Viasat shareholders approve equity and purchase plan amendments at annual meeting

At its annual meeting held Thursday, Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) shareholders approved amendments and restatements to the company’s 1996 Equity Participation Plan and Employee Stock Purchase Plan, according to a statement based on a recent SEC filing.

The amended equity plan sets the number of shares available for future issuance at 6,410,000, plus any shares subject to awards outstanding as of July 1, 2025, or granted after that date that become available again under the plan’s provisions. The plan also removes the fungible share counting ratio for new awards, eliminates non-employee director compensation provisions, extends the period for granting incentive stock options by one year to 2035, and increases the maximum number of shares issuable upon exercise of such options to 100,000,000.

Shareholders also approved the amended Employee Stock Purchase Plan, raising the maximum number of common shares that may be issued under the plan by 5,000,000 to a total of 16,950,000 shares.

In board elections, Richard Baldridge and Sean Pak were elected as Class II Directors. Baldridge received 93,856,135 votes in favor and 6,121,794 withheld, while Pak received 83,544,805 votes in favor and 16,433,124 withheld. There were 20,078,710 broker non-votes for both nominees.

In other matters, shareholders ratified the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Viasat’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, with 117,873,269 votes in favor, 1,661,026 against, and 522,344 abstentions.

An advisory vote on executive compensation received 94,363,820 votes in favor, 4,413,521 against, and 1,200,588 abstentions, with 20,078,710 broker non-votes.

Approval of the amended equity plan received 77,530,367 votes in favor, 21,883,946 against, and 563,616 abstentions. The amended purchase plan received 99,252,742 votes in favor, 294,428 against, and 430,759 abstentions.

All information is based on a press release statement contained in Viasat’s SEC filing.

In other recent news, Viasat has been the focus of several notable developments. JPMorgan has raised its price target for Viasat to $23, citing strong fiscal first-quarter 2026 results. The firm maintains a Neutral rating, highlighting the potential for Viasat to unlock additional value through its Defense and Aerospace Technologies (DAT) segment, though a spin or separation is deemed unlikely soon. In another analyst move, Deutsche Bank downgraded Viasat from Buy to Hold, adjusting its price target to $28 after the stock’s significant appreciation. William Blair reiterated an Outperform rating, pointing to the potential value in Viasat’s spectrum holdings following AT&T’s $23 billion spectrum acquisition.

Viasat also announced the retirement of James Dodd, its Senior Vice President and President of Commercial Services, effective around November 2025. Mr. Dodd will remain with the company as a non-executive employee until the end of that year. Additionally, Viasat introduced its HaloNet portfolio, aimed at enhancing multi-orbit satellite communications by unifying space and terrestrial services. This new system is expected to provide connectivity to numerous space vehicles across various orbital inclinations. These updates reflect Viasat’s ongoing strategic initiatives and market positioning.

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