NOTE 16 — RESTRICTED SHARES

At Orion’s 2023 annual meeting of shareholders, Orion’s shareholders approved the Orion Energy Systems, Inc. 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended and restated (the “Amended 2016 Plan”). Approval of the Amended 2016 Plan increased the number of shares of Orion’s common stock available for issuance under the Amended 2016 Plan from 350,000 shares to 600,000 shares (an increase of 250,000 shares). As of March 31, 2026, the number of shares available for grant under the Amended 2016 Plan was 56,587.

The Amended 2016 Plan authorizes grants of equity-based and incentive cash awards to eligible participants designated by the Plan's administrator. Awards under the Amended 2016 Plan may consist of stock options, stock appreciation rights, performance shares, performance units, common stock, restricted stock, restricted stock units, incentive awards or dividend equivalent units.

Prior to the Amended 2016 Plan, the Company maintained its 2004 Stock and Incentive Awards Plan, as amended, which authorized the grant of cash and equity awards to employees (the “2004 Plan”). No new awards are being granted under the 2004 Plan; and no awards granted under the 2004 Plan remain outstanding. Forfeited awards originally issued under the 2004 Plan are canceled and are not available for subsequent issuance under the 2004 Plan or under the Amended 2016 Plan.

Certain non-employee directors have from time to time elected to receive stock awards in lieu of cash compensation pursuant to elections made under Orion’s non-employee director compensation program. The Amended 2016 Plan also permits accelerated vesting in the event of certain changes of control of Orion as well as under other special circumstances.

Orion historically granted stock options and restricted stock under the 2004 Plan. Orion did not issue stock options from fiscal 2015 through fiscal 2025 and instead had issued only restricted stock and performance shares. In fiscal 2026, stock options were granted along with restricted stock.

Orion added performance conditions to a portion of the annual long-term incentive grants for Orion's executive compensation program. The performance-vesting restricted stock will vest to the extent Orion achieves revenue growth targets over a three-year period. Orion recognizes performance-vesting restricted stock expense ratably over the requisite service period based on the likelihood of meeting the performance conditions. For the fiscal years ended March 31, 2026, 2025, and 2024, Orion recognized $0 million, $0 million, and $0.3 million in stock-based compensation expense for performance-vesting restricted stock, respectively.

During fiscal 2026, Orion recognized $0.5 million of stock-based compensation expense related to restricted shares.

As of March 31, 2026, 2025 and 2024, the weighted average grant-date fair value of restricted shares granted was $6.13, $10.68 and $14.16, respectively. The total fair value of shares vested during fiscal years ended March 31, 2026, 2025 and 2024 are $1.1 million, $0.9 million and $0.8 million, respectively.