filed a Registration Statement on Form S-8 with the SEC for the purpose of registering an additional 2,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock under the Omnibus Equity Plan corresponding to the increase in shares approved by stockholders at the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.
As of December 29, 2024, the Company had 1,749,109 and 1,310,595 shares available for issuance under the Omnibus Equity Plan and ESPP, respectively. The compensation committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Compensation Committee”) administers the Omnibus Equity Plan and determines to whom awards will be granted, the exercise price of any options, the rates at which awards vest and the other terms and conditions of the awards granted under the Omnibus Equity Plan. The Compensation Committee may or may not issue the full number of shares that are reserved for issuance.
The Company’s initial ESPP offering period commenced on August 26, 2022. The ESPP consists of consecutive, overlapping 12-month offering periods that begin on each August 26 and February 26 during the term of the ESPP, and end on each August 25 and February 25 occurring 12 months later, as applicable. Each offering period is comprised of two consecutive six-month purchase periods that begin on each August 26 and February 26 within each offering period and end on each February 25 and August 25, respectively, thereafter. The duration and timing of offering periods and purchase periods may be changed by the Company’s Board of Directors or Compensation Committee at any time. The ESPP allows participants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at a 15 percent discount from the lower of the Company’s stock price on (i) the first day of the offering period or on (ii) the last day of the purchase period and includes a rollover mechanism for the purchase price if the stock price on the purchase date is less than the stock price on the offering date. The ESPP also allows participants to reduce their percentage election once during the offering period, but they cannot increase their election until the next offering period.
The Company recognizes equity-based compensation expense related to shares issued pursuant to the ESPP on a graded vesting approach over each offering period. During 2024, equity-based compensation expense related to the ESPP was immaterial. During 2024 and 2023, the Company issued 109,736 shares and 100,277 shares, respectively, pursuant to the ESPP six-month purchase periods.
The Company used the Black-Scholes model to estimate the fair value of the purchase rights under the ESPP. During 2024, the Company utilized the following assumptions:
Expected term (in years) | 0.50 to 1.00 | |||
Expected volatility | 83.90 to 86.05 | % | ||
Risk-free interest rate | 4.38 to 4.91 | % | ||
Dividend yield | - | |||
Weighted average fair value per share of ESPP awards granted | $ | 0.31 to 0.56 |
2021 Equity Plan
During April 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted the 2021 Equity Plan. The 2021 Equity Plan provided for the issuance of incentive stock options, restricted stock, RSUs and other stock-based and cash-based awards to the Company’s employees, directors, and consultants. The maximum aggregate number of shares reserved for issuance under the 2021 Equity Plan was 925,000 shares. The Company’s Board of Directors administers the 2021 Equity Plan. The options outstanding under the 2021 Equity Plan expire ten years from the date of grant. The Company issues new common shares to satisfy stock option exercises. In connection with the closing of the IPO, no further awards will be granted under the 2021 Equity Plan.
Former CEO Stock Options and Special Compensation Awards
In April 2021, the Company entered into an Employment Agreement (the “McCreight IPO Employment Agreement”) with the former CEO, David McCreight, and granted stock options under the 2021 Equity Plan to purchase 322,793 shares of common stock with an exercise price of $11.35 per share, which vest based on service and performance conditions. 275,133 of these stock options have only service vesting conditions, and 47,660 of these stock options have both service and performance vesting conditions. In addition, a portion of these stock options were subject to accelerated vesting conditions upon the occurrence of certain future events, which were satisfied upon the closing of the IPO. As previously disclosed on a Form 8-K filed on February 13, 2023 (the “February 2023 8-K”), Mr. McCreight voluntarily forfeited 161,396 unvested stock options of the Company. During the thirteen weeks ended April 2, 2023, the forfeiture of 161,396 unvested stock options resulted in immediate acceleration of the remaining $1.2 million of compensation expense which was recorded to general and administrative expense. As previously disclosed in the February 2023 8-K, the Company and David McCreight also entered into the First Amendment to Lulu’s Fashion Lounge Holdings, Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Plan Stock Option Agreement that extended the post-termination exercise period of 161,397 vested stock options from 90 days to (3) years from a termination of service other than for cause, death or disability.
Under the McCreight IPO Employment Agreement, Mr. McCreight received two bonuses in the form of 208,914 fully-vested shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company recognized the final $0.4 million of equity-based compensation expense related to this award in the thirteen weeks ended April 2, 2023.
