Weighted Average Common Shares

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

15. WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON SHARES

Basic net income (loss) per share is calculated by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of shares assuming dilution. Dilutive common shares outstanding is computed using the Treasury Stock Method and reflects the additional shares that would be outstanding if dilutive stock options were exercised and restricted stock units were settled for common shares during the period.

The weighted average number of common shares used to compute basic and diluted net income (loss) per share for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 were as follows:

	For the Year Ended December 31,
	2018		2017 ⁽¹⁾		2016 ⁽¹⁾
Basic common shares outstanding		69,598		68,949		68,373
Common stock equivalents		1,884		-		-
Diluted common shares outstanding		71,482		68,949		68,373

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(1)Due to the fact that we reported a loss from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, potential common stock equivalents were excluded from the diluted common shares outstanding calculation. Per FASB ASC Topic 260 – Earnings per Share, an entity that reports discontinued operations shall use income or loss from continuing operations as the benchmark for calculating diluted common shares outstanding, and as such, we have zero common stock equivalents since these shares would have an anti-dilutive effect on our net loss per share for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, certain unexercised stock options awards are excluded from our computation of diluted earnings per share, as these shares were out-of-the-money and their effect would have been anti-dilutive. The anti-dilutive options that were excluded from our computation of diluted earnings per share were 0.8 million shares for the year ended December 31, 2018.

In addition to the common stock issued upon the exercise of employee stock options and the vesting of restricted stock units to be settled in stock, we issued less than 0.1 million shares for each of the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, pursuant to our employee stock purchase plan.