Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Note 17 - Stock-based Compensation Plans

v3.22.2
Note 17 - Stock-based Compensation Plans
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2022
Notes to Financial Statements  
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]

17. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

As of June 30, 2022, we had approximately 6 million shares remaining under the stock-based compensation plans available for grant. Option awards have a maximum contractual term of 10 years and generally must have an exercise price at least equal to the market price of our common stock on the date the option award is granted. Outstanding stock-based awards generally vest annually over a three-year period or in total at the end of a three-year period. Certain performance share unit awards vest in total at the end of a two-year period.

 

The compensation cost from continuing operations under the stock-based compensation plans for our Company and Huntsman International were as follows (dollars in millions):

   

Three months

   

Six months

 
   

ended

   

ended

 
   

June 30,

   

June 30,

 
   

2022

   

2021

   

2022

   

2021

 

Huntsman Corporation compensation cost

  $ 10     $ 7     $ 21     $ 16  

Huntsman International compensation cost

    10       7       19       15  

The total income tax benefit recognized in the condensed consolidated statements of operations for us and Huntsman International for stock-based compensation arrangements was $7 million and $1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Stock Options

The fair value of each stock option award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes valuation model that uses the assumptions noted in the following table. Expected volatilities are based on the historical volatility of our common stock through the grant date. The expected term of options granted was estimated based on the contractual term of the instruments and employees’ expected exercise and post-vesting employment termination behavior. The risk-free rate for periods within the contractual life of the option was based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant. The assumptions noted below represent the weighted average of the assumptions utilized for stock options granted during the periods.

   

Six months

 
   

ended

 
   

June 30,

 
     2022(1)      2021  

Dividend yield

 

NA

      2.3 %

Expected volatility

 

NA

      53.3 %

Risk-free interest rate

 

NA

      0.7 %

Expected life of stock options granted during the period (in years)

 

NA

      5.9  

 


(1)

During the six months ended  June 30, 2022, no stock options were granted.

A summary of stock option activity under the stock-based compensation plans as of June 30, 2022 and changes during the six months then ended is presented below:

                   

Weighted

         
           

Weighted

   

average

         
           

average

   

remaining

   

Aggregate

 
           

exercise

   

contractual

   

intrinsic

 

Option awards

 

Shares

   

price

   

term

   

value

 
   

(in thousands)

           

(years)

   

(in millions)

 

Outstanding at January 1, 2022

    4,054     $ 21.62                  

Granted

                           

Exercised

    (587 )     19.59                  

Forfeited

    (25 )     25.58                  

Outstanding at June 30, 2022

    3,442       21.94       5.2     $ 24  

Exercisable at June 30, 2022

    3,014       21.58       4.8       22  

As of June 30, 2022, there was approximately $3 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested stock option arrangements granted under the stock-based compensation plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 1.2 years. 

 

The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised during the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 was approximately $12 million and $8 million, respectively. Cash received from stock options exercised during both of the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 was approximately $6 million. The cash tax benefit from stock options exercised during both of the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 was approximately $2 million.

 

Nonvested Shares

Nonvested shares granted under the stock-based compensation plans consist of restricted stock and performance share unit awards, which are accounted for as equity awards, and phantom stock, which is accounted for as a liability award because it can be settled in either stock or cash. The fair value of each restricted stock and phantom stock award is estimated to be the closing stock price of Huntsman’s stock on the date of grant.

We grant two types of performance share unit awards. For one type of performance share unit award, the performance criteria are total stockholder return of our common stock relative to the total stockholder return of a specified industry peer group for the three-year performance periods. The fair value of each performance share unit award is estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model that uses various assumptions, including an expected volatility rate and a risk-free interest rate. For the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 , the weighted-average expected volatility rate was 43.5% and 44.8%, respectively, and the weighted average risk-free interest rate was 1.67% and 0.2%, respectively. For the performance share unit awards granted during the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, the number of shares earned varies based upon the Company achieving certain performance criteria over a three-year performance period.

 

During the first quarter of 2022, we began issuing a second type of performance award, which also includes a market condition. The performance criteria are our corporate free cash flow achieved relative to targets set by management, modified for the total stockholder return of our common stock relative to the total stockholder return of a specified industry peer group for the two-year performance period. The fair value of each performance share unit award is estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation model that uses various assumptions, including an expected volatility rate and a risk-free interest rate. For the six months ended  June 30, 2022, the weighted-average expected volatility rate was 37.9% and the weighted average risk-free interest rate was 1.43%. For the performance share unit awards granted during the six months ended June 30, 2022, the number of shares earned varies based upon the Company achieving certain performance criteria over a two-year performance period.

 

A summary of the status of our nonvested shares as of June 30, 2022 and changes during the six months then ended is presented below:

   

Equity awards

   

Liability awards

 
             

Weighted

           

Weighted

 
             

average

           

average

 
             

grant-date

           

grant-date

 
   

Shares

     

fair value

   

Shares

   

fair value

 
   

(in thousands)

             

(in thousands)

         

Nonvested at January 1, 2022

    2,178       $ 25.07       367     $ 24.91  

Granted

    713  

(1)

    48.09       102       41.04  

Vested

    (1,046 )

(2)(3)

    23.11       (188 )     24.00  

Forfeited

    (21 )       28.04       (9 )     27.03  

Nonvested at June 30, 2022

    1,824         35.15       272       31.52  

 


(1) This table reflects the target number of performance share unit awards granted during the period. Due to the terms of the awards and management’s current assessment of our free cash flow performance compared to the award thresholds, it is estimated that an additional 216,085 awards with a grant date fair value of $45.04 may be issued when the awards vest in the first quarter of 2024.

 

(2)

As of June 30, 2022, a total of 106,285 restricted stock units were vested but not yet issued, of which 7,066 vested during the six months ended June 30, 2022. These shares have not been reflected as vested shares in this table because, in accordance with the restricted stock unit agreements, shares of common stock are not issued for vested restricted stock units until termination of employment.

(3)

A total of 193,623 performance share unit awards are reflected in the vested shares in this table, which represents the target number of performance share unit awards for this grant and were included in the balance at December 31, 2021. During the six months ended June 30, 2022, an additional 96,814 performance share unit awards with a grant date fair value of $29.68 were issued due to the target performance criteria being exceeded.

 

As of June 30, 2022, there was approximately $54 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested share compensation arrangements granted under the stock-based compensation plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 1.9 years. The value of share awards that vested during the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 was approximately $32 million and $18 million, respectively.

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