Equity

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Equity [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

Equity

Reverse Stock Split

See Note 1 - Basis of Presentation for disclosures related to our four-to-one reverse common stock split.

Equity Plans

We provide long-term incentives to eligible officers, directors, and employees in the form of equity-based awards.  We maintain three equity incentive compensation plans, collectively described below as our Equity Plans:

• the 2000 Stock Option Plan (2000 Plan),

• the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (2010 Equity Plan),

• the 2012 Equity Incentive Plan (2012 Equity Plan).

The 2000 Plan expired in February 2010 and no additional shares are available for grant under this plan. However certain stock options issued under the 2000 Plan are still outstanding and exercisable.

The total number of stock-based awards that may be granted under the 2010 Equity Plan is 1,750,000 stock-based awards.

In March 2012, our shareholders approved the 2012 Equity Plan at our 2012 Shareholder Annual Meeting and authorized the reservation of 1,000,000 shares of EMCORE common stock for issuance under the 2012 Equity Plan. Employees, non-employee directors, and consultants of EMCORE and its subsidiaries are eligible to receive awards of EMCORE common stock, stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance units, or stock purchase rights at the Compensation Committee's discretion.

We issue new shares of common stock to satisfy awards issued under our Equity Plans.

Stock Options

Most of our stock options vest and become exercisable over a four to five year period and have a contractual life of ten years. Certain stock options awarded are intended to qualify as incentive stock options pursuant to Section 422A of the Internal Revenue Code.

The following table summarizes the activity related to stock options under the Equity Plans:

Stock Option Activity	Number of Shares	Weighted Average Exercise Price	Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (*) (in thousands)
Outstanding as of September 30, 2011	2,259,197	$17.76	6.43
Granted	32,353	$4.06
Exercised	(4,480)	$4.76		$3,000
Forfeited	(97,197)	$9.35
Expired	(80,841)	$18.28
Outstanding as of June 30, 2012	2,109,032	$17.95	5.54
Exercisable as of June 30, 2012	1,622,462	$21.54	4.89	$25,000
Vested and expected to vest as of June 30, 2012	2,056,013	$18.26	5.47	$83,000

(*) Intrinsic value for stock options represents the “in-the-money” portion or the positive variance between a stock option's exercise price and the underlying stock price.

As of June 30, 2012, there was approximately $1.5 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, related to non-vested stock options granted under the Equity Plans which is expected to be recognized over an estimated weighted average life of 2.1 years.

The fair value of each stock option grant was estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option valuation model, adhering to the straight-line attribution approach using the following weighted-average assumptions, of which the expected term and stock price volatility rate are highly subjective:

	For the Three Months Ended June 30,				For the Nine Months Ended June 30,
	2012		2011		2012		2011
Black-Scholes weighted average assumptions:
Expected dividend rate	—	%	—	%	—	%	—	%
Expected stock price volatility rate	104.2	%	101.3	%	104.4	%	99.2	%
Risk-free interest rate	0.8	%	1.7	%	0.8	%	1.4	%
Expected term (in years)	5.0		5.0		5.0		4.9
Weighted average grant date fair value per share of stock options granted:	$3.04		$6.92		$3.09		$4.24

Restricted Stock

Restricted stock awards (RSAs) and restricted stock units (RSUs) granted under the 2010 Equity Plan and 2012 Equity Plan typically vest over three years and are subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to the lapse of the restrictions. RSAs are considered issued and outstanding shares on the grant date and have the same dividend and voting rights as other common stock. RSUs are not considered issued or outstanding common stock until they vest.

The following table summarizes the activity related to RSAs and RSUs:

Restricted Stock Activity	Restricted Stock Awards			Restricted Stock Units
	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value	Number of Shares		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Non-vested as of September 30, 2011	410,650		$5.80	308,048		$6.20
Granted	—		—	839,885		$3.88
Vested	(132,758	)	$5.80	(221,198	)	$3.82
Forfeited	(20,502	)	$5.68	(60,952	)	$4.64
Non-vested as of June 30, 2012	257,390		$5.81	865,783		$4.66

Restricted stock awards: As of June 30, 2012, there was approximately $0.9 million of remaining unamortized stock-based compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, associated with RSAs, which will be expensed over a weighted average remaining service period of approximately 1.6 years.

Restricted stock units: As of June 30, 2012, there was approximately $2.5 million of remaining unamortized stock-based compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, associated with RSUs, which will be expensed over a weighted average remaining service period of approximately 2.4 years. As of June 30, 2012, the total outstanding non-vested RSUs have an aggregate intrinsic value of approximately $3.8 million and a weighted average remaining contractual term of 1.4 years. Approximately 766,000 RSUs are expected to vest and have an aggregate intrinsic value of approximately $3.4 million and a weighted average remaining contractual term of 1.3 years.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

At the 2012 Annual Meeting, our shareholders approved an amendment to our 2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) that increased the total number of shares of common stock on which options may be granted under the ESPP to 2,250,000 shares.

Stock-based compensation

The effect of recording stock-based compensation expense was as follows:

Stock-based Compensation Expense - by award type (in thousands)	For the Three Months Ended June 30,				For the Nine Months Ended June 30,
	2012		2011		2012		2011
Employee stock options	$	232	$	2,224	$	2,367	$	3,945
Restricted stock awards and units	605		213		2,126		303
Employee stock purchase plan	124		207		537		419
401(k) match in common stock	280		288		755		752
Outside director fees in common stock	34		29		212		153
Total stock-based compensation expense	$	1,275	$	2,961	$	5,997	$	5,572

Stock-based Compensation Expense - by expense type (in thousands, except per share data)	For the Three Months Ended June 30,				For the Nine Months Ended June 30,
	2012		2011		2012		2011
Cost of revenue	$	220	$	614	$	1,289	$	1,067
Selling, general, and administrative	708		1,342		2,954		2,898
Research and development	347		1,005		1,754		1,607
Total stock-based compensation expense	$	1,275	$	2,961	$	5,997	$	5,572
Net effect on net loss per basic and diluted share	$(0.05)		$(0.13)		$(0.26)		$(0.25)

Loss Per Share. Our loss per share amounts were calculated by dividing net loss applicable to common stock by the weighted average number of common stock shares outstanding for the period and it is presented in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. For the three and nine months ended June 30, 2012, stock options representing 2,109,032 shares of common stock, non-vested restricted stock awards representing 257,390 shares of common stock, non-vested restricted stock units representing 865,783 shares of common stock, and outstanding warrants representing 750,010 shares of common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share since we incurred a net loss for these periods and any effect would have been anti-dilutive. For the three and nine months ended June 30, 2011, stock options representing 2,274,387 shares of common stock, non-vested restricted stock awards representing 415,225 shares of common stock, and outstanding warrants representing 750,010 shares of common stock were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share since we incurred a net loss for these periods and any effect would have been anti-dilutive. For the three and nine months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, non-vested restricted stock awards, which are considered participating securities, were excluded from the computation of basic earnings per share since we incurred a net loss for these periods.

Future Issuances

As of June 30, 2012, we had common stock reserved for the following future issuances:

Future Issuances	Number of Common Stock Shares Available for Future Issuances
Exercise of outstanding stock options	2,109,032
Purchases under the employee stock purchase plan	900,956
Issuance of stock-based awards under the Equity Plans	1,033,685
Exercise of outstanding warrants	750,010
Purchases under the officer and director share purchase plan	96,446
Total reserved	4,890,129