Earnings Per Share

AbbVie grants certain restricted stock awards (RSAs) and restricted stock units (RSUs) that are considered to be participating securities. Due to the presence of participating securities, AbbVie calculates earnings per share (EPS) using the more dilutive of the treasury stock or the two-class method. For all periods presented, the two-class method was more dilutive.

The following table summarizes the impact of the two-class method:



	Years ended December 31,
(in millions, except per share information)	2018		2017		2016
Basic EPS
Net earnings	$	5,687	$	5,309	$	5,953
Earnings allocated to participating securities	30		26		30
Earnings available to common shareholders	$	5,657	$	5,283	$	5,923
Weighted-average basic shares outstanding	1,541		1,596		1,622
Basic earnings per share	$	3.67	$	3.31	$	3.65

Diluted EPS
Net earnings	$	5,687	$	5,309	$	5,953
Earnings allocated to participating securities	30		26		30
Earnings available to common shareholders	$	5,657	$	5,283	$	5,923
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding	1,541		1,596		1,622
Effect of dilutive securities	5		7		9
Weighted-average diluted shares outstanding	1,546		1,603		1,631
Diluted earnings per share	$	3.66	$	3.30	$	3.63

As further described in Note 12, AbbVie entered into and executed an accelerated share repurchase agreement (ASR) with a third party financial institution in 2016. For purposes of calculating EPS, AbbVie reflected the ASR as a repurchase of AbbVie common stock.

Certain shares issuable under stock-based compensation plans were excluded from the computation of EPS because the effect would have been antidilutive. The number of common shares excluded was insignificant for all periods presented.