STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Share-based Compensation

2018 Equity Incentive Plan

The Company’s stock option plans are administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. The stockholder-approved 2018 Equity Incentive Plan provides for the issuance of incentive stock options, nonstatutory stock options, stock options with stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units and performance units, qualified performance-based awards, and stock grants to employees, consultants and non-employee members of the Board of Directors. 800,000 shares of Barnwell common stock have been reserved for issuance and as of March 31, 2021, a total of 135,000 share options remain available for grant.

Barnwell currently has a policy of issuing new shares to satisfy share option exercises when the optionee requests shares.

Equity-classified Awards

On February 9, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company granted options to purchase 665,000 shares of common stock, 310,000 shares to independent directors and 355,000 shares to employees. 605,000 shares of the stock options granted have an exercise price equal to the closing market price of Barnwell’s stock on the date of grant of $3.33, vest annually over three years, and expire in ten years from the date of grant. 60,000 shares of the stock options granted have an exercise price of $3.66 (110% of the closing market price on the date of grant for options granted to affiliates), vest annually over three years, and expire in five years from the date of grant.

A summary of the activity in Barnwell’s equity-classified share options from October 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021 is presented below:


Options	Shares	Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Term	Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at October 1, 2020	—	$	—
Granted	665,000	3.36
Exercised	—	—
Expired/Forfeited	—	—
Outstanding at March 31, 2021	665,000	$	3.36	9.4	$	—
Exercisable at March 31, 2021	—	$	—	—	$	—

The following assumptions were used in estimating the fair value of the equity-classified share options granted on February 9, 2021:


	> 10% Owner-Employee	Others
Number of shares	60,000	605,000
Expected volatility	127.4%	105.8%
Expected dividends	None	None
Expected term (in years)	3.5	6.0
Risk-free interest rate	0.19%	0.82%
Expected forfeitures	None	None
Fair value per share	$2.51	$2.70

The application of alternative assumptions could produce significantly different estimates of the fair value of share-based compensation, and consequently, the related costs reported in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Compensation cost for equity-classified awards is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as an expense over the requisite service period. As of March 31, 2021, the total remaining unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested share options was $1,649,000, which is expected to be recognized over the weighted-average remaining requisite service period of 2.9 years. During the three and six months ended March 31, 2021, the Company recognized total share-based compensation expense of $151,000. There was no share-based compensation expense recognized during the three and six months ended March 31, 2020.

At The Market Offering

On March 16, 2021, the Company entered into a Sales Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with A.G.P./Alliance Global Partners (“A.G.P,”), with respect to the ATM pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time, shares of its common stock, par value $0.50 per share having an aggregate sales price of up to $25 million (subject to certain limitations at any time our public float remains under $75 million), through or to A.G.P as the Company’s sales agent or as principal. Sales of our common stock under the ATM, if any, will be made by any methods deemed to be “at the market offerings” as defined in Rule 415(a)(4) under the Securities Act, including sales made directly on the NYSE American, on any other existing trading market for our Common Stock, or to or through a market maker. Shares of common stock sold under the ATM are offered pursuant to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-254365), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, 2021, and declared effective on March 26, 2021 (the "Registration Statement”), and the prospectus dated March 26, 2021, included in the Registration Statement.

As of the filing date of this Quarterly Report, no shares have been sold under the ATM. The incremental costs related to the ATM, which include legal, accounting, and underwriting fees, are currently capitalized as current assets and are recorded as “deferred offering costs” on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. Upon the initial sale of the Company’s shares, the deferred offering costs will be recorded in stockholders’ equity as a reduction of additional paid-in capital generated as a result of the offering. If the sale of the Company’s shares are determined to be no longer probable, the deferred offering costs will be charged to expense. As of March 31, 2021, total deferred offering costs was $483,000.