Stock Compensation Plans (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Charter’s stock incentive plans provide for grants of nonqualified stock options, incentive stock options, stock appreciation rights, dividend equivalent rights, performance units and performance shares, share awards, phantom stock, restricted stock units and restricted stock. Directors, officers and other employees of the Company and its subsidiaries, as well as others performing consulting services for the Company, are eligible for grants under the stock incentive plans.

Charter granted the following equity awards for the periods presented.



	Three Months Ended September 30,		Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2019	2018	2019	2018
Stock options	39,400	24,200	1,821,800	1,490,700
Restricted stock	200	500	8,300	10,200
Restricted stock units	11,300	13,500	698,200	518,900

Charter stock options and restricted stock units generally cliff vest upon the three year anniversary of each grant. Certain stock options and restricted stock units vest based on achievement of stock price hurdles. Stock options generally expire ten years from the grant date and restricted stock units have no voting rights. Restricted stock generally vests one year from the date of grant. Time Warner Cable Inc. ("TWC") restricted stock units that were converted into Charter restricted stock units generally vest 50% on each of the third and fourth anniversary of the grant date.

As of September 30, 2019, total unrecognized compensation remaining to be recognized in future periods totaled $211 million for stock options, $2 million for restricted stock and $246 million for restricted stock units and the weighted average period over which they are expected to be recognized is two years for stock options, seven months for restricted stock and two years for restricted stock units.

The Company recorded $71 million and $238 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and $71 million and $213 million of stock compensation expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively,

which is included in operating costs and expenses. The Company also recorded $5 million of expense related to accelerated vesting of equity awards of terminated employees, which is recorded in other operating expenses, net in the consolidated statements of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2018.