Stock Compensation Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

5. STOCK COMPENSATION PLANS

As of March 31, 2017, the Company’s primary type of stock-based compensation was restricted stock units. Stock-based compensation expenses for the following periods were:



In millions	Three months ended March 31
In millions	2017		2016
Restricted stock units	$	18	$	13
Employee stock purchase plan	1		—
Stock-based compensation expense	19		13
Tax benefit	(6)		(4)
Total stock-based compensation expense (net of tax)	$	13	$	9

Stock-based compensation expense is recognized in the financial statements based upon fair value.

Restricted Stock Units As of March 31, 2017, the total unrecognized compensation cost of $198 million related to unvested restricted stock grants is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 1.3 years.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan Effective January 1, 2017, the Company amended its Employee Stock Purchase Plan ("ESPP") to provide employees a 15% discount on stock purchases using a three-month look-back feature where the discount is applied to the stock price that represents the lower of NCR’s closing stock price on either the first day or the last day of each calendar quarter. Participants can contribute between 1% and 10% of their compensation.

For the three months ended March 31, 2017, employees purchased 0.1 million shares at a discounted price of $35.33. The intrinsic value of shares purchased during the three months ended March 31, 2017 was $0.9 million. The intrinsic value is calculated as the difference between the market value on the date of purchase and the purchase price of the shares.