Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Stock-Based Compensation

v3.10.0.1
Stock-Based Compensation
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]  
Stock-Based Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans
Stock-Based Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans
Common Stock

On March 29, 2017, each share of the Company’s then outstanding Class A common stock and Class B common stock automatically converted into a single class of common stock pursuant to the terms of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. Also on March 29, 2017, the shares underlying outstanding stock options, restricted stock units and restricted stock awards automatically converted to rights to receive shares of a single class of common stock. The conversion had no impact on the total number of issued and outstanding shares of capital stock; the Class A shares and Class B shares converted into an equivalent number of shares of common stock. The board of directors approved a reduction in the Company’s total number of authorized shares of capital stock by 65,445,853 from 1,575,000,000 to 1,509,554,147 to account for the 58,876,053 shares of Class A common stock and 6,569,800 shares of Class B common stock retired upon conversion, such that the authorized number of shares of Class A common stock is 441,123,947 and the authorized number of shares of Class B common stock is 493,430,200. No additional Class A shares or Class B shares will be issued following the conversion. The authorized number of shares of common stock and preferred stock remain unchanged at 550,000,000 shares and 25,000,000 shares, respectively.
Following the conversion, each share of common stock is entitled to one vote per share and otherwise has the same designations, rights, powers and preferences as the Class A common stock prior to the conversion. In addition, holders of the common stock vote as a single class of stock on any matter that is submitted to a vote of stockholders. Prior to the conversion, the holders of the Company’s Class A and Class B common stock had identical voting rights, except that holders of Class A common stock were entitled to one vote per share and holders of Class B common stock were entitled to ten votes per share with respect to transactions that would result in a change of control of the Company or that relate to the Company’s equity incentive plans. In addition, holders of Class B common stock had the exclusive right to elect two members of the Company’s Board of Directors, each referred to as a Class B Director. The shares of Class B common stock were not publicly traded. Each share of Class B common stock was convertible at any time at the option of the holder into one share of Class A common stock and in most instances automatically converted upon sale or other transfer.
Employee Compensation Plans
At December 31, 2018, the Company had stock-based compensation awards outstanding under the following plans: the 2004 Stock Plan, the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, or 2010 Plan, and the 2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP, and plans under which equity incentive awards were assumed in connection with the acquisitions of Entropic in 2015 and Exar Corporation in 2017. All current stock awards are issued under the 2010 Plan and ESPP.
2010 Equity Incentive Plan
The 2010 Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options, non-statutory stock options, restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, stock appreciation rights, performance-based stock awards, and other forms of equity compensation, or collectively, stock awards. The aggregate number of shares of common stock that may be issued pursuant to stock awards under the 2010 Plan will increase by any shares subject to stock options or other awards granted under the 2004 Stock Plan that expire or otherwise terminate without having been exercised in full and shares issued pursuant to awards granted under the 2004 Stock Plan that are forfeited to or repurchased by the Company. In addition, the number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance will automatically increase on the first day of each fiscal year, equal to the lesser of: 2,583,311 shares of the Company’s common stock; four percent (4%) of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year; or such lesser amount as the Company’s board of directors may determine. Options granted will generally vest over a four year period and the term can be from seven to ten years.
