The Company maintains a 2008 Stock Option Plan, a 2011 Stock Option Plan and a 2017 Stock Incentive Plan for the benefit of certain non-employee directors, officers, and key employees. Under these plans, a total of 3,350,000 shares of authorized common stock have been reserved for issuance pursuant to grants approved by the Compensation Committee. Stock options granted under these plans have a maximum term of 10 years, may be subject to certain vesting requirements, which are generally three to six years for officers, non-employee directors, and key employees, and are priced at the market value of the Company's common stock on the option's grant date. At September 30, 2023, there were a total of 147,774 shares of common stock remaining available for grant under the plans.

Stock-based compensation is recognized as provided under FASB ASC Topic 718-10 and FASB ASC Topic 505-50. FASB ASC Topic 718-10 requires all share-based payments to employees, including grants of employee stock options, to be recognized as compensation expense over the requisite service period (generally the vesting period) in the Consolidated Financial Statements based on their grant date fair values. The Company has applied the Black-Scholes valuation model in determining the grant date fair value of the stock option awards. Compensation expense is recognized only for those options expected to vest.

On October 15, 2018, the Compensation Committee and Board approved and adopted a long-term incentive program that seeks to motivate and reward certain employees and to align management’s interest with shareholders’ interest by focusing executives on the achievement of long-term results. The program is comprised of four components: Service Options, Performance Options, Restricted Stock, and Performance Shares.

Pursuant to this program, in fiscal 2019, the Compensation Committee approved certain grants of Service Options, Performance Options, Restricted Stock and Performance Shares under the World Acceptance Corporation 2011 Stock Option Plan and the World Acceptance Corporation 2017 Stock Incentive Plan to certain employee directors, vice presidents of operations, vice presidents, senior vice presidents, and executive officers. Separately, the Compensation Committee approved certain grants of Service Options and Restricted Stock to certain of the Company’s non-employee directors.

Under the long-term incentive program, up to 100% of the shares of restricted stock subject to the Performance Shares will vest, if at all, based on the achievement of two trailing earnings per share performance targets established by the Compensation Committee that are based on earnings per share (measured at the end of each calendar quarter, commencing with the calendar quarter ending September 30, 2019) for the previous four calendar quarters. The Performance Shares are eligible to vest over the Performance Share Measurement Period, subject to each respective employee’s continued employment at the Company through the last day of the Performance Share Measurement Period (or as otherwise provided under the terms of the applicable award agreement or applicable employment agreement).

The Performance Share performance targets are set forth below.


Trailing 4-Quarter EPS Targets for September 30, 2018 through March 31, 2025			Restricted Stock Eligible for Vesting (Percentage of Award)
$16.35			40%
$20.45			60%

The Restricted Stock awards typically vest in six equal annual installments, beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date, subject to each respective employee’s continued employment at the Company through each applicable vesting date or otherwise provided under the terms of the applicable award agreement or applicable employment agreement.

The Service Options typically vest in three equal annual installments, beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date, subject to each respective employee’s continued employment at the Company through each applicable vesting date or otherwise provided under the terms of the applicable award agreement or applicable employment agreement. The option price is equal to the fair market value of the common stock on the grant date and the Service Options have a 10-year term.

The Performance Options will fully vest if the Company attains the trailing earnings per share target over four consecutive calendar quarters occurring between September 30, 2018 and March 31, 2025 described below. Such performance target was established by the Compensation Committee and will be measured at the end of each calendar quarter commencing on

September 30, 2019. The Performance Options are eligible to vest over the Option Measurement Period, subject to each respective employee’s continued employment at the Company through the last day of the Option Measurement Period or as otherwise provided under the terms of the applicable award agreement or applicable employment agreement. The option price is equal to the fair market value of the common stock on the grant date and the Performance Options have a 10-year term. The Performance Option performance target is set forth below.

The weighted-average fair value at the grant date for options issued during the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022 was $73.07 and $71.32, respectively. The weighted-average fair value at the grant date for options issued during the six months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022 was $73.07 and $72.56, respectively.

Fair value was estimated at grant date using the weighted-average assumptions listed below:


	Three months ended September 30,		Six months ended September 30,
	2023	2022	2023	2022

Dividend yield	—%	—%	—%	—%
Expected volatility	62.67%	56.37%	62.67%	56.32%
Average risk-free rate	4.58%	2.92%	4.58%	2.93%
Expected life	4.6 years	5.8 years	4.6 years	5.8 years

The expected stock price volatility is based on the historical volatility of the Company's common stock for a period approximating the expected life. The expected life represents the period of time that options are expected to be outstanding after the grant date. The risk-free rate reflects the interest rate at grant date on zero coupon U.S. governmental bonds having a remaining life similar to the expected option term.


	Shares		Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value

Options outstanding, beginning of period	314,742		$	104.41
Granted during period	274		132.16
Exercised during period	(11,743)		91.12
Forfeited during period	(6,018)		120.31
Expired during period	(992)		176.51
Options outstanding, end of period	296,263	3	$	104.40	5.4 years	$	7,894,384
Options exercisable, end of period	102,022		$	100.53	4.7 years	$	3,113,302

The aggregate intrinsic value reflected in the table above represents the total pre-tax intrinsic value (the difference between the closing stock price on September 30, 2023 and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money options that are currently exercisable) that would have been received by option holders had all option holders exercised their options as of September 30, 2023. This amount will change as the market price of the common stock changes. The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the periods ended September 30, 2023 and 2022 was as follows:

As of September 30, 2023, total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to non-vested stock options amounted to approximately $0.7 million, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 1.2 years.

During the first six months of fiscal 2024, the Company granted 3,993 shares of restricted stock (which are equity classified) to certain vice presidents and senior vice presidents with a grant date weighted average fair value of $120.12 per share.

During fiscal 2023, the Company granted 3,250 shares of restricted stock (which are equity classified) to certain vice presidents with a grant date weighted average fair value of $129.85 per share.

Compensation expense related to restricted stock is based on the number of shares expected to vest and the fair market value of the common stock on the grant date. The Company recognized compensation expense of $1.1 million and $3.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, which is included as a component of general and administrative expenses in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations.

As of September 30, 2023, there was approximately $2.7 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested restricted stock awards, which is expected to be recognized over the next 1.1 years based on current estimates.

A summary of the status of the Company’s restricted stock as of September 30, 2023, and changes during the six months ended September 30, 2023, are presented below:


	Shares	Weighted Average Fair Value at Grant Date

Outstanding at March 31, 2023	460,614	$	101.82
Granted during the period	3,993	120.12
Vested during the period	—	—
Forfeited during the period	—	—
Outstanding at September 30, 2023	464,607	$	105.82

Total stock-based compensation included as a component of net income (loss) during the three and six month periods ended September 30, 2023 and 2022 was as follows: