Stock Incentive Plan
Pursuant to the Company's stock incentive plan, the Company may issue restricted stock units ("RSUs") to employees of the Company and its subsidiaries. The RSUs generally vest three to five years from the award date and are subject to other vesting and forfeiture provisions contained in the award agreement. The following table summarizes RSU information for the three years ended December 31, 2025:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2025 | | 2024 | | 2023 |
| RSUs granted and unvested at beginning of period: | 5,734,397 | | | 6,435,267 | | | 6,927,639 | |
| Granted | 1,043,988 | | | 1,217,056 | | | 1,647,690 | |
| Vested | (1,470,318) | | | (1,594,183) | | | (1,726,956) | |
| Canceled | (376,921) | | | (323,743) | | | (413,106) | |
| RSUs granted and unvested at end of period: | 4,931,146 | | | 5,734,397 | | | 6,435,267 | |
Upon vesting, shares of the Company’s common stock equal to the number of vested RSUs are issued or deferred to a later date, depending on the terms of the specific award agreement. As of December 31, 2025, 17,375,058 RSUs had been deferred. RSUs that have not yet vested and vested RSUs that have been deferred are not considered to be issued and outstanding shares.
The fair value of RSUs at the date of grant are recorded as unearned compensation, a component of stockholders’ equity, and expensed over the vesting period. Following is a summary of changes in unearned compensation for the three years ended December 31, 2025:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| (In thousands) | 2025 | | 2024 | | 2023 |
| Unearned compensation at beginning of year | $ | 153,329 | | | $ | 148,080 | | | $ | 142,060 | |
| RSUs granted, net of cancellations | 65,901 | | | 63,347 | | | 62,418 | |
| RSUs expensed | (52,524) | | | (52,380) | | | (49,200) | |
| RSUs forfeitures | (8,653) | | | (5,718) | | | (7,198) | |
| Unearned compensation at end of year | $ | 158,053 | | | $ | 153,329 | | | $ | 148,080 | |
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.