In December 2018, the Company's board of directors approved an amendment to the plan to add a clawback policy, which requires the Company's executive officers to repay to MaxLinear certain incentive compensation if (i) the Company restates its financial statements as a result of a material error or due to material non-compliance with reporting requirements under applicable law; (ii) no more than three (3) years have elapsed since the original filing date of the financial statements; and (iii) an independent committee of the board’s compensation committee determines, in its sole discretion, that the misreporting event occurred due to fraud or intentional misconduct within MaxLinear and, following consideration of such factors as the committee may deem reasonable and appropriate, including the extent to which an executive officer knew or should have known of the factors resulting in the misreporting, that the executive officer should repay any “recoverable compensation.” Recoverable compensation is defined in the clawback policy but generally includes any cash or equity compensation paid to executive officers under the Company's Executive Incentive Bonus Plan or 2010 Equity Incentive Plan to the extent the amount actually paid by MaxLinear exceeds the amount that would have been paid if the financial misreporting event had not occurred. To date, there has been no repayment of compensation from executive officers pursuant to such clawback policy.
As of December 31, 2018, the number of shares reserved for future issuance under the 2010 Plan and awards outstanding under the 2004 Plan are 12,800,027 shares and 553,710 shares, respectively.
2010 Employee Stock Purchase Plan
The ESPP authorizes the issuance of shares of the Company’s common stock pursuant to purchase rights granted to the Company’s employees. The number of shares of the Company’s common stock reserved for issuance will automatically increase on the first day of each fiscal year, equal to the least of: 968,741 shares of the Company’s common stock; one and a quarter percent (1.25%) of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock on the first day of the fiscal year; or such lesser amount as may be determined by the Company's board of directors or a committee appointed by the Company's board of directors to administer the ESPP. The ESPP is implemented through a series of offerings of purchase rights to eligible employees. Under the ESPP, the Company may specify offerings with a duration of not more than 27 months, and may specify shorter purchase periods within each offering. Each offering will have one or more purchase dates on which shares of the Company’s common stock will be purchased for employees participating in the offering. An offering may be terminated under certain circumstances. Generally, all eligible employees, including executive officers, employed by the Company may participate in the ESPP and may contribute up to 15% of their earnings for the purchase of the Company’s common stock under the ESPP. Unless otherwise determined by the Company’s board of directors, common stock will be purchased for accounts of employees participating in the ESPP at a price per share equal to the lower of (a) 85% of the fair market value of a share of the Company’s common stock on the first date of an offering or (b) 85% of the fair market value of a share of the Company’s common stock on the date of purchase. As of December 31, 2018, the number of shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under the ESPP is 2,130,864 shares.
Employee Incentive Bonus
In May 2013, the Company's compensation committee amended its Executive Incentive Bonus Plan to permit the settlement of awards under the plan in any combination of cash or shares of its common stock. Additionally, the Company settles a majority of bonus awards for all other employees in common stock. When bonus awards are settled in common stock issued under the 2010 Plan, the number of shares issuable to plan participants is determined based on the closing sales price of the Company's common stock as determined in trading on the New York Stock Exchange on the date approved by the Board of Directors. In February 2018, the Company issued 0.3 million freely-tradable shares of its common stock in settlement of bonus awards to employees, including executives, for the 2017 performance period. In February 2017, the Company issued 0.2 million freely-tradable shares of its Class A common stock in settlement of bonus awards to employees, including executives, for the July 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 performance period. In August 2016, the Company issued 0.2 million freely-tradable shares of its Class A common stock in settlement of bonus awards to employees, including executives, for the January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2016 performance period. At December 31, 2018, an accrual of $8.9 million was recorded for bonus awards for employees for the January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018 performance period, which the Company intends to settle in shares of its common stock to be issued under its 2010 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, with the number of shares issuable to plan participants determined based on the closing sales price of the Company’s common stock as determined in trading on the New York Stock Exchange at a date to be determined. The Company's compensation committee retains discretion to effect payment in cash, stock, or a combination of cash and stock.
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense in the consolidated statements of operations, based on the department to which the related employee reports, as follows:
 
