The CEO's fiscal year 2026 total compensation of $22.2 million (per the Summary Compensation Table) is above the $20.1 million reported for fiscal year 2025 but is benchmarked against a named peer group of 20 companies in a similar size and sector range; the compensation committee used an independent consultant and the program is heavily weighted toward variable pay — approximately 95% of the CEO's target pay is at risk through performance stock awards, restricted stock awards, and cash incentives tied to revenue, adjusted operating income, and multi-year relative total shareholder return. Pay-for-performance alignment is strong: NXT's stock returned 173.4% over three years versus the ^IXIC (Nasdaq Composite) return of 88.7%, a +84.7 percentage point outperformance, and the company posted record revenue of $3.56 billion (20% growth) and $586 million in net income in fiscal year 2026. The prior say-on-pay vote was 80.34%, above the 70% threshold requiring remediation, and the committee demonstrated responsiveness by eliminating stock options going forward and revising incentive metrics based on shareholder feedback.

Non-audit fees (audit-related fees of $1,196,636 plus tax fees of $1,195,118 plus other fees of $3,790, totaling approximately $2,395,544) represent about 61.5% of core audit fees ($3,892,094), which exceeds the 50% threshold; however, the audit-related fees are primarily tied to merger and acquisition due diligence — a transaction-driven, one-time category — and Deloitte's tenure of approximately five years is well below the 25-year concern threshold, so on balance the ratio is elevated but the context mitigates the independence concern and a FOR vote is appropriate with a note that the committee should monitor non-audit fee growth.