SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Long Term Incentive Plan

Pursuant to the 2017 Altice USA Long Term Incentive Plan, as amended (the "LTIP"), the Company may grant awards of options, restricted shares, restricted share units, stock appreciation rights, performance stock, performance stock units and other awards (the 2017 Long Term Incentive Plan or the "LTIP"). In June 2020, shareholders of the Company approved an increase to the number of shares authorized for issuance under the LTIP by 35,000,000 shares to 54,879,291, and approved the extension of the term to June 10, 2030.

Carry Unit Plan

Certain employees of the Company and its affiliates received awards of units in a carry unit plan of Neptune Management LP, an entity which has an ownership interest in Neptune Holding US Limited Partnership ("Neptune LP").

The following table summarizes activity relating to these carry units:


	Number of Time Vesting Awards	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value







Balance, December 31, 2019	37,518,750	$	2.35
Vested	(27,343,750)	2.31
Forfeited	(212,500)	0.56
Balance, June 30, 2020	9,962,500	$	2.71

The weighted average fair value per unit was $1.75 and $3.25, as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, the Company recognized share-based compensation expense of $3,937 and $7,057, and $7,861 and $14,334, respectively, related to the carry unit plan.

Stock Options

The following table summarizes activity related to the stock options granted to Company employees:


	Shares Under Option	Weighted Average Exercise Price Per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (a)
Balance at December 31, 2019	14,083,741	$	19.12	8.74	$	112,915
Granted	26,093,256	28.32
Exercised	(209,105)	17.46
Forfeited	(1,749,476)	21.44
Balance at June 30, 2020	38,218,416	25.31		9.14	49,108,141
Options exercisable at June 30, 2020	788,053	$	17.70	7.17	$	3,848,578

(a)The aggregate intrinsic value is calculated as the difference between the exercise price and the closing price of the Company's Class A common stock at the respective date.

The Company recognized share-based compensation expense related to employee stock options for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 of $25,327 and $45,676 and $7,817 and $15,134, respectively. As of June 30, 2020, there was $200,745 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to stock options which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 3.16 years.

The following weighted-average assumptions were used to calculate the fair values of stock option awards granted during the six months ended June 30, 2020:


Risk-free interest rate			1.45%
Expected life (in years)			6.38
Dividend yield			—%
Volatility			28.46%
Grant date fair value			$7.74

Performance Stock Unit Awards

In January 2020, certain employees of the Company were granted performance stock units ("PSUs"). Each PSU gives the employee the right to receive one share of Altice USA class A common stock, upon achievement of a specified stock price hurdle. The PSUs will be forfeited if the applicable performance measure is not achieved prior to January 29, 2024 (January 29, 2026 in the event of a recession or market disruption event prior to achievement of the performance measure, which criteria was met in June 2020) or if the employee does not continue to provide services to the Company through the achievement date of the applicable performance measure.

As of June 30, 2020, the Company had 7,480,469 PSUs outstanding. The PSUs have a weighted average grant date fair value of $10.65 per unit. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company recognized share based compensation expense of $4,419 and $8,320 related to these PSUs. As of June 30, 2020 there was $71,127 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to outstanding PSUs which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 5.6 years.

The following assumptions were used to calculate the fair values of the PSUs granted during the six months ended June 30, 2020:


Risk-free interest rate			1.46%
Expected life (in years)			4 and 6
Dividend yield			—%
Volatility			34.22%

Restricted AwardsFor the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company recorded share based compensation expense of $636 and $1,212, respectively, related to restricted awards granted to certain employees pursuant to the LTIP. In January 2020, certain restricted awards granted to employees in the prior year were cancelled. These employees received new grants of stock options and PSUs.