Research · 2026 Edition · The SBC Research Report
A reference dataset on how stock-based compensation is showing up across US public-company income statements. $366.7B recognized across 1,680 US public companies with material SBC, each tied to their most recent completed fiscal year (FY2024–2026 depending on fiscal calendar) and a primary 10-K on www.sec.gov. Sortable and searchable across every issuer.
Key Findings · Most Recent Fiscal Year · 1,680 public companies
$366.7B
Total stock-based compensation across 1,680 US public companies with material SBC, each measured in their most recent completed fiscal year.
11.6%
Aggregate SBC as a share of FY2025 operating cash flow. The median company runs 10.2%.
702/1,680
Companies where FY2025 stock-based comp exceeded full-year net income. Includes 556 companies that did not turn a profit. Among profitable companies only: 146.
42%
Share of total report SBC concentrated in just 25 names. The other 1,655 companies combined contributed less.
The Full Table · 1,680 Companies
| Company | Sector | SBC (FY) | % Rev | % OCF | % NI | Net Income | SBC YoY | FY | Source |
|---|
The Market Heatmap
Each tile is one company. Tile area is proportional to that company's stock-based comp dollars. Click any tile for the full breakdown. Toggle the color encoding below to switch the lens.
Try It On Your Company
Enter any public ticker. The calculator models net income lift, EPS improvement, and shareholder value upside from eliminating stock-based comp expense, using the same SEC data this report is built on.
Patterns Worth Noting
0 of 0
Companies where most recent fiscal year stock-based comp exceeded full-year net income — including 556 companies that did not turn a profit, where any positive SBC automatically clears a negative earnings line. Of the 702 total, 146 were profitable companies where SBC genuinely topped earnings.
0
of all $366.7B sits in just 25 names. The other 1,655 companies combined contribute the remaining 58%.
+0
YoY comparison includes only companies reporting both fiscal years (1,669 of 1,680), representing $366.1B of the $366.7B total.
$0B
Per day, every day
$42M per hour, $11,628 per second. Recognized as a GAAP expense across US public markets.
$118B
239 companies, 32% of all SBC. The single most concentrated sector by both dollars and intensity.
0 cos · 0
recognize $1B or more in SBC each. Together they account for more than half the entire report's total.
0
companies recognized more SBC than they generated in operating cash flow. The non-cash add-back matters.
0
companies where annual SBC exceeded total revenue. Mostly recent IPOs absorbing first-year grant amortization.
$0
is the median company's annual SBC across the dataset. Distribution is heavily skewed by the mega-cap tier.
Where equity comp eats the most revenue.
The non-cash line behind free cash flow.
Biggest annual changes.
Dollar deltas reflect year-over-year change in reported SBC. Large single-year jumps may include one-time equity acceleration from acquisitions recognized under ASC 805 purchase accounting rather than ongoing grant activity.
What This Means For Your Plan
SBC isn't a function of how much equity you give. It's a function of how the equity is issued. Cashless Participation® preserves the grants employees receive while materially reducing the GAAP expense recognized. Same compensation, same employee outcome, different SBC profile.
Traditional Issuance
Cashless Participation®
See Your Own Numbers
30 minutes with our team. We'll project your actual SBC, EPS, and dilution profile with Cashless Participation® layered on top of your existing equity programs.
Methodology
Every figure is pulled directly from filings on SEC EDGAR. No third-party aggregators. No pre-trained estimates. No projections.
Sources: data.sec.gov XBRL company-concept API + frames API + submissions API. Cross-verified against the rendered 10-K HTML on www.sec.gov using inline XBRL tags. Verification logs available on request.
us-gaap:ShareBasedCompensation and us-gaap:AllocatedShareBasedCompensationExpense frames for calendar years 2024 and 2025, deduplicated by CIK. 1,680 companies are included.us-gaap:ShareBasedCompensation, with fallback to us-gaap:AllocatedShareBasedCompensationExpense for issuers using the alternate tag.RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax or Revenues, NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities, NetIncomeLoss, WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding.