It depends. If you do a same day/cashless exercise, it goes right on your W2.
Take a look at this article...
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/investments-and-taxes/incen[product key removed]ns/L4azWgfwy
"If you can wait at least a year and a day after you purchase the stocks, and at least two years after you were granted the option to sell the stocks (as described in item 5 above), any profit on the sale is treated as a long-term capital gain, so it is taxed at a lower rate than your regular income. (Your profit is the difference between the bargain price you pay for the stock, and the market price that you sell it for.)"
