EQUITY-BASED COMPENSATION

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2026

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

At the Company's 2026 annual meeting of stockholders held on May 14, 2026, the Company's stockholders approved the Cable One, Inc. 2026 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan (the "2026 Plan") providing an incremental 600,000 shares available for issuance pursuant to equity-based awards. The 2026 Plan provides for grants of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, SARs, Restricted Stock, cash-based awards, performance-based awards and other stock-based awards. The Cable One, Inc. 2022 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2022 Plan”) is replaced and superseded by the 2026 Plan, provided that any outstanding awards granted under the 2022 Plan remain in effect pursuant to their terms. Directors, officers, associates and consultants of the Company are eligible to participate in the 2026 Plan as part of the Company's long-term incentive compensation programs. As of June 30, 2026, 753,037 shares were available for issuance.

In 2026, the Company granted cash-settled performance and service-based phantom RSUs to certain executives in lieu of typical share-settled RSUs. Such awards, considered liability-classified awards, are remeasured at fair value using Monte Carlo simulations at each reporting date during the vesting period. During the three months ended June 30, 2026, the Company recognized a reversal of $0.7 million of stock-based compensation expense within selling, general and administrative expenses in the condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income (loss), associated with these awards. During the six months ended June 30, 2026, the Company recognized $0.6 million of stock-based compensation expense associated with these awards. As of June 30, 2026, the Company had recognized $0.2 million and $0.4 million of short-term and long-term liabilities within accounts payable and accrued liabilities and other noncurrent liabilities, respectively, in the condensed consolidated balance sheet, associated with these awards. The actual cash payments to be made upon settlement of these awards will be dependent on the Company's applicable stock price at that time, subject to the terms of each award agreement.

Beginning in 2025, all new RSU grants contain retirement eligibility provisions that result in accelerated expensing of awards granted to associates that satisfy certain age and service conditions.

Compensation expense associated with equity-based awards is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the award (unless any retirement eligibility provisions are satisfied earlier), with forfeitures recognized as incurred. The Company’s equity-based compensation expense, included within selling, general and administrative expenses in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss), was as follows (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2026		2025		2026		2025
Restricted Stock	$	5,742	$	9,921	$	12,004	$	21,106
SARs	—		127		—		253
Total	$	5,742	$	10,048	$	12,004	$	21,359

The Company recognized excess tax shortfalls of $0.1 million and $0.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively, and excess tax shortfalls of $3.5 million and $2.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively. The deferred tax asset related to all outstanding equity-based awards was $6.5 million and $8.1 million as of June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively.

Restricted Stock. A summary of Restricted Stock activity during the six months ended June 30, 2026 is as follows:


	Restricted Stock	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value Per Share
Outstanding as of December 31, 2025	247,022	$	505.85
Granted(1)	342,376	$	100.75
Forfeited	(24,594)	$	515.91
Vested and issued	(48,653)	$	617.49
Outstanding as of June 30, 2026	516,151	$	226.13

Vested and deferred as of June 30, 2026	19,389	$	457.71

(1)Performance-based RSUs were granted at target value for 2026.

At June 30, 2026, there was $25.3 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to Restricted Stock, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.6 years.

The weighted average of significant inputs and resulting grant date fair values for market-based award grants were as follows:


	Three Months Ended June 30,
	2026			2025
Risk-free interest rate	3.4		%	4.2		%
Expected volatility	59.4		%	40.6		%
Simulation term (in years)	2.92 years			2.99 years
Weighted average grant date fair value	$	110.74		$	417.46

Stock Appreciation Rights. A summary of SARs activity during the six months ended June 30, 2026 is as follows:


	Stock Appreciation Rights	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Aggregate Intrinsic Value (in thousands)		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)
Outstanding as of December 31, 2025	16,616	$	1,225.32	$	309.52	$	—	3.5


Outstanding as of June 30, 2026	16,616	$	1,225.32	$	309.52	$	—	3.0

Exercisable as of June 30, 2026	16,616	$	1,225.32	$	309.52	$	—	3.0

At June 30, 2026, there was no unrecognized compensation expense related to SARs.