Note 12 – Stock-Based Compensation
A summary of stock option activity related to the Company’s standard employee incentive plan (excluding options awarded under the Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) – Note 13) for the six months ended June 30, 2024, is as follows:
| | | | | | | |
| | | | Weighted | | Average |
| | Number of | | Average | | Remaining Life |
| | Options | | Exercise Price | | (years) |
Outstanding at December 31, 2023 | | 2,911,308 | | $ | 7.60 | | 6.30 |
Granted | | 2,532,971 | | | 1.33 | | |
Exercised | | (10,937) | | | 1.33 | | |
Expired or Forfeited | | (423,365) | | | 7.89 | | |
| | | | | | | |
Outstanding at June 30, 2024 | | 5,009,977 | | $ | 4.43 | | 7.84 |
The weighted average remaining contractual term for all options as of June 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023, was 7.84 years and 6.30 years, respectively.
As of June 30, 2024, there were 2,072,021 options that were fully vested and exercisable at a weighted average exercise price of $7.24 per share. The weighted average remaining contractual term of the vested options is 5.4 years.
As of June 30, 2024, there were 2,937,956 unvested options exercisable at a weighted average exercise price of $2.46 per share. The weighted average remaining contractual term of the unvested options is 9.6 years.
The weighted average fair value of option grants was calculated using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing method. As of June 30, 2024, the Company had $4,836,647 of unrecognized stock compensation expense, which will be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.2 years.
During the three months ended June 30, 2024, the Company issued 232,766 shares of common stock to its independent board members as part of their annual retainer for services covering the period of July 2024 to June 2025 and for onboarding of the new director. The fair market value on the date of award of the stock issued was $1.41, resulting in an aggregate fair value of approximately $328,200. The fair market value of these awards is expensed over twelve (12) months for 212,766 shares and twenty-four (24) months for 20,000 shares beginning on July 1, 2024.
On May 6, 2024, the Company implemented a voluntary Company-wide payroll reduction program for all employees, independent board members and contractors with optional salary or compensation reductions of 10% to 50% depending upon the respective base salary or compensation level for the period running from May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025. The estimated cash savings will be approximately $2,100,000 and resulted in the issuance of stock awards and stock options, at a rate of 150% or 200%, respectively, of the net cash wage reductions.
The fair market value of these stock awards and stock option awards has been determined at $1.33 and $0.99, respectively, and a total of 824,711 stock awards and 2,756,116 stock option awards were issued. The total fair market value of the stock awards is $1,096,865 and the stock option awards is $2,728,555. The fair market value of these awards is being expensed over twelve (12) months, which began on May 1, 2024 and will cliff vest on April 30, 2025.
For the three months ended June 30, 2024, and 2023, the Company recorded total stock-based compensation expense, including stock awards but excluding stock option awards under the Company’s LTIP, of $1,470,793 and $1,083,064, respectively. For the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recorded total stock-based compensation expense, including stock awards but excluding stock option awards under the Company’s LTIP, of $2,454,444 and $2,212,630, respectively.