Prior to the Separation, certain Company employee and non-employee directors participated in the stock-based compensation plans of the Former Parent (“Former Parent’s Plans”). In connection with the Separation, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the Worthington Steel, Inc. 2023 Long Term Incentive Plan and Worthington Steel, Inc. 2023 Equity Incentive Plan for Non-Employee Directors (the “Plans”). Under the Plans, we may grant incentive or non-qualified stock options, restricted common shares and performance shares to employees and non-qualified stock options and restricted common shares to non-employee directors.

We classify share-based compensation expense within SG&A to correspond with the same financial statement caption as the majority of the cash compensation paid to employees who have been awarded common shares. A total of 8.4 million common shares were authorized and available for issuance in connection with the Plans in place at May 31, 2024.

Under the terms of the Employee Matters Agreement between the Company and the Former Parent, in connection with the Separation, restricted stock and stock option equity awards granted to Company employees under the Former Parent's Plans were converted to awards representing approximately 1.3 million shares of the Company's common stock under the Plans. Adjustments to the underlying shares and terms of outstanding restricted stock and stock options were made to preserve the intrinsic value of the awards immediately before the Separation. The adjustment of the underlying shares and exercise prices, as applicable, was determined using a conversion ratio of 3.228 based on the relative values of the Former Parent's pre-Separation stock price and the Company's post-Separation stock price. The outstanding awards continue to vest over their original vesting periods. The Company did not recognize any incremental compensation cost related to the adjustment of outstanding awards.

The Company recognized pre-tax stock-based compensation expense of $10.3 million ($8.0 million after-tax), $10.4 million ($7.8 million after-tax) and $8.7 million ($6.7 million after-tax) under the Plans and Former Parent’s Plans during fiscal 2024, fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022, respectively. At May 31, 2024, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock-based compensation awards was $17.8 million, which will be expensed over the next three to five fiscal years.

Stock options may be granted to purchase common shares at not less than 100% of the fair market value of the underlying common shares on the grant date. All outstanding stock options are non-qualified stock options. The exercise price of all stock options granted has been set at 100% of the fair market value of the underlying common shares on the grant date. Generally, stock options granted to employees vest and become exercisable at the rate of 33% per year beginning one year from the grant date, and expire ten years after the grant date. Non-qualified stock options granted to non-employee directors vest and become exercisable on the earlier of (a) the first anniversary of the grant date or (b) the date on which the next annual meeting of shareholders of Worthington Steel is held following the grant date for any stock option granted as of the date of an annual meeting of shareholders of Worthington Steel. Stock options can be exercised through net-settlement, at the election of the option holder. The source of the shares issues when exercised and held is out of new shares.

GAAP requires that all share-based awards be recorded as expense in the statement of earnings based on their grant date fair value. The Company calculates the fair value of its non-qualified stock options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and certain assumptions.

The Stock-based compensation expense recognized for the stock option awards during fiscal 2024, fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022 was $0.4 million, $0.2 million and $0.1 million, respectively.

As of May 31, 2024, there was $0.4 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options. This cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.5 years. As of May 31, 2024, there were 0.2 million outstanding unvested stock options, with a total intrinsic value of $2.9 million.

Restricted common shares that contain service-based vesting conditions may be awarded to certain employees and non-employee directors. Service-based restricted common shares granted to employees cliff vest three years from the date of grant. Service-based restricted common shares granted to non-employee directors vest under the same parameters as discussed above with respect to non-qualified stock option grants. All service-based restricted common shares are valued at the closing market price of the common shares on the date of the grant.

The table below sets forth the service-based restricted common shares activity under the Plans from the Separation date to the year ended May 31, 2024. The calculated pre-tax stock-based compensation expense for these restricted common shares will be recognized on a straight-line basis over their respective three-year service periods.


(In thousands, except per common share amounts)	Restricted Common Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding, beginning of year		-
Awards converted from the Former Parent Plan		957		$	22.20
Granted		170			29.18
Vested		(19	)		19.98
Forfeited		(39	)		19.06
Outstanding, end of year		1,069		$	19.03

Weighted average remaining contractual life of outstanding restricted common shares (in years)		1.37

Aggregate intrinsic value of outstanding restricted common shares	$	35,286

Aggregate intrinsic value of restricted common shares vested during the year	$	573

Pre-tax stock-based compensation for granted awards	$	4,955

On April 1, 2024, the Company granted 149 thousand market-based restricted common shares to six key employees under one of the Plans. Vesting of these restricted common shares is contingent upon the completion of a three-year service vesting period and the Company’s annualized absolute total shareholder return (“ATSR”) reaching a certain threshold during the three-year performance period ending on March 31, 2027. If the annualized ATSR is between 5% and 20%, as measured using the 40 consecutive trading days ending on March 28, 2024 as the starting price and the 40 consecutive trading days ending on March 31, 2027 as the ending price, participants will receive 50-150% of their targeted performance shares. The grant date fair value of these restricted common shares, as determined by a Monte Carlo simulation model, was $34.83 per common share. The pre-tax stock-based compensation expense for these market-based restricted common shares of $5.4 million will be recognized on a graded basis over the five-year service period, net of any forfeitures. The following assumptions were used to determine the grant date fair value and the derived service period for these restricted common shares:

On June 25, 2020, the Company granted an aggregate of 35 thousand market-based restricted common shares to two key employees under one of the Former Parent Plans. Vesting of these restricted common share awards is contingent upon the average closing price of the common shares reaching $65.00 during any 90 consecutive day period during the five-year period following the date of grant and completion of a three-year service vesting period. The grant date fair value of these restricted common shares, as determined by a Monte Carlo simulation model, was $20.87 per common share. The calculated pre-tax stock-based compensation expense for these restricted common shares was $0.7 million; these awards fully vested on June 25, 2023. The following assumptions were used to determine the grant date fair value and the derived service period for these restricted common shares:

Performance shares may be awarded to certain key employees and are contingent (i.e., vest) based upon the level of achievement with respect to corporate targets for cumulative corporate economic value added, and earnings per share growth for the three-fiscal-year periods ended or ending May 31, 2024, 2025 and 2026. These performance share awards will be paid, to the extent earned, in common shares in the fiscal quarter following the end of the applicable three-fiscal-year performance period. The fair value of performance share awards is determined by the closing market price of the underlying common shares at the respective grant dates of the awards and the pre-tax stock-based compensation expense is based on the periodic assessment of the probability of the targets being achieved and the estimate of the number of common shares that will ultimately vest and be issued.

The table below summarizes the Company’s performance share award activity under the Plans from the Separation date to the year ended May 31, 2024:


(In thousands, except per common share amounts)	Performance Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding, beginning of year		-
Awards converted from the Former Parent Plan		133		$	22.20
Granted		30			30.55
Vested		(21	)		17.36
Forfeited		(12	)		17.97
Outstanding, end of year		130		$	20.72

Weighted average remaining contractual life of outstanding performance shares (in years)		1.30

Aggregate intrinsic value of outstanding performance shares	$	4,291

Aggregate intrinsic value of performance shares vested during the year	$	696

Pre-tax stock-based compensation for granted awards	$	923