SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

The following table presents share-based compensation expense recognized by the Company and unrecognized compensation cost:


	Share-Based Compensation								Unrecognized Compensation Cost
	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2021		2020		2021		2020		As of June 30, 2021
Carry Unit Plan	$	44	$	3,937	$	803	$	7,057	$	—
Awards issued pursuant to LTIP:
Stock Option Awards	24,473		25,327		48,696		45,676		102,654
Performance Stock Units	2,868		4,419		5,850		8,320		57,633
Restricted Awards	261		635		578		1,211		305
	$	27,646	$	34,318	$	55,927	$	62,264	$	160,592

Carry Unit Plan

The following table summarizes activity relating to the Company's Carry Unit Plan:


	Number of Time Vesting Awards	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value







Balance, December 31, 2020	6,875,000	$	3.41
Vested	(6,875,000)	3.41

Balance, June 30, 2021	—

The weighted average fair value per unit was $3.89 as of December 31, 2020.

Stock Option Awards

The following table summarizes activity related to stock options granted to Company employees:


	Shares Under Option	Weighted Average Exercise Price Per Share		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	Aggregate Intrinsic Value (a)
Balance at December 31, 2020	37,062,146	$	25.52	8.69	$	457,608
Granted	896,398	34.45
Exercised	(1,206,372)	17.45
Forfeited	(655,043)	26.83
Balance at June 30, 2021	36,097,129	25.99		8.10	294,984
Options exercisable at June 30, 2021	3,854,992	$	20.00	6.84	$	54,504

(a)The aggregate intrinsic value is calculated as the difference between the exercise price and the closing price of Altice USA's Class A common stock at the respective date.

The total unrecognized compensation cost related to stock options is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.36 years.

The following weighted-average assumptions were used to calculate the fair values of stock option awards granted during the six months ended June 30, 2021:


Risk-free interest rate			1.03%
Expected life (in years)			6.25
Dividend yield			—%
Volatility			32.94%
Grant date fair value			$11.45

Performance Stock Unit Awards

As of June 30, 2021, the Company had 7,313,873 PSUs outstanding. The PSUs have a weighted average grant date fair value of $10.65 per unit. The total unrecognized compensation cost related to outstanding PSUs is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 4.51 years.