GlossarySummary Compensation Table columns
Stock awards
Also called stock award, RSU/PSU value.
The grant-date fair value of stock-based awards (typically RSUs, restricted stock, and PSUs) reported in the SCT Stock Awards column.
What it is
Stock awards in the SCT are the grant-date fair value of full-value equity granted in the fiscal year: restricted stock, restricted stock units, and performance share units (and similar instruments). The number is an accounting value, not the number of shares that will later vest and not the cash from a future sale.
CompensationBase maps RSU, PSU, and restricted-stock headers into this column. Option awards sit next to it. Together they are “equity” for mix bars and unusual-grant-year tests.
Why companies use it
Full-value stock is the default long-term vehicle at most S&P 500 companies. It delivers shares (or cash-settled share equivalents) if the executive stays and, for PSUs, if performance hurdles are met.
Committees like RSUs because value moves one-for-one with the stock and because they are easier to explain than options.
Pros
- Aligns a slice of wealth with shareholders without requiring an exercise decision.
- Retains executives through vesting.
- Grant-date reporting shows the year’s award size in one number.
Cons
- Time-based RSUs pay even if performance is mediocre, as long as the executive stays and the stock has value.
- A multi-year grant hits one SCT year.
- PSU grant-date value can be a poor forecast of shares actually delivered.
Examples
Annual RSU
Target LTI of $12 million granted as RSUs in March appears as about $12 million in Stock Awards for that fiscal year, then vests over three years. Later SCT years show new grants, not the vesting.
PSU at target
A PSU program might pay 0–200% of target. The SCT typically shows the target (or probable) grant-date value. Vesting at 200% does not rewrite the old SCT; it shows up in shares delivered and in Form 4s.
On CompensationBase
Stock awards are ranked and shown as a component. The number is grant-date fair value of RSUs, restricted stock, and PSUs as reported, not shares later delivered.
Related terms
- Restricted stock unit
A promise to deliver shares (or cash equivalent) after vesting. RSU grant-date value is reported in SCT Stock Awards, not when the shares later vest.
- Performance share unit
An equity award that vests based on performance goals such as relative TSR or EPS. The SCT reports grant-date fair value, which can differ from shares that later actually vest.
- Grant-date fair value
The accounting value of equity awards on the day they are granted, which is what the Summary Compensation Table reports for stock and option awards—not the value later realized when shares vest or are sold.
- Option awards
The grant-date fair value of stock options and stock appreciation rights reported in the SCT Option Awards column.