STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Entergy Corporation)

Entergy grants stock and stock-based awards, which are described more fully in Note 12 to the financial statements in the Form 10-K. Awards under Entergy’s plans generally vest over three years.

Stock Options

Entergy granted options on 687,400 shares of its common stock under the 2015 Equity Ownership Plan during the first quarter 2018 with a fair value of $6.99 per option. As of March 31, 2018, there were options on 4,393,990 shares of common stock outstanding with a weighted-average exercise price of $74.39. The intrinsic value, which has no effect on net income, of the outstanding stock options is calculated by the positive difference between the weighted average exercise price of the stock options granted and Entergy Corporation’s common stock price as of March 31, 2018. The aggregate intrinsic value of the stock options outstanding as of March 31, 2018 was $19.3 million.

The following table includes financial information for outstanding stock options for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017:



	2018		2017
	(In Millions)
Compensation expense included in Entergy’s net income		$1.1		$1.1
Tax benefit recognized in Entergy’s net income		$0.3		$0.4
Compensation cost capitalized as part of fixed assets and inventory		$0.2		$0.2

Other Equity Awards

In January 2018 the Board approved and Entergy granted 333,850 restricted stock awards and 182,408 long-term incentive awards under the 2015 Equity Ownership Plan. The restricted stock awards were made effective as of January 25, 2018 and were valued at $78.08 per share, which was the closing price of Entergy’s common stock on that date. One-third of the restricted stock awards will vest upon each anniversary of the grant date. In addition, long-term incentive awards were granted in the form of performance units that represent the value of, and are settled with, one share of Entergy Corporation common stock at the end of the three-year performance period, plus dividends accrued during the performance period on the number of performance units earned. Beginning with the 2018-2020 performance period, a cumulative utility earnings metric has been added to the Long-Term Performance Unit Program to supplement the relative total shareholder return measure that historically has been used in this program with each measure equally weighted. The performance units were granted effective as of January 25, 2018 and half were valued at $78.08 per share, the closing price of Entergy’s common stock on that date; and half were valued at $86.75 per share based on various factors, primarily market conditions. See Note 12 to the financial statements in the Form 10-K for a description of the Long-Term Performance Unit Program. Shares of restricted stock have the same dividend and voting rights as other common stock, are considered issued and outstanding shares of Entergy upon vesting, and are expensed ratably over the 3-year vesting period. Performance units have the same dividend rights as shares of Entergy common stock, are considered issued and outstanding shares of Entergy upon vesting, and are expensed ratably over the 3-year vesting period.

The following table includes financial information for other outstanding equity awards for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017:



	2018		2017
	(In Millions)
Compensation expense included in Entergy’s net income		$8.8		$8.2
Tax benefit recognized in Entergy’s net income		$2.2		$3.1
Compensation cost capitalized as part of fixed assets and inventory		$2.3		$2.0