Common Stock, Treasury Stock and Earnings Per Share

Common Stock

At December 31, 2017, shares of EQT’s authorized and unissued common stock were reserved as follows:



	(Thousands)
Possible future acquisitions	20,457
Stock compensation plans	14,261
Total	34,718

In conjunction with the closing of the Rice Merger, the Company issued approximately 91 million shares of common stock on November 13, 2017.

On February 19, 2016, the Company entered into an Underwriting Agreement with Goldman, Sachs & Co. (Goldman) under which the Company sold to Goldman 6,500,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $58.50 per share (the February Offering). On February 22, 2016, Goldman exercised its option within the Underwriting Agreement to purchase an additional 975,000 shares of common stock on the same terms. The February Offering closed on February 24, 2016, and the Company received net proceeds of approximately $430.4 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. The Company used the net proceeds from the February Offering for general corporate purposes.

On May 2, 2016, the Company entered into an Underwriting Agreement with Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, as representatives of the several underwriters named in the Underwriting Agreement (the Underwriters), under which the Company sold to the Underwriters 10,500,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $67.00 per share (the May Offering). On May 3, 2016, the Underwriters exercised their option within the Underwriting Agreement to purchase an additional 1,575,000 shares of common stock on the same terms. The May Offering closed on May 6, 2016, and the Company received net proceeds of approximately $795.6 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses. The Company used a portion of the net proceeds from the May Offering to fund the acquisitions discussed in Note 10 and the remainder for general corporate purposes.

Treasury Stock

Effective as of December 31, 2015, the Company transferred 17.0 million shares of treasury stock from issued to authorized but unissued shares. Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company funded 291,919 shares of treasury stock into a rabbi trust for the 2005 Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan and the 1999 Directors' Deferred Compensation Plan. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, there were 253,145 and 226,288 shares of treasury stock in the rabbi trust, respectively. Shares of common stock held by the rabbi trust are treated as treasury stock in the Company's financial statements.

Earnings Per Share

The computation of basic and diluted earnings per share of common stock attributable to EQT Corporation is shown in the table below:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2017		2016			2015
	(Thousands except per share amounts)
Basic earnings per common share:
Net income (loss) attributable to EQT Corporation	$	1,508,529	$	(452,983	)	$	85,171
Average common shares outstanding	187,380		166,978			152,398
Basic earnings (loss) per common share	$	8.05	$	(2.71	)	$	0.56
Diluted earnings per common share:
Net income (loss) attributable to EQT Corporation	$	1,508,529	$	(452,983	)	$	85,171
Average common shares outstanding	187,380		166,978			152,398
Potentially dilutive securities:
Stock options and awards (a)	347		—			541
Total	187,727		166,978			152,939
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share	$	8.04	$	(2.71	)	$	0.56

(a) Options to purchase common stock which were excluded from potentially dilutive securities because they were anti-dilutive totaled 429,785 shares and 291,700 shares for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2015, respectively. In periods when the Company reports a net loss, basic and diluted earnings per common share are equal because all options and restricted stock have an anti-dilutive effect on loss per share. As a result, basic shares equaled diluted shares for the year ended December 31, 2016 because the Company was in a net loss position.

The impact of EQM’s, EQGP's, and RMP's dilutive units did not have a material impact on the Company’s earnings per share calculations for any of the periods presented.