The compensation cost recognized in the condensed consolidated statements of income for our stock compensation arrangements is as follows:


	Three Months Ended July 31,				Nine Months Ended July 31,
	2026		2025		2026		2025
	(in thousands)
Cost of products	$	19,983	$	22,943	$	58,462	$	66,470
Cost of maintenance and service	12,514		10,222		37,065		28,715
Research and development expense	113,537		113,861		347,446		326,274
Sales and marketing expense	50,671		45,564		162,388		117,214
General and administrative expense	34,899		75,133		107,270		117,236
Stock-based compensation expense before taxes	231,604		267,723		712,631		655,909
Income tax benefit	(34,138)		(38,686)		(105,042)		(94,779)
Stock-based compensation expense after taxes	$	197,466	$	229,037	$	607,589	$	561,130

During the three and nine months ended July 31, 2026 and 2025, we recognized stock-based compensation expense relating to restricted stock units (RSUs) granted to senior executives with certain market, performance and service conditions (market-based RSUs). The grant date fair value of the market-based RSUs and the assumptions used in the Monte Carlo simulation model to determine the grant date fair value during the periods are as follows:


	Nine Months Ended July 31,
		2026	2025
Expected life (in years)		1.67 - 2.87	2.67 - 2.79
Risk-free interest rate		3.38% - 3.48%	3.90% - 4.39%
Volatility		44.90% - 55.12%	33.40% - 34.72%
Weighted average grant date fair value per share		$454.13	$458.66

As of July 31, 2026, we had $1.4 billion of total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense relating to options, RSUs and restricted stock awards, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.9 years. As of July 31, 2026, we had $105.6 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense relating to our Employee Stock Purchase Plan, which is expected to be recognized over a period of approximately 2.0 years.


	Three Months Ended July 31,				Nine Months Ended July 31,
	2026		2025		2026		2025
	(in thousands)
Intrinsic value of awards exercised	$	11,216	$	31,834	$	35,818	$	86,671