Shareholders' Equity

The total authorized shares of $0.10 par value common stock is 11.0 billion, of which 2.9 billion and 3.0 billion were issued and outstanding as of January 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Share-Based Compensation

The Company has awarded share-based compensation to associates and nonemployee directors of the Company. The compensation expense recognized for all stock incentive plans, including expense associated with plans of the Company's consolidated subsidiaries granted in the subsidiaries' respective stock, was $773 million, $626 million and $596 million for fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Share-based compensation expense is generally included in operating, selling, general and administrative expenses in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Income. The total income tax benefit recognized for share-based compensation was $181 million, $150 million and $212 million for fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The following table summarizes the Company's share-based compensation expense by award type for all plans:



	Fiscal Years Ended January 31,
(Amounts in millions)	2019		2018		2017
Restricted stock and performance share units	$	293	$	234	$	237
Restricted stock units	456		368		332
Other	24		24		27
Share-based compensation expense	$	773	$	626	$	596

The Walmart Inc. Stock Incentive Plan of 2015 (the "Plan"), as amended and restated effective February 23, 2016, as amended further as of February 1, 2017, and as renamed on February 1, 2018, was established to grant stock options, restricted (non-vested) stock, performance share units and other equity compensation awards for which 260 million shares of Walmart common stock issued or to be issued under the Plan have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Company believes that such awards serve to align the interests of its associates with those of its shareholders.

The Plan's award types are summarized as follows:

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Restricted Stock and Performance Share Units. Restricted stock awards are for shares that vest based on the passage of time and include restrictions related to employment. Performance share units vest based on the passage of time and achievement of performance criteria and may range from 0% to 150% of the original award amount. Vesting periods for these awards are generally between one and three years. Restricted stock and performance share units may be settled or deferred in stock and are accounted for as equity in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets. The fair value of restricted stock awards is determined on the date of grant and is expensed ratably over the vesting period. The fair value of performance share units is determined on the date of grant using the Company's stock price discounted for the expected dividend yield through the vesting period and is recognized over the vesting period. The weighted-average discount for the dividend yield used to determine the fair value of performance share units in fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017 was 6.2%, 7.2% and 8.3%, respectively.

•

Restricted Stock Units. Restricted stock units provide rights to Company stock after a specified service period; generally 50% vest three years from the grant date and the remaining 50% vest five years from the grant date. The fair value of each restricted stock unit is determined on the date of grant using the stock price discounted for the expected dividend yield through the vesting period and is recognized ratably over the vesting period. The expected dividend yield is based on the anticipated dividends over the vesting period. The weighted-average discount for the dividend yield used to determine the fair value of restricted stock units granted in fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017 was 7.2%, 9.0% and 9.0%, respectively.

In addition to the Plan, the Company's United Kingdom subsidiary has stock option plans for certain colleagues which generally vest over three years. The stock option share-based compensation expense is included in the Other line in the table above.

Flipkart also maintains a stock option plan primarily for the benefit of employees and nonemployee directors under which options to acquire Flipkart common shares may be issued. The grants have no exercise price and no compensation expense was recognized during fiscal 2019 due to a liquidity event performance condition that was not deemed probable of occurrence.

The following table shows the activity for restricted stock and performance share units and restricted stock units during fiscal 2019:



	Restricted Stock and Performance Share Units⁽¹⁾				Restricted Stock Units
(Shares in thousands)	Shares		Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value Per Share		Shares		Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value Per Share
Outstanding as of February 1, 2018	8,558		$	70.47	24,153		$	66.69
Granted	3,600		84.94		7,946		80.94
Vested/exercised	(2,448	)	74.67		(5,524	)	69.52
Forfeited	(911	)	68.24		(2,620	)	69.74
Outstanding as of January 31, 2019	8,799		$	75.39	23,955		$	70.47


(1)	Assumes payout rate at 100% for Performance Share Units.

The following table includes additional information related to restricted stock and performance share units and restricted stock units:



	Fiscal Years Ended January 31,
(Amounts in millions, except years)	2019		2018		2017
Fair value of restricted stock and performance share units vested	$	183	$	181	$	149
Fair value of restricted stock units vested	386		344		261
Unrecognized compensation cost for restricted stock and performance share units	362		291		211
Unrecognized compensation cost for restricted stock units	1,002		972		986
Weighted average remaining period to expense for restricted stock and performance share units (years)	1.1		1.2		1.3
Weighted average remaining period to expense for restricted stock units (years)	1.6		1.8		1.9

Share Repurchase Program

From time to time, the Company repurchases shares of its common stock under share repurchase programs authorized by the Company's Board of Directors. All repurchases made during fiscal year 2019 were made under the current $20.0 billion share repurchase program approved in October 2017, which has no expiration date or other restrictions limiting the period over which the Company can make share repurchases. As of January 31, 2019, authorization for $11.3 billion of share repurchases remained under the share repurchase program. Any repurchased shares are constructively retired and returned to an unissued status.

The Company regularly reviews share repurchase activity and considers several factors in determining when to execute share repurchases, including, among other things, current cash needs, capacity for leverage, cost of borrowings, results of operations and the market price of the Company's common stock. The following table provides, on a settlement date basis, the number of shares repurchased, average price paid per share and total amount paid for share repurchases for fiscal 2019, 2018 and 2017:



	Fiscal Years Ended January 31,
(Amounts in millions, except per share data)	2019		2018		2017
Total number of shares repurchased	79.5		104.9		119.9
Average price paid per share	$	93.18	$	79.11	$	69.18
Total cash paid for share repurchases	$	7,410	$	8,296	$	8,298