Stock Options
A summary of stock option activity in 2024 is as follows:
Weighted- | Weighted- | |||||||||
Average | Average | |||||||||
| Exercise |
| Remaining |
| Aggregate | |||||
| Options | Price per | Contractual | Intrinsic | ||||||
Outstanding | Option | Life (years) | Value | |||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2023 | 161,397 | $ | 11.35 | 7.29 | ||||||
Granted |
| — | — |
| — | |||||
Forfeited | — | — | — | |||||||
Outstanding as of December 29, 2024 |
| 161,397 | $ | 11.35 |
| 6.29 | ||||
Exercisable as of December 29, 2024 |
| 161,397 | $ | 11.35 |
| 6.29 | $ | — | ||
Vested and expected to vest as of December 29, 2024 |
| 161,397 | $ | 11.35 |
| 6.29 | $ | — | ||
There were no options granted during 2024 and 2023. There were 322,793 options granted during 2021 with a weighted-average grant-date fair value of $16.44 per share.
The following table presents the range of assumptions used to estimate the fair value of options granted during 2021:
Fair value of common stock | $ | 25.86 | ||
Expected term (in years) |
| 6.48 | ||
Expected volatility |
| 50.62 | % | |
Risk-free rate |
| 1.17 | % | |
Dividend yield |
| 0 | % |
Fair Value of Common Stock – Given the absence of a public market prior to the IPO, the Board of Directors, with the assistance of a third-party valuation specialist, determined the fair value of the Company’s common stock at the time of the grant of stock options by considering a number of objective and subjective factors, including the Company’s actual operating and financial performance, market conditions and performance of comparable publicly-traded companies,
developments and milestones in the Company, the likelihood of achieving a liquidity event and transactions involving the Company’s common stock, among other factors. The fair value of the underlying common stock was determined by the Board of directors. The Company has not granted any stock options subsequent to the IPO.
Risk-Free Interest Rate - The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield in effect at the time the options are granted for zero coupon U.S. Treasury notes with maturities approximately equal to the expected term of the option.
Expected Term - The expected term is based upon the Company’s consideration of the historical life of options, the vesting period of the option granted, and the contractual period of the option granted. The Company has a limited history of granting options, accordingly, the expected life was calculated using the simplified method.
Volatility - As the Company was not publicly traded prior to the IPO, the expected volatility for the Company’s stock options was determined by using an average of historical volatilities of selected industry peers deemed to be comparable to the Company’s business corresponding to the expected term of the awards.
Dividend Yield - The expected dividend rate is zero as the Company currently has no history or expectation of declaring dividends on its common stock.
During 2024 and 2023, equity-based compensation expense of zero and $1.2 million, respectively, was recorded to general and administrative expense related to the stock options. As of December 29, 2024, there is zero unrecognized compensation cost related to the stock options.
Restricted Stock and RSUs
Immediately before the completion of the IPO, the LP was liquidated and the unit holders of the LP received shares of the Company’s common stock in exchange for their units of the LP. The Class P unit holders received 1,964,103 shares of common stock, comprised of 1,536,304 shares of vested common stock and 427,799 shares of unvested restricted stock. Any such shares of restricted stock received in respect of unvested Class P units of the LP are subject to vesting and a risk of forfeiture to the same extent as the corresponding Class P units. The Company recognized the final $0.3 million of equity-based compensation expense related to exchanged restricted stock during 2024 and had recorded $0.7 million during 2023. As of December 29, 2024, the exchanged restricted stock was settled in fully-vested shares of the Company.
The following table summarizes the rollforward of unvested restricted stock in 2024:
Unvested | Weighted- | ||||
Restricted | Average Fair | ||||
| Stock |
| Value per Share | ||
Balance at December 31, 2023 |
| 23,379 | $ | 4.54 | |
Restricted stock granted | — | — | |||
Restricted stock vested |
| (21,934) |
| 4.54 | |
Restricted stock forfeited |
| (1,445) | $ | 4.54 | |
Balance at December 29, 2024 |
| — | |||
| |||||
The fair value of restricted stock vested during 2024 was $0.04 million.
During the thirteen weeks ended March 31, 2024, the Company entered into a second amendment to the employment agreement with Mark Vos, the President and Chief Information Officer, (the “2024 President & CIO Employment Agreement”) under which 660,000 RSUs were initially granted, subject to various vesting schedules as set forth in the 2024 President & CIO Employment Agreement. On February 16, 2024, Tiffany Smith, the Chief Financial Officer,
received 175,000 RSUs, which vest over a three-year service period and Laura Deady, the Chief Merchandising Officer, received 152,273 RSUs pursuant to her employment agreement entered into in December 2023 (“CMO Employment Agreement”), which vest over a three-year service period.
