Refer to Note 10 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Form 10-K for further description of the various types of stock-based compensation awards, their valuations and their award terms. Stock-based compensation represents amortization of time-based restricted stock and performance-based awards. The following details the allocation of stock-based compensation to functional expense categories (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2026		2025		2026		2025
Direct operating expense	$	518	$	504	$	1,064	$	1,041
Brokered natural gas, NGLs and marketing expense		717		802		1,601		1,642
Exploration expense		386		366		720		713
General and administrative expense		10,471		9,326		21,096		19,437
Total stock-based compensation expense	$	12,092	$	10,998	$	24,481	$	22,833

The mark-to-market adjustment of the liability related to the restricted stock Liability Awards held in our deferred compensation plan as recorded in deferred compensation plan expense on our consolidated statements of income is directly tied to the change in our stock price and not directly related to functional expenses and, therefore, is not allocated to the functional categories above.

Time-based - Equity Awards ("Equity Awards"). These awards are expensed ratably over the service period associated with the awards based on fair value. Fair value is based on prevailing market price on the date of grant and is expensed over a service period up to three years. We recorded compensation expense for these outstanding Equity Awards of $20.2 million in first six months 2026 compared to $19.4 million in the same period of 2025.

Time-based - Liability Awards ("Liability Awards"). There have been no significant grants since 2022, and we have no compensation expense recorded for these awards in 2026. Liability Awards were historically contributed into the deferred compensation plan (see further discussion below).

Performance-based TSR Awards ("TSRs" or "TSR Awards"). The fair value of the TSR Awards is estimated on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo simulation model which utilizes multiple input variables that determine the probability of satisfying the market condition stipulated in the award grant and calculates the fair value of the award. Expected volatilities utilized in the model were estimated using a historical period consistent with the remaining performance period of three years. The risk-free interest rate was based on the United States Treasury rate for a term commensurate with the life of the grant.

Beginning in 2026, we granted performance awards that include (i) "relative" TSR units that will have payouts determined based on our total shareholder return relative to a peer group at the end of the performance period, which are similar to TSR grants made historically and (ii) "absolute" TSR units that will have payouts determined based on total shareholder return targets of our common stock for the

performance period. We recorded compensation expense for TSR Awards of $4.0 million in first six months 2026 compared to $2.8 million in the same period of 2025. Fair value is amortized over the performance period with no adjustment to the expense recorded for actual targets achieved. The following assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of the TSR Awards granted during first six months 2026 and 2025:


	Six Months Ended June 30,
	2026			2025
Risk-free interest rate		3.5	%		4.2	%
Expected annual volatility		35	%		46	%
Grant date fair value per unit - relative TSR units	$	40.46		$	44.39
Grant date fair value per unit - absolute TSR units	$	38.47		$	—

The following is a summary of the activity for our time-based and performance-based stock awards for the six months ended June 30, 2026:


	Time-Based Equity Awards					Performance-Based Stock Awards
	Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Number of Units (a)			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding as of December 31, 2025		1,104,628		$	36.37		620,208		$	35.13
Granted		1,174,695			35.96		236,122			39.79
Vested		(578,166	)		34.99		(145,747	)		26.86
Forfeited		(13,692	)		36.41		—			—
Outstanding as of June 30, 2026		1,687,465		$	36.56		710,583		$	38.37

(a)

Amounts granted reflect performance units granted. The actual payout will be between zero and 200% depending on achievement of the total stockholder return compared to our peers over the performance period and our absolute shareholder return ranking.

The assets of our deferred compensation plan are held in a grantor trust, which we refer to as the Rabbi Trust, and are therefore available to satisfy the claims of our general creditors in the event of bankruptcy or insolvency. Our common stock held in the Rabbi Trust is accounted for as Liability Awards and is adjusted to fair value each reporting period by a charge or credit to deferred compensation plan expense on our consolidated statements of income. The Rabbi Trust held 199,000 shares (187,000 vested shares) of Range common stock as of June 30, 2026 compared to 266,000 shares (258,000 vested shares) as of December 31, 2025.

Trading securities. Our trading securities held in the deferred compensation plan are accounted for using the mark-to-market accounting method and are included in other assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. We elected to adopt the fair value option to simplify our accounting for the investments in our deferred compensation plan. Interest, dividends, and mark-to-market gains or losses are included in the changes in our deferred compensation assets and liabilities on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. For second quarter 2026, interest and dividends were $123,000 and the mark-to-market gain was $6.8 million compared to interest and dividends of $202,000 and a mark-to-market gain of $4.2 million in second quarter 2025. For first six months 2026, interest and dividends were $229,000 and the mark-to-market gain was $5.0 million compared to interest and dividends of $335,000 and a mark-to-market gain of $3.3 million in first six months 2025.