Stock Based Awards and Other Equity Instruments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Stock Based Awards and Other Equity Instruments [Abstract]

STOCK BASED AWARDS AND OTHER EQUITY INSTRUMENTS

NOTE 3: STOCK BASED AWARDS AND OTHER EQUITY INSTRUMENTS

Stock-based compensation expense relates primarily to expense for restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and stock options. Our outstanding RSUs and stock options generally vest over four years.

For the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012, we recognized total stock-based compensation expense of $13.6 million and $4.7 million, respectively. The total income tax benefit related to stock-based compensation expense was $5.3 million and $1.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

TripAdvisor, Inc. 2011 Stock and Annual Incentive Plan

On December 20, 2011, the 2011 Incentive Plan became effective. A summary of certain important features of the 2011 Incentive Plan can be found in “Note 4—Stock Based Awards and Other Equity Instruments,” in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 15, 2013 for the year ended December 31, 2012. The summary of the material terms of the 2011 Incentive Plan is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the 2011 Incentive Plan which is incorporated by reference in our Annual Report on Form 10-K as Exhibit 4.3.

2013 Stock Option Activity

The exercise price for all stock options granted by us to date has been equal to the market price of the underlying shares of common stock at the date of grant. In this regard, when making stock option awards, our practice is to determine the applicable grant date and to specify that the exercise price shall be the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant. Stock options granted during the first three months of 2013 have a term of ten years from the date of grant and generally vest over a four-year service period.

During the three months ended March 31, 2013, we granted 1,414,861 primarily service based stock options under the 2011 Incentive Plan with a weighted average grant-date fair value per option of $22.68. We will amortize the fair value, net of estimated forfeitures, as stock-based compensation expense over the vesting term of generally four years on a straight-line basis, with the amount of compensation expense recognized at any date at least equaling the portion of the grant-date fair value of the award that is vested at that date. We use historical data to estimate pre-vesting option forfeitures and record share-based compensation expense only for those awards that are expected to vest. Changes in estimated forfeitures are recognized through a cumulative catch-up adjustment in the period of change which also impacts the amount of stock compensation expense to be recognized in future periods.

A summary of the status and activity for stock option awards relating to our common stock for the three months ended March 31, 2013, is presented below:

	Options Outstanding		Weighted Average Exercise Price Per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
	(In thousands)				(In years)		(In thousands)
Options outstanding at January 1, 2013		8,654	$	31.41
Granted		1,415		45.42
Exercised		302		21.39			$	7,059
Cancelled		123		33.34
Options outstanding at March 31, 2013		9,644	$	33.76		6.2	$	180,944
Exercisable as of March 31, 2013		4,313	$	28.29		3.9	$	104,492
Vested and expected to vest after March 31, 2013		9,010	$	33.19		6.2	$	172,052

Aggregate intrinsic value represents the difference between the closing stock price of our common stock and the exercise price of outstanding, in-the-money options. Our closing stock price as reported on NASDAQ as of March 28, 2013 was $52.52.

The estimated fair value of the options granted under the 2011 Incentive Plan was calculated using a Black-Scholes Merton option-pricing model (“Black-Scholes model”). The Black-Scholes model incorporates assumptions to value stock-based awards, which includes the risk-free rate of return, expected volatility, expected term and expected dividend yield.

Our risk-free interest rate is based on the rates currently available on zero-coupon U.S. Treasury issues, in effect at the time of the grant, whose remaining maturity period most closely approximates the stock option’s expected term assumption. We estimated the volatility of our common stock by using an average of historical stock price volatility of publicly traded companies that we consider peers based on daily price observations over a period equivalent to or approximate to the expected term of the stock option grants. The decision to use a weighted average volatility factor of a peer group was based upon the relatively short period of availability of data on our common stock. We estimated our expected term using the simplified method for all stock options as we do not have sufficient historical exercise data on our common stock. Our expected dividend yield is zero, as we have not paid any dividends on our common stock to date.

The fair value of stock option grants under the 2011 Incentive Plan has been estimated at the date of grant using the Black–Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions:

	Three months ended March 31, 2013
Risk free interest rate		1.07	%
Expected term (in years)		6.25
Expected volatility		51.72	%
Expected dividend yield		0	%

There were no stock options granted in the first three months ending March 31, 2012.

2013 RSU Activity

During the three months ended March 31, 2013, we granted 860,072 service based RSUs under the 2011 Incentive Plan for which the fair value was measured based on the quoted price of our common stock at the date of grant of $45.26. We will amortize the fair value, net of estimated forfeitures, as stock-based compensation expense over the vesting term of generally four years on a straight-line basis, with the amount of compensation expense recognized at any date at least equaling the portion of the grant-date fair value of the award that is vested at that date.

The following table presents a summary of RSU activity on our common stock:

	RSUs Outstanding		Weighted Average Grant- Date Fair Value Per Share
	(In thousands)
Unvested RSUs outstanding as of January 1, 2013		446	$	26.11
Granted		860		45.26
Vested and released (1)		296		21.70
Cancelled		15		34.22
Unvested RSUs outstanding as of March 31, 2013		995	$	42.99

(1) Inclusive of 111,918 RSUs withheld to satisfy minimum tax withholding requirements.

A summary of the unrecognized compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, and the weighted average period remaining at March 31, 2013 related to our non-vested stock options and RSU awards is presented below (in thousands, except per year information):

	Stock Options		RSUs
Unrecognized compensation expense (net of forfeitures)	$	82,187	$	30,558
Weighted average period remaining (in years)		3.1		3.7

All shares of common stock issued in respect of the exercise of options or other equity awards since Spin-Off have been issued from authorized, but unissued common stock.