20. STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

In 2015, the Board of Directors approved the adoption of the 2015 stock incentive plan (the “2015 Plan”). The 2015 Plan allowed for the award of incentive and nonqualified stock options, restricted stock, and other stock-based awards to employees, officers, directors, consultants, and advisers of the Company. Awards could be made under the 2015 Plan for up to 26,283,789 shares of Common Stock. Option awards expire 10 years from the grant date and generally vest over four years; however, vesting conditions can vary at the discretion of our Board of Directors.

As part of the acquisition of Make Composites, Inc. (“Make”) in 2019, the Company assumed the 2018 equity incentive plan of Make (the “Make Plan”). The Make Plan allows for the award of incentive and nonqualified stock options and warrants for those

employees and contractors that were hired as part of the acquisition. The Make Plan allowed for 232,304 options and warrants to be issued, which were issued in 2019, with no additional options to be issued in the future. Option awards expire 10 years from the grant date and generally vest over four years; however, vesting conditions can vary at the discretion of our Board of Directors.

In December 2020, the Board of Directors and stockholders of the Company approved the adoption of the 2020 Incentive Award Plan (the “2020 Plan” and together with the 2015 Plan and the Make Plan, the “Plans”), which became effective on the date of the Business Combination. Upon effectiveness of the 2020 Plan, the Company ceased granting new awards under the 2015 Plan.

The 2020 Plan allows for the award of incentive and nonqualified stock options, restricted stock, and other stock-based awards to employees, officers, directors, consultants, and advisers of the Company. The number of shares of common stock initially available for issuance under the 2020 Plan was 12,400,813 shares of common stock plus the number of shares subject to awards outstanding under the 2015 Plan that expire, lapse, terminate, or are exchanged for cash, surrendered, repurchased, or canceled without having been fully exercised or forfeited. In addition, the number of shares of common stock available for issuance under the 2020 Plan is subject to an annual increase on the first day of each calendar year beginning on January 1, 2021 and ending on and including January 1, 2030 equal to the lesser of (i) 5% of the aggregate number of shares of common stock outstanding on the final day of the immediately preceding calendar year and (ii) such smaller number of shares as is determined by the Board of Directors. On January 1, 2021, 11,337,837 shares were added as available for issuance to the 2020 Plan.

Stock Options

The Company grants stock options at exercise prices deemed by the Board of Directors to be equal to the fair value of the Common Stock at the time of grant. The fair value of Common Stock has been determined by the Board of Directors of the Company at each stock option measurement date based on a variety of different factors, including the results obtained from independent third-party appraisals, the Company’s consolidated financial position and historical financial performance, the status of technological development within the Company, the composition and ability of the current engineering and management team, an evaluation and benchmark of the Company’s competition, the current climate in the marketplace, the illiquid nature of the Common Stock, arm’s-length sales of the Company’s capital stock, and the prospects of a liquidity event, among others.

In July 2020 in order to incentivize and retain personnel, the Company repriced certain employee unvested stock options held by employees to have an exercise price equal to the most recent 409A private stock valuation. Vested awards were not eligible for repricing. Employees were allowed to opt out of the repricing of unvested stock option grants by providing notice to the Company within a month following the repricing. If an employee did not opt out of the repricing, all unvested options held by such employee were repriced and subject to a new vesting schedule. Repriced options vest over a period of four years from the date of the repricing, with one-year cliff vesting and monthly vesting thereafter. The repricing affected 116 employees, at an incremental compensation cost of $3.6 million to the Company, which will be recognized over the vesting period.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company did not grant any options to purchase shares of Common Stock to employees. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company granted options to purchase 8,450,799 shares of Common Stock to employees with a fair value of $29.8 million, calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following assumptions:

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During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company did not grant any options to purchase shares of Common Stock to non-employees. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company granted options to purchase 12,212 shares of Common Stock to non-employees with a fair value of $0.1 million, calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following assumptions:

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The risk-free interest rate assumption is based upon observed interest rates appropriate for the term of the related stock options. The expected life of stock options was calculated using the average of the contractual term of the option and the weighted-average vesting period of the option, as the Company does not have sufficient history to use an alternative method to the simplified method to calculate an expected life for employees. The Company has not paid a dividend and is not expected to pay a dividend in the foreseeable future. Expected volatility for the Common Stock was determined based on an average of the historical volatility of a peer group of similar public companies.

Performance-Based Stock Options (included above)

During the year ended December 31, 2020, 560,256 performance-based stock options were granted to key employees of the Company. These awards vest upon the achievement of certain performance milestones by the Company and prescribed service milestones by the employee. During the year ended December 31, 2021, no performance-based stock options vested and 83,958 performance-based stock options were forfeited during the year ended December 31, 2021 due to employee termination, resulting in the service period not being met. As of December 31, 2021, 476,298 performance-based stock options remain outstanding.

