Employee Benefit Plans

2000 Stock Option Plan

In April 2000, the Company adopted the 2000 Stock Option Plan (the “2000 Plan”). The 2000 Plan provided for the granting of stock options to employees and consultants of the Company. Upon the Company's initial public offering in 2003, the 2000 Plan was terminated and all shares that remained reserved but not issued under the 2000 Plan at the time of its termination were transferred to the 2003 Plan. No further equity awards can be granted under the 2000 Plan. Outstanding awards under the 2000 Stock Plan remain subject to the terms and conditions of the 2000 Plan.

2003 Stock Plan

In April 2003, the Company adopted the 2003 Stock Plan (the “2003 Plan”). The 2003 Plan provided for the granting of stock options to employees and consultants of the Company. During the second quarter of 2013, the Company's 2003 Stock Plan expired. No further equity awards can be granted under the 2003 Plan. Outstanding awards under the 2003 Stock Plan remain subject to the terms and conditions of the 2003 plan.

2006 Long Term Incentive Plan

In April 2006, the Company adopted the 2006 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “2006 Plan”). The 2006 Plan provides for the granting of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, performance awards and other stock awards, to eligible directors, employees and consultants of the Company. Upon adoption of the 2006 Plan, the Company reserved 2,500,000 shares of common stock for issuance. During the period from 2008 to 2014, the Company adopted amendments which increased the number of shares of the Company’s common stock that may be issued under the 2006 Plan by an additional 8.5 million shares. In addition, RSUs granted under the 2006 Plan on or after June 6, 2012 are counted against shares authorized under the plan as 1.58 shares of common stock for each share subject to such award. As of December 31, 2015, approximately 1.5 million shares were reserved for future grants under the 2006 Plan.

Options granted under the 2006 Plan may be either incentive stock options ("ISOs") or nonqualified stock options ("NSOs"). ISOs may be granted only to Company employees (including officers and directors who are also employees). NSOs may be granted to Company employees, directors and consultants. Options granted generally are exercisable up to ten years provided, however, that (i) the exercise price of the ISO or NSO is not less than the estimated fair value of the underlying stock on the date of grant and (ii) the exercise price of the ISO or NSO granted to a 10% shareholder is not less than 110% of the estimated fair value of the underlying stock on the date of grant. Options granted under the 2006 Plan generally vest over four years, with the first tranche vesting at the end of 12 months and the remaining shares underlying the option vesting monthly over the remaining three years.

Stock appreciation rights may be granted under the 2006 Plan subject to the terms specified by the plan administrator, provided that the term of any such right may not exceed ten (10) years from the date of grant. The exercise price generally cannot be less than the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date the stock appreciation right is granted.

Restricted stock awards may be granted under the 2006 Plan subject to the terms specified by the plan administrator. The period over which any restricted award may fully vest is generally no less than three years. Restricted stock awards are non-vested stock awards that may include grants of restricted stock or grants of restricted stock units (“RSUs”). Restricted stock awards are independent of option grants and are generally subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to the release of the restrictions. During that period, ownership of the shares cannot be transferred. Restricted stock has the same voting rights as other common stock and is considered to be currently issued and outstanding. RSUs do not have the voting rights of common stock, and the shares underlying the RSUs are not considered issued and outstanding. The Company expenses the cost of the restricted stock awards, which is determined to be the fair market value of the shares at the date of grant, ratably over the period during which the restrictions lapse.

Performance awards may be in the form of performance shares or performance units. Performance shares are awards denominated in shares of Company common stock and a performance unit is an award denominated in units having a dollar value or other currency, as determined by the plan administrator. The plan administrator will determine the number of performance awards that will be granted and will establish the performance goals and other conditions for payment of such performance awards. The period of measuring the achievement of performance goals will be a minimum of twelve months.

Other stock-based awards may be granted under the 2006 Plan subject to the terms specified by the plan administrator. Other stock-based awards may include dividend equivalents, restricted stock awards, or amounts which are equivalent to all or a portion of any federal, state, local, domestic or foreign taxes relating to an award, and may be payable in shares, cash, other securities or any other form of property as the plan administrator may determine.

In the event of a change in control of the Company, all awards under the 2006 Plan vest in full and all outstanding performance shares and performance units will be paid out upon transfer.

Any shares of common stock subject to an award that is forfeited, settled in cash, expires or is otherwise settled without the issuance of shares shall again be available for awards under the 2006 Plan. Additionally, any shares that are tendered by a participant of the 2006 Plan or retained by the Company as full or partial payment to the Company for the purchase of an award or to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with an award shall no longer again be made available for issuance under the 2006 Plan.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

The Company sponsors an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”), pursuant to which eligible employees may contribute up to 10% of compensation, subject to certain income limits, to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock. Employees may purchase stock semi-annually at a price equal to 85% of the fair market value on the purchase date. Since the price of the shares is determined at the purchase date, the Company recognizes expense based on the 15% discount at purchase. For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, the Company recognized ESPP compensation expense of $0.5 million, $0.5 million and $0.4 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2015, 0.1 million shares were reserved for future issuance under the ESPP.

