Weighted Average Common Shares

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

16. WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES

Basic net income per share is calculated by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares assuming dilution. Dilutive common shares outstanding is computed using the Treasury Stock Method and reflects the additional shares that would be outstanding if dilutive stock options were exercised and restricted stock units were settled for common shares during the period.

The weighted average number of common shares used to compute basic and diluted net income per share for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 were as follows:


	For the Year Ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Basic common shares outstanding		66,468		67,934		70,024
Common stock equivalents		1,358		1,097		857
Diluted common shares outstanding		67,826		69,031		70,881

For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, certain unexercised stock option awards are excluded from our computation of diluted earnings per share, as these shares were out-of-the-money and their effect would have been anti-dilutive. The anti-dilutive options that were excluded from our computation of diluted earnings per share were 0.1 million, 0.3 million and 0.4 million shares for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

In addition to the common stock issued upon the exercise of employee stock options and the vesting of restricted stock units to be settled in stock, we issued less than 0.1 million shares for each of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, pursuant to our employee stock purchase plan.