During the year ended 2024, the Company granted 2,028,166 RSUs, to certain executives (inclusive of the aforementioned RSU grants to Mr. Vos, Ms. Deady and Ms. Smith) and employees which are subject to various vesting schedules as set forth in the applicable employment agreement or RSU Award Agreements and 459,748 RSUs to directors, which vested immediately or pursuant to the Company’s Non-Employee Director Compensation Program. During the thirteen weeks ended September 29, 2024, the Company reduced the size of its Board and accelerated the vesting of a total of 54,398 RSUs which had been previously granted to directors. A total of 163,166 RSUs were forfeited by the same directors in connection with their resignations. The Company recognized equity-based compensation expense of $6.3 million and $12.4 million during the year ended 2024 and 2023, respectively, related to the RSUs. As of December 29, 2024, the unrecognized equity-based compensation expense is $6.8 million and will be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.77 years.
The following table summarizes the rollforward of unvested RSUs in 2024:
Weighted- | |||||
Unvested | Average Fair | ||||
RSUs | Value per Share | ||||
Balance at December 31, 2023 | 3,568,406 | $ | 3.14 | ||
RSUs granted | 2,487,914 | 1.97 | |||
RSUs vested | (1,989,870) | 2.83 | |||
RSUs forfeited | (412,724) |
| 2.25 | ||
Balance at December 29, 2024 | 3,653,726 | $ | 2.61 | ||
The fair value of RSUs vested during 2024 was $3.3 million.
The Company recognized a tax benefit of $1.5 million, $1.5 million and $0.8 million related to equity-based compensation expense in 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Performance Stock Units (“PSUs”)
Under Crystal Landsem’s 2023 employment agreement (“the CEO Employment Agreement”), Ms. Landsem received a grant of 1,811,571 PSUs on March 5, 2023, which vest in three equal annual installments of 603,857 PSUs subject to the achievement of trailing ten-day volume-weighted average price targets of the Company’s common stock and her continued employment on the vesting dates. Under the 2024 President & CIO Employment Agreement, Mr. Vos received a grant of 300,000 PSUs on January 9, 2024, which vest subject to the achievement of trailing ten-day volume-weighted average price targets of the Company’s common stock and his continued employment on the vesting dates. Under the CMO Employment Agreement, Ms. Deady received a grant of 50,000 PSUs on February 16, 2024, which vest subject to the achievement of specified Company trailing twelve-month net revenue growth targets and her continued employment on the vesting dates.
The Company recognized equity-based compensation expense of $2.0 million and $2.1 million during 2024 and 2023, respectively, related to the PSUs. As of December 29, 2024, the unrecognized equity-based compensation expense is $0.7 million for the financial milestones that were considered probable of achievement, which will be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.18 years.
The following table summarizes the rollforward of unvested PSUs during 2024:
Weighted- | |||||
Unvested | Average Fair | ||||
PSUs | Value per Share | ||||
Balance at December 31, 2023 | 1,811,571 | $ | 2.65 | ||
PSUs granted | 350,000 | 1.81 | |||
PSUs vested | — | — | |||
PSUs forfeited | — |
| — | ||
Balance at December 29, 2024 | 2,161,571 | $ | 2.51 | ||
Class P Units
384,522 of the outstanding Class P units included both a service condition and a performance condition, while the remainder of the Class P units only included a service condition. The performance-based vesting condition was satisfied upon completion of the IPO. Equity-based compensation expense of $1.9 million related to the Class P units was recorded to general and administrative expense in the statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) during 2021.
During 2021, the LP modified the vesting schedule related to 763,178 outstanding Class P units for two senior executives to accelerate vesting if the two senior executives perform service after the completion of the IPO over the subsequent period. The Company concluded that the amendment to the Class P units was a modification under ASC 718 and there was no incremental equity-based compensation expense to recognize. With the completion of the Company’s IPO, the remaining unrecognized expense associated with the restricted stock, received in exchange at the IPO for the modified Class P units, was recognized over the subsequent period through November 2022.
Class P - Distributions
Distributions payable to former Class P unit holders (“FCPUs”) triggered upon the completion of the Company’s 2021 IPO were determined to be settled in 2022 as a result of agreements reached with the FCPUs, and were recorded as an increase to additional paid-in capital. The agreements provided for contingent payments to the FCPUs of up to $0.6 million if certain conditions were met, which were recorded as equity-based compensation expense and accrued expenses and other current liabilities in 2022 which was subsequently reversed during 2022, when the timeframe for the payment conditions expired.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Mar 27, 2025 | Showing above |
| 2023 | Mar 6, 2024 | |
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.