SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION:

9 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION:

SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION:

3.             SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION:

Share-based Compensation Plans

Stock Option Activity

The Company has stock option and equity compensation plans for which a total of 38.2 million shares of the Company’s common stock have been reserved for issuance since inception of the plans.  These plans provide that the exercise prices of qualified options will be at or above the fair market value of the common stock at the time of the grant.  Board policy has required that nonqualified options be priced at or above the fair market value of the common stock at the time of grant.  At December 31, 2011, there were a total of 5.9 million shares available for future grants under the plans.

The Company granted 500,576 stock options in the nine months ended December 31, 2011.  The per-share weighted-average fair value of the stock options granted during the nine months ended December 31, 2011 was $6.40.  This valuation was determined using a customized binomial lattice approach with the following weighted-average assumptions: dividend yield of 0.0%; risk-free interest rate of 2.4%; expected option life of 6.0 years; expected volatility of 46% and a suboptimal exercise multiple of 1.9.

Option activity for the nine months ended December 31, 2011 was as follows:

	Numberof shares		Weighted-average exercise priceper share		Weighted-average remaining contractual term (in years)	Aggregate intrinsic value(in thousands)
Outstanding at March 31, 2011	9,526,989		$	20.75
Granted	500,576		$	13.74
Exercised	(458,856	)	$	10.69		$	411
Forfeited or cancelled	(1,076,875	)	$	19.07
Outstanding at December 31, 2011	8,491,834		$	21.09	4.03	$	1,286
Exercisable at December 31, 2011	7,889,944		$	21.65	3.66	$	1,074

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value (the difference between Acxiom’s closing stock price on the last trading day of its third quarter of fiscal 2012 and the exercise price for each in-the-money option) that would have been received by the option holders had option holders exercised their options on December 31, 2011.  This amount changes based upon changes in the fair market value of Acxiom’s stock.

Following is a summary of stock options outstanding and exercisable as of December 31, 2011:

		Options outstanding				Options exercisable
Range of exercise price per share		Options outstanding	Weighted- average remaining contractual life	Weighted-average exercise price per share		Options exercisable	Weighted-average exercise price per share
$	3.69 - $   9.62	192,102	5.01 years	$	8.68	128,102	$	8.56
$	10.22 - $ 15.00	1,869,658	5.30 years	$	12.87	1,391,028	$	12.57
$	15.10 - $ 19.82	2,094,426	4.01 years	$	16.64	2,055,166	$	16.62
$	20.12 - $ 25.00	2,182,909	4.42 years	$	22.94	2,162,909	$	22.92
$	25.98 - $ 29.30	1,160,510	2.58 years	$	26.69	1,160,510	$	26.69
$	30.93 - $ 39.12	744,134	2.24 years	$	35.71	744,134	$	35.71
$	40.50 - $ 62.06	248,095	2.75 years	$	44.08	248,095	$	44.08
		8,491,834	4.03 years	$	21.09	7,889,944	$	21.65

Total expense related to stock options for the nine months ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 was approximately $0.9 million and $2.1 million respectively.  Future expense for these options is expected to be approximately $2.8 million over the next four years.

Restricted Stock Unit Activity

During the nine months ended December 31, 2011, the Company granted non performance-based restricted stock units covering 765,061 shares of common stock with a value at the date of grant of $10.1 million.  Of the restricted stock units granted in the current period, 631,967 vest in equal annual increments over four years and 133,094 vest in one year.  Valuation of these units is equal to the quoted market price for the shares on the date of grant.

Non-vested non performance-based restricted stock unit activity for the period ending December 31, 2011 was as follows:

	Numberof shares		Weighted average fair value pershare at grant date(in thousands)		Weighted-average remaining contractual term (in years)
Outstanding at March 31, 2011	1,195,043		$	13.42	2.16
Granted	765,061		$	13.26
Vested	(408,007	)	$	12.86
Forfeited or cancelled	(245,281	)	$	13.34
Outstanding at December 31, 2011	1,306,816		$	13.22	2.23

During the nine months ended December 31, 2011, the Company granted performance-based restricted stock units covering 302,099 shares of common stock with a value at the date of grant of $3.6 million.  All of the performance-based restricted stock units granted in the current period vest subject to attainment of performance criteria established by the compensation committee of the board of directors.  Of the units granted in the current period, 172,945 may vest in a number of shares from zero to 200% of their award, based on the total shareholder return of Acxiom stock compared to total shareholder return of a group of peer companies established by the committee for the period from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2014.  The remaining 129,154 units represent an inducement award granted to the Company’s chief executive officer.  The chief executive officer may vest in up to 100% of the award based on price targets for the Company’s common stock during the determination period from January 26, 2013 to July 26, 2014.  The value of the performance units is determined using a Monte Carlo simulation model.

Non-vested performance-based restricted stock unit activity for the period ending December 31, 2011 was as follows:

	Numberof shares		Weighted average fair value pershare at grant date(in thousands)		Weighted-average remaining contractual term (in years)
Outstanding at March 31, 2011	586,269		$	15.26	0.51
Granted	302,099		$	11.85
Vested	(470,779	)	$	13.02
Forfeited or cancelled	(122,522	)	$	19.84
Outstanding at December 31, 2011	295,067		$	17.06	2.25

The expense related to restricted stock in the nine months ended December 31, 2011 was $6.0 million.  The expense related to restricted stock in the nine months ended December 31, 2010 was $7.8 million.  Future expense for these restricted stock units is expected to be approximately $21.1 million over the next four years.

On January 11, 2012, the board of directors of the Company appointed Warren Jenson the chief financial officer and executive vice president of the Company.  Under the terms of an employment agreement, Mr. Jenson has been granted stock options for 183,958 shares at $13.40 per share, restricted stock units covering 12,390 shares, and performance units for 108,038 shares.  The stock options have a ten-year term and vest ratably over four years.  The restricted stock units vest ratably over four years and the performance shares will vest subject to attainment of performance criteria based on a performance period ending July 26, 2014.  These grants will increase non-cash stock compensation expense by approximately $0.2 million per quarter.