Years Ended December 31,
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
 
(in thousands)
Cost of net revenue
$
489

 
$
332

 
$
210

Research and development
17,953

 
16,190

 
14,403

Selling, general and administrative
13,279

 
11,016

 
7,152

Restructuring expense

 
5,130

 

 
$
31,721

 
$
32,668

 
$
21,765


The total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested restricted stock units as of December 31, 2018 was $53.4 million, and the weighted average period over which these equity awards are expected to vest is 2.62 years. The total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options as of December 31, 2018 was $4.5 million, and the weighted average period over which these equity awards are expected to vest is 2.84 years.
Restricted Stock Units and Restricted Stock Awards
The Company calculates the fair value of restricted stock units and restricted stock awards based on the fair market value of the Company’s common stock (formerly Class A common stock) on the grant date. Stock-based compensation expense is recognized over the vesting period using the straight-line method.
A summary of the Company’s restricted stock unit and restricted stock award activity for the year ended December 31, 2018 is as follows:
 
Number of Shares
(in thousands)
 
Weighted-Average Grant-Date Fair Value per Share
Outstanding at December 31, 2017
3,183

 
$
20.13

  Granted
2,460

 
19.40

  Vested
(1,736
)
 
18.64

  Canceled
(644
)
 
20.90

Outstanding at December 31, 2018
3,263

 
20.23


Employee Stock Purchase Rights and Stock Options
The Company uses the Black-Scholes valuation model to calculate the grant-date fair value of employee stock purchase rights and stock options. Stock-based compensation expense is recognized over the vesting period using the straight-line method.
Employee Stock Purchase Rights
During the year ended December 31, 2018, there were 275,782 shares of common stock purchased under the ESPP at a weighted average price of $16.14.
The fair values of employee stock purchase rights were estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model at their respective grant date using the following assumptions:
 
Years Ended December 31,
 
2018
 
2017
 
2016
Weighted-average grant date fair value per share
$5.01 - $5.37

 
$6.20 - $7.46

 
$5.85 - $6.20

Risk-free interest rate
2.09 - 2.51%

 
0.60 - 1.39%

 
0.38 - 0.6%

Dividend yield
%
 
%
 
%
Expected term (in years)
0.5

 
0.38 - 0.50

 
0.5

Volatility
38.82 - 46.17%

 
29.56 - 49.94%

 
49.94 - 53.94%


The risk-free interest rate assumption was based on the United States Treasury’s rates for U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds with maturities similar to those of the expected term of the award being valued. The assumed dividend yield was based on the Company’s expectation of not paying dividends in the foreseeable future. The expected term is the duration of the offering period for each grant date. In addition, the estimated volatility incorporates the historical volatility over the expected term based on the Company's daily closing stock prices.

Stock Options
A summary of the Company’s stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2018 is as follows:
 
Number of Options
(in thousands)
 
Weighted-Average Exercise Price
 
Weighted-Average Contractual Term
(in years)
 
Aggregate Intrinsic Value
(in thousands)
Outstanding at December 31, 2017
3,069

 
$
8.95

 
 
 
 
Granted
335

 
18.40

 
 
 
 
Exercised
(636
)
 
7.04

 
 
 
 
Canceled
(109
)
 
16.82

 
 
 
 
Outstanding at December 31, 2018
2,659

 
$
10.27

 
2.23
 
$
20,800

Vested and expected to vest at December 31, 2018
2,630

 
$
10.19

 
2.19
 
$
20,782

Exercisable at December 31, 2018
2,184

 
$
8.71

 
1.43
 
$
20,322



The fair values of stock options granted were estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model on the grant date using the following assumptions:
 
Years Ended December 31,
 
2018
 
2017(1)
 
2016(2)
Weighted-average grant date fair value per share
$
8.14

 
8.77 - 21.04

 
N/A
Risk-free interest rate
2.76
%
 
1.29% - 1.99%

 
N/A
Dividend yield
%
 
%
 
N/A
Expected term (in years)
5.5

 
1.6 - 6.0

 
N/A
Volatility
44.30
%
 
45.39% - 50.32%

 
N/A

_____________
(1) On May 12, 2017, the Company assumed certain stock options and restricted stock units from Exar. The assumptions above pertain to the Company's estimates of the fair value of such assumed equity awards, of which the vested portion was allocated to purchase price and the unvested portion allocated to future unrecognized compensation expense to be recognized over the remaining service period of the awards.
 
(2) No options were granted during the year ended December 31, 2016.
The risk-free interest rate assumption was based on the United States Treasury’s rates for U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds with maturities similar to those of the expected term of the award being valued. The assumed dividend yield was based on the Company’s expectation of not paying dividends in the foreseeable future. The expected term of the options was calculated using the simplified method as prescribed by guidance provided by the SEC. This decision was based on the lack of historical data due to the Company’s limited number of stock option exercises under the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan. Estimated volatility incorporates historical volatility of the Company over the expected term based on the Company's daily closing stock prices.
The intrinsic value of stock options exercised during 2018, 2017 and 2016 was $8.1 million, $16.3 million, and $6.5 million, respectively. Cash received from exercise of stock options was $0.7 million, $7.9 million and $3.6 million during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The tax benefit from stock options exercised was $7.8 million, $11.9 million, and $5.7 million during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.