Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the year. Diluted earnings per share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock or resulted in the issuance of common stock that then shared in the earnings of the entity. For CoreCivic, diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of common shares after considering the additional dilution related to restricted share grants and stock options.

A reconciliation of the numerator and denominator of the basic earnings per share computation to the numerator and denominator of the diluted earnings per share computation is as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2019		2018
NUMERATOR
Basic:
Net income	$	49,340	$	37,777
Diluted:
Net income	$	49,340	$	37,777
DENOMINATOR
Basic:
Weighted average common shares outstanding		118,836		118,359
Diluted:
Weighted average common shares outstanding		118,836		118,359
Effect of dilutive securities:
Stock options	36			101
Restricted stock-based awards	46			49
Weighted average shares and assumed conversions		118,918		118,509
BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE	$	0.42	$	0.32
DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE	$	0.41	$	0.32

Approximately 0.5 million stock options were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share for both the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, because they were anti-dilutive.