The Company recognized stock-based compensation expense of $72.7 million, $63.6 million and $64.9 million, and related income tax benefits of $17.3 million, $15.3 million and $15.4 million, respectively, for the years ended November 26, 2023, November 27, 2022 and November 28, 2021, respectively. As of November 26, 2023, there was $84.2 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested equity awards, which cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.2 years. No stock-based compensation cost has been capitalized in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Prior to the IPO in March 2019, the Company granted awards under the 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”), which provided for the granting of a variety of stock awards, including stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units (“RSUs”), stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) and cash or equity settled awards to certain employees and non-employee directors. The maximum number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the 2016 Plan was 80.0 million shares. Upon completion of the IPO, shares that remained available for future grants under the 2016 Plan ceased to be available and the Company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”) became effective. Awards granted before the IPO remain outstanding according to the plan’s terms. Outstanding awards under the 2016 Plan are issuable as Class B common stock and can be voluntarily converted to Class A common stock and sold to the public.

In March 2019, in connection with the IPO, the Company’s stockholders adopted the 2019 Plan which provides for the grant of a variety of stock awards, including stock options, restricted stock, RSUs, SARs, and cash or equity settled awards to certain employees and non-employee directors. The maximum number of shares of Class A common stock authorized for issuance under the 2019 Plan is 40.0 million shares. At November 26, 2023, there were 20.8 million shares of Class A common stock available for future grants under the 2019 Plan.

In March 2019, in connection with the IPO, the Company’s stockholders adopted the Company’s 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2019 ESPP”), which permits participants to purchase a total of 12.0 million shares of the Company’s Class A common stock through payroll deductions of up to 10% of their earnings, subject to automatic annual increases. Unless otherwise determined by the administrator, the purchase price of the shares will be 85% of the fair market value of the Class A common stock on the date of purchase. At November 26, 2023, there were 9.9 million shares of Class A common stock available for issuance under the 2019 ESPP. The ESPP did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements in fiscal year 2023.

Shares of common stock associated with the above plans will be issued from the Company's authorized but unissued shares and are subject to the Stockholders' Agreement that governs all shares.

Under the 2016 Plan and 2019 Plan, stock awards have a maximum contractual term of ten years, and if applicable, must have an exercise price at least equal to the fair market value of the Company's common stock on the grant date. Awards generally vest according to terms determined at the time of grant, or as otherwise determined by the board of directors in its discretion.

Upon the exercise of a stock-settled SAR, the participant will receive shares of common stock. The number of shares of common stock issued per SAR unit exercised is equal to the excess of (i) the per-share fair market value of the Company's common stock on the date of exercise, over (ii) the exercise price of the SAR.

Stock-settled RSUs which include service or performance conditions are issued to certain employees. Each stock-settled RSU is converted to a share of common stock upon vesting and does not have pre-vesting “dividend equivalent rights”.

Non-employee members of the board of directors receive RSUs annually. The RSUs additionally have “dividend equivalent rights” of which dividends paid by the Company on its common stock are credited by the equivalent addition of RSUs.

SARs. The Company grants SARs, which include service or performance conditions, to a small group of the Company's senior executives and to select levels of the Company's management. SARs with service conditions (“Service SARs”) vest from three-and-a-half to four years, and have maximum contractual lives of ten years. Service SARs activity during the year ended November 26, 2023 was as follows:


	Service SARs
	Units	Weighted-Average Exercise Price		Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value

	(Units in thousands and dollars in millions, except weighted-average exercise price)
Outstanding at November 27, 2022	5,865	$	13.12	4.4
Granted	2,465	16.47
Exercised	(717)	6.51
Forfeited	(54)	18.49

Outstanding at November 26, 2023	7,559	$	14.80	5.5
Vested and expected to vest at November 26, 2023	7,548	$	14.80	5.5	$	17.6
Exercisable at November 26, 2023	4,133	$	12.39	2.9	$	17.4

SARs with performance conditions (“Performance SARs”) were granted prior to fiscal 2017. As of November 27, 2022 there were 2.5 million Performance SAR units outstanding with a weighted-average exercise price of $6.10 and a weighted-average remaining contractual life of 0.2 years. During fiscal year 2023, 2.5 million units were exercised and there were no Performance SAR units outstanding as of November 26, 2023.

