SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

The following table presents share-based compensation expense recognized by the Company and unrecognized compensation cost:


	Share-Based Compensation								Unrecognized Compensation Cost As of September 30, 2021
	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020
Carry Unit Plan	$	—	$	1,498	$	803	$	8,555	$	—
Awards issued pursuant to LTIP:
Stock Option Awards	21,886		27,601		70,582		73,277		77,110
Performance Stock Units	2,286		4,958		8,136		13,278		52,765
Restricted Awards	178		653		756		1,864		97
	$	24,350	$	34,710	$	80,277	$	96,974	$	129,972

Carry Unit Plan

The following table summarizes activity relating to the Company's Carry Unit Plan:


	Number of Time Vesting Awards	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value







Balance, December 31, 2020	6,875,000	$	3.41
Vested	(6,875,000)	3.41

Balance, September 30, 2021	—

The weighted average fair value per unit was $3.89 as of December 31, 2020.

Stock Option Awards

The following table summarizes activity related to 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, 2020	37,062,146	$	25.52	8.69	$	457,608
Granted	1,102,435	33.66
Exercised	(1,368,156)	17.47
Forfeited	(1,406,985)	27.45
Balance at September 30, 2021	35,389,440	26.01		7.94	23,844
Options exercisable at September 30, 2021	4,287,028	$	21.02	6.20	$	9,168

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

The total unrecognized compensation cost related to stock options is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.25 years.

The following weighted-average assumptions were used to calculate the fair values of stock option awards granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2021:


Risk-free interest rate			1.02%
Expected life (in years)			6.26
Dividend yield			—%
Volatility			33.02%
Grant date fair value			$10.88

Performance Stock Unit Awards

As of September 30, 2021, the Company had 7,071,416 PSUs outstanding. The PSUs have a weighted average grant date fair value of $10.65 per unit. The total unrecognized compensation cost related to the outstanding PSUs is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 4.38 years.