Option Activity

Stock option activity during the year ended December 31, 2015 was as follows:



	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price Per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
	(In thousands)		(In dollars)		(In years)	(In thousands)
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	3,939		$	30.58
Granted	296		31.34
Exercised	(1,353	)	30.55
Cancelled	(163	)	33.09
Expired	(258	)	34.78
Outstanding at December 31, 2015	2,461		$	30.08	5.7	$	29,109

As of December 31, 2015:
Vested and expected to vest	2,386		$	30.02	5.6	$	28,358
Exercisable Options	1,784		$	29.26	4.7	$	22,562

The aggregate intrinsic values in the table above represent the total pre-tax intrinsic values (the difference between the Company’s closing stock price on the last trading day of 2015 and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of shares underlying the in-the-money options) that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised their options on December 31, 2015. This amount changes based on the fair market value of the Company’s stock. Total intrinsic value of options exercised for the year ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013 was $11.4 million, $3.4 million and $4.2 million, respectively.

The total fair value of options vested during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013 was $6.5 million, $10.0 million and $13.0 million, respectively.

The following table summarizes significant ranges of outstanding and exercisable stock options as of December 31, 2015:



	Options Outstanding				Options Exercisable
Range of Exercise Prices	Shares Outstanding	Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Life	Weighted- Average Exercise Price Per Share		Shares Exercisable	Weighted- Average Exercise Price Per Share
	(In thousands)	(In years)	(In dollars)		(In thousands)	(In dollars)
$10.69 - $28.79	591	3.01	$	20.84	585	$	20.77
$29.23 - $31.31	573	6.65	30.86		274	30.39
$31.45 - $32.54	557	7.53	32.49		291	32.48
$32.55 - $35.32	583	5.70	34.24		504	34.32
$36.80 - $40.01	157	5.25	38.13		130	38.36
$10.69 - $40.01	2,461	5.66	$	30.08	1,784	$	29.26

RSU Activity

RSU activity during the year ended December 31, 2015 was as follows:



	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
	(In thousands)		(In dollars)		(In years)	(In thousands)
Outstanding at December 31, 2014	858		$	30.68
RSUs granted	525		32.16
RSUs vested	(285	)	31.06
RSUs cancelled	(134	)	31.52
Outstanding at December 31, 2015	964		$	31.63	1.46	$	40,399

Total intrinsic value of RSUs, or the release date fair value of RSUs, vested during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $8.9 million, $9.0 million and $2.9 million, respectively. The total fair value or RSUs, or the grant date fair value of RSUs, vested during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $8.8 million, $8.4 million and $2.3 million, respectively.

Valuation and Expense Information

The Company measures stock-based compensation at the grant date based on the estimated fair value of the award. Estimated compensation cost relating to RSUs is based on the closing fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. The fair value of Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) is based on the 15% discount at purchase, since the price of the shares is determined at the purchase date. The fair value of each option award is estimated on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes-Merton option valuation model that uses the assumptions noted in the following table. The estimated expected term of options granted is derived from historical data on employee exercise and post-vesting employment termination behavior. The risk free interest rate is based on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury securities with a remaining term commensurate with the estimated expected term. Expected volatility is based on historical volatility over the most recent period commensurate with the estimated expected term.

The following table sets forth the weighted-average assumptions used to estimate the fair value stock option grants during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Expected life (in years)	4.5		4.5		4.4
Risk-free interest rate	1.44	%	1.43	%	0.72	%
Expected volatility	39.3	%	42.6	%	48.05	%
Dividend yield	—		—		—

The weighted average estimated fair value of options granted during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $10.83, $12.04 and $13.29, respectively.

The following table sets forth stock-based compensation expense resulting from stock options, restricted stock awards, and the Employee Stock Purchase Plan included in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Cost of revenue	$	1,566	$	2,037	$	1,577
Research and development	3,451		4,916		3,943
Sales and marketing	5,022		6,168		5,379
General and administrative	6,786		6,893		6,563
Total	$	16,825	$	20,014	$	17,462

The Company recognizes these compensation costs net of the estimated forfeitures on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the award, which is generally the option vesting term of four years.

Total stock-based compensation cost capitalized in inventory was less than $0.5 million in the year ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

As of December 31, 2015, $6.4 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to stock options, adjusted for estimated forfeitures, is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.4 years. As of December 31, 2015, $19.6 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested RSUs, adjusted for estimated forfeitures, is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.5 years.

401(k) Plan

In April 2000, the Company adopted the NETGEAR 401(k) Plan to which employees may contribute up to 100% of salary subject to the legal maximum. In the first quarter of 2012, the Company began matching 50% of contributions for employees that remain active with the Company through the end of the fiscal year, up to a maximum of $6,000 in employee contributions. During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 the Company recognized $0.9 million, $1.0 million and $1.0 million, respectively, in expenses related to the 401(k) match.