The Company is required, in periods in which it has net income, to calculate basic earnings per share (“basic EPS”) using the two-class method. The two-class method is required because the Company’s shares of Series N preferred stock, each of which is convertible to 40 common shares, have the right to receive dividends or dividend equivalents should the Company declare dividends on its common stock. Under the two-class method, earnings for the period are allocated on a pro-rata basis to the common and preferred stockholders. The weighted-average number of common and preferred shares outstanding during the period is then used to calculate basic EPS for each class of shares. For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the earnings allocated to the outstanding preferred shares were not material.

In periods in which the Company records a net loss, basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. As the preferred stock does not participate in losses, the two-class method is not used in periods in which the Company records a net loss.

Stock options and other potential common shares are included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share (“diluted EPS”). In calculating diluted EPS, such shares are assumed to be exercised or converted, except when their effect would be anti-dilutive.

The table below shows the calculation of the number of shares used in computing diluted EPS:


	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024		2023
Basic weighted average shares outstanding		36,592,801		36,005,150
Treasury stock effect of common stock options and restricted stock awards		774,467		1,329,309
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding		37,367,268		37,334,459

For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, there were potential common shares of 0.2 million and 0.3 million, respectively, that were excluded from the computation of diluted EPS, as the inclusion of such common shares would have been anti-dilutive.