Earnings Per Share

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

NOTE 12 – EARNINGS PER SHARE

The following table illustrates the computation of basic and diluted earnings per share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands, except per share data):


	For the Three Months Ended				For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2020		2019		2020		2019
Numerator (basic and diluted):
Net income	$	527,252	$	391,293	$	1,359,357	$	1,066,126

Denominator:
Weighted-average common shares outstanding – basic		73,916		76,172		74,377		77,415
Effect of stock options ⁽¹⁾		670		797		649		805
Weighted-average common shares outstanding – assuming dilution		74,586		76,969		75,026		78,220

Earnings per share:
Earnings per share-basic	$	7.13	$	5.14	$	18.28	$	13.77
Earnings per share-assuming dilution	$	7.07	$	5.08	$	18.12	$	13.63

Antidilutive potential common shares not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share:
Stock options ⁽¹⁾		153		207		327		214
Weighted-average exercise price per share of antidilutive stock options ⁽¹⁾	$	409.07	$	360.80	$	384.43	$	360.36

(1)	See Note 11 for further information concerning the terms of the Company’s share-based compensation plans.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, the computation of diluted earnings per share did not include certain securities. These securities represent underlying stock options not included in the computation of diluted earnings per share, because the inclusion of such equity awards would have been antidilutive.

Subsequent to the end of the third quarter and through November 6, 2020, the Company repurchased an additional 1.0 million shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program, at an average price of $454.15, for a total investment of 465.3 million.