Question: A company had 400,000 shares of common stock issued and outstanding on January 1, year 1, and had the following equity transactions for year 1:
Transactions Date Issued 200,000 new shares for cash April 1.
Issued new shares as a result of a 3-for-1 stock split July 1.
Purchased 300,000 shares treasury stock for cash October 1.
What should the company use as the denominator for the calculation of basic earnings per share for year ended December 31, year 1?