Assumed Stock Options

In connection with the acquisition of ExOne, the Company assumed 86,020 unvested stock options which are considered post-combination expense and were valued using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following assumptions:

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The risk-free interest rate assumption is based upon observed interest rates appropriate for the term of the related stock options. The expected life of stock options was calculated using the average of the contractual term of the option and the weighted-average vesting period of the option, as the Company does not have sufficient history to use an alternative method to the simplified method to calculate an expected life for employees. The Company has not paid a dividend and is not expected to pay a dividend in the foreseeable future. Expected volatility for the Common Stock was determined based on an average of the historical volatility of a peer group of similar public companies.

The option activity of the Plans for the year ended December 31, 2021, is as follows (shares in thousands):

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The weighted-average grant-date fair value for options granted during 2021 and 2020 was approximately $5.24 and $3.52, respectively. The aggregate intrinsic value of options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, was $57.2 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

On September 28, 2020 the Company modified the vesting conditions for certain awards granted to one of our officers such that in the event of a change in control, half of the outstanding unvested options would vest. Upon the Business Combination, the total incremental compensation expense resulting from the modification was approximately $1.8 million.

The total stock-based compensation expense related to stock options during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $6.9 million and $6.8 million respectively. Total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested stock options at December 31, 2021 aggregated $8.1 million and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.4 years.

Restricted Stock Awards

In connection with acquisitions, the Company has granted RSAs that are considered post-combination expense and accounted for as stock-based compensation as the shares vest.

The activity for stock subject to vesting under the Plans for the year ended December 31, 2021 is as follows (shares in thousands):

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The total stock-based compensation expense related to RSAs during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $3.1 million and $0.6 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, the total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested RSAs aggregated $1.8 million, and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.8 years.

Restricted Stock Units

RSUs awarded to employees and non-employees generally vest over four years from the anniversary date of the grant, with 1-year cliff vesting and quarterly vesting thereafter, provided service with the Company is not terminated. The fair value of RSUs is equal to the estimated fair market value of the Company’s Common Stock on the date of grant.

RSU activity under the 2020 Plan for the year ended December 31, 2021 is as follows (shares in thousands):

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The total stock-based compensation expense related to RSUs during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was $18.8 million and $0.6 million, respectively. Total unrecognized compensation costs related to unvested RSUs at December 31, 2021 was approximately $103.5 million and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 3.5 years.

Restricted stock units include awards that vest subject to certain performance and market-based criteria.

Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units (included above)

During the year ended December 31, 2021, 670,000 performance-based RSUs were granted to key employees of the Company. These awards vest upon the achievement of certain performance milestones by the Company and prescribed service milestones by the employee. No performance-based RSUs vested during the year ended December 31, 2021. 120,000 awards were forfeited during the year ended December 31, 2021 due to performance milestones not being achieved. As of December 31, 2021, 550,000 performance-based RSUs remain outstanding.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, 124,300 performance-based RSUs were granted to a key employee of the Company. This award vests upon the achievement of certain performance milestones by the Company and prescribed service milestones by the employee. None of these performance-based RSUs vested during the year ended December 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2021, 124,300 performance based RSUs remain outstanding.

Market-Based Restricted Stock Units (included above)

In October 2021 the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors awarded certain executive officers a total of up to 9,070,269 market-based restricted share units. These restricted stock units will vest and result in the issuance of shares of Common Stock based on continuing employment and the achievement of certain market conditions set by the Company.

The Company used a Monte Carlo simulation model to estimate the grant-date fair value of the restricted stock units granted in October 2021. The fair value is recorded as stock compensation expense in the consolidated statements of operations over the period from the date of grant to October 2026 regardless of the actual outcome achieved.

The table below sets forth the assumptions used to value the market-based awards and the estimated grant-date fair value:

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During the year ended December 31, 2021, one of the executive officers resigned from the Company, forfeiting his market-based award. As the service condition was not met prior to his resignation, no stock-based compensation expense was recorded for this award. As of December 31, 2021, 6,802,702 market-based restricted share units remain outstanding.

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Liability-Classified Share-Based Arrangement

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors provided performance goals and achievement criteria to certain key employees. If these performance criteria are met, the Company has committed to issue RSU grants with a target fair value of $8.5 million on the future grant date. The awards will vest upon prescribed service milestones of the employee subsequent to the achievement of the specified performance criteria. As of December 31, 2021, there is no fair value associated with these awards as the achievement of the performance criteria has not yet been deemed probable. The liability-classified awards have been excluded from the potentially dilutive securities table.

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

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Total stock-based compensation expense related to all of the Company’s stock-based awards granted is reported in the consolidated statements of operations as follows (in thousands):

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There were 9,693,395 shares available for award under the 2020 Plan at December 31, 2021.