The aggregate intrinsic values are calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the underlying SARs and the fair value of the Company's common stock that were in-the-money at that date.


	November 26, 2023		November 27, 2022		November 28, 2021

	(Dollars in millions)
Aggregate intrinsic value of Service SARs exercised during the year	$	6.9	$	6.4	$	119.5
Aggregate intrinsic value of Performance SARs exercised during the year	$	28.9	$	2.9	$	45.4

The weighted-average grant date fair value of SARs was estimated using the Black-Scholes option valuation model. The weighted-average grant date fair values and corresponding weighted-average assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option valuation model were as follows:


	Service SARs Granted
	2023			2022			2021
Weighted-average grant date fair value	$	6.58		$	8.49		$	9.88

Weighted-average assumptions:
Expected life (in years)	7.0			7.1			7.1
Expected volatility	48.0		%	46.7		%	49.3		%
Risk-free interest rate	3.8		%	1.7		%	0.8		%
Expected dividend	2.9		%	1.9		%	0.8		%

RSUs. The Company grants RSUs, which include service or performance conditions, to a small group of the Company's senior executives and to select levels of the Company's management. RSUs with service conditions (“Service RSUs”) granted vest in four annual equal installments of 25% beginning on the first anniversary of the date granted subject to continued employment. RSUs with performance conditions (“Performance RSUs”) vest at varying unit amounts, up to 200% of those awarded, based on the attainment of certain three-year cumulative performance goals over a three-year performance period subject to continued employment. Service and Performance RSU activity during the year ended November 26, 2023 was as follows:


	Service RSUs				Performance RSUs
	Units	Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value		Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)	Units	Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value		Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Life (Years)

	(Units in thousands)
Outstanding at November 27, 2022	4,434	$	19.62	2.5	2,343	$	24.81	1.5
Granted	3,658	16.02			1,478	19.53
Vested	(1,943)	18.68			(586)	26.64
Performance adjustment	—	—			(124)	26.75
Forfeited	(518)	18.60			(163)	21.63
Outstanding at November 26, 2023	5,631	$	17.69	2.3	2,948	$	21.83	1.6

The total fair value of Service RSU awards vested during 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $33.0 million, $38.0 million and $35.5 million, respectively. The total fair value of Performance RSU awards vested during 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $9.9 million, $29.1 million, $28.4 million, respectively. Unrecognized future compensation cost as of November 26, 2023 of $54.9 million for Service RSUs and $20.0 million for Performance RSUs is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.3 and 1.6 years, respectively.

The grant date fair value of Service and Performance RSUs was based on the fair value of the Company’s common stock at the time of grant, unless the awards were subject to market conditions, in which case the Monte Carlo simulation model was utilized. During 2023, 2022 and 2021, the weighted-average grant date fair values for Service and Performance RSUs granted without a market condition were $16.02, $19.35 and $21.78, respectively. The weighted-average grant date fair value and corresponding weighted-average assumptions used in the Monte Carlo valuation models were as follows:


	Performance RSUs Granted
	2023			2022			2021
Weighted-average grant date fair value	$	19.83		$	21.38		$	27.33

Weighted-average assumptions:
Expected life (in years)	2.8			2.8			2.8
Expected volatility	49.6		%	51.4		%	54.3		%
Risk-free interest rate	3.9		%	1.2		%	0.2		%
Expected dividend	2.7		%	1.9		%	0.8		%

RSUs to the Board of Directors. The Company grants RSUs to certain members of its board of directors (“Board RSUs”). The total fair value of Board RSUs granted during the year ended November 26, 2023 of $1.8 million was estimated using the fair value of the Company's common stock. The total fair value of RSUs outstanding, vested and expected to vest was $5.9 million and $7.4 million as of November 26, 2023 and November 27, 2022, respectively.