Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Stock-based Compensation

v3.24.1
Stock-based Compensation
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Stock-based Compensation Stock-based Compensation
2020 Equity Incentive Plan
On December 21, 2020, the stockholders of the Company approved the 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the "2020 Equity Plan”), authorizing 26.9 million common shares to be reserved for issuance of stock options, restricted stock units awards ("RSU") and other stock awards. Under the 2020 Equity Plan, employees are compensated through various forms of equity, including RSUs. Each RSU represents a contingent right to receive one share of the Company’s Common Stock. Performance stock unit awards ("PSU") represent the right to receive a share of the Company’s Common Stock if service, performance, and market conditions, or a combination thereof, are satisfied over a defined period.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, 24.5 million RSUs and no PSUs were granted under the 2020 Equity Plan. For the year ended December 31, 2022, 15.3 million RSUs and 4.7 million PSUs were granted under the 2020 Equity Plan.
Restricted Stock Awards

From November 4, 2018 to May 6, 2019, Legacy Canoo sold restricted shares to the founders, which include certain investors, subject to certain vesting conditions. The vesting conditions were amended on December 18, 2020, of which the time-based portion was amended with cliff vesting on March 18, 2020 with the remaining shares vesting over 36 months thereafter. The compensation expense recognized for the restricted stock awards was $0.2 million and $4.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Restricted Stock Units
The Company granted RSUs throughout 2023 and 2022 to compensate existing employees and attract top talent, primarily subject to time-based vesting.
Shares Weighted- Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested at December 31, 2022 17,252  $ 4.87 
Granted 24,524  0.64 
Vested (7,562) 7.34 
Forfeited (8,332) 5.21 
Unvested at December 31, 2023 25,882  $ 5.69 
The total fair value of restricted stock units granted during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, were $14.3 million and $56.9 million, respectively. The compensation expense recognized for the restricted stock units was $16.4 million and $50.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units
PSUs represent the right to receive a share of Common Stock if service, performance, and market conditions, or a combination thereof, are met over a defined period. PSUs that contain a market condition, such as stock price milestones, are subject to a Monte-Carlo simulation model to determine the grant date fair value by simulating a range of possible future stock prices for the Company over the performance period. The grant date fair value of the market condition PSUs is recognized as compensation expense over the greater of the Monte Carlo simulation model’s derived service period and the arrangement’s explicit service period, assuming both conditions must be met.
PSUs subject to performance conditions, such as operational milestones, are measured on the grant date, the total fair value of which is calculated as the product of the number of PSUs and the grant date stock price. Compensation expense for PSUs with a performance condition is recorded each period based upon a probability assessment of the expected outcome of the performance metric with a final adjustment upon measurement at the end of the performance period. The PSUs vest based on the Company's achievement of certain specified operational milestones by various dates through December 2025. The Company granted zero PSUs to employees during the year ended December 31, 2023. The Company granted 4.7 million PSUs to employees during the year ended December 31, 2022 with a total grant date fair value of $14.5 million. As of December 31, 2023, the Company's analysis determined that these operational milestone events are probable of achievement and as such, compensation expense of $0.3 million and $6.9 million has been recognized for the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
There were no PSUs granted to the CEO during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. The compensation expense recognized for previously awarded PSUs to the CEO was $12.8 million and $17.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.
The activity for performance-based restricted stock units in the year ended December 31, 2023 was as follows (in thousands, except weighted-average grant-date fair value amounts):

Shares Weighted- Average Grant-Date Fair Value
Unvested at December 31, 2022 14,160  $ 4.80 
Granted —  — 
Vested —  — 
Forfeited (1,656) 3.00 
Unvested at December 31, 2023 12,504  $ 2.67 
The following table summarizes the Company’s total stock-based compensation expense by line item for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):
Year Ended December 31,
2023 2022
Research and development $ 6,711  $ 31,083 
Selling, general and administrative 23,495  48,490 
Total
$ 30,206  $ 79,573 
The Company's total unrecognized compensation cost as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $21.0 million     and $64.2 million, respectively.
2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan
The 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2020 ESPP”) was adopted by the board of directors on September 18, 2020, approved by the stockholders on December 18, 2020, and became effective on December 21, 2020 with the merger between HCAC and Legacy Canoo. On December 21, 2020, the board of directors delegated its authority to administer the 2020 ESPP to the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee determined that it is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders to implement successive three-month purchase periods, with the first offering period commencing on grant date January 3, 2022 and a purchase date of April 1, 2022. The 2020 ESPP provides participating employees with the opportunity to purchase up to a maximum number of shares of Common Stock of 4.0 million, plus the number of shares of Common Stock that are automatically added on January 1st of each year for a period of ten years, in an amount equal to the lesser of (i) 1.0% of the total number of shares of Common Stock outstanding on December 31st of the preceding calendar year, and (ii) 8.1 million shares of Common Stock.
During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, total employee withholding contributions for the 2020 ESPP were $1.0 million and $2.9 million, respectively. Approximately $0.4 million and $1.3 million of stock-based compensation expense was recognized for the 2020 ESPP during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.