Note 8 - Stock-based Compensation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

Notes to Financial Statements

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]

Note 8.  Stock-Based Compensation

We have three stock-based compensation plans. The 2006 Stock Incentive Plan was adopted in 2006 (“2006 Plan”) and had options granted under it through April 12, 2016. The 2016 Stock Incentive Plan was adopted in 2016 (“2016 Plan”) and had options granted under it through November 15, 2021. On October 11, 2021, the Board of Directors approved the 2021 Stock Incentive Plan (“2021 Plan”) and on December 2, 2021, our shareholders approved the 2021 Plan.

The Company recognizes compensation costs only for those shares expected to vest on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the awards. Fair values of option awards granted in the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, and the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, were estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model under the following assumptions:

	Three months ended September 30,		Nine Months ended September 30,
	2022	2021	2022	2021
Risk-free interest rate	2.85% - 2.90%	0.84%	1.91% - 2.90%	0.46% - 0.92%
Dividend yield	0%	0%	0%	0%
Expected term (years)	3.25 - 6.00	5.00	3.25 - 6.00	5.00
Expected volatility	45.9% - 48.1%	46.8%	45.8% - 48.5%	47.1% - 92.6%

Determining the assumptions for the expected term and volatility requires management to exercise significant judgment. The expected term represents the weighted-average period that options granted are expected to be outstanding giving consideration to vesting schedules. Since the Company does not have an extended history of actual exercises, the Company has estimated the expected term using a simplified method which calculates the expected term as the average of the time-to-vesting and the contractual life of the awards. Given the limited public market for the Company’s stock, the Company has elected to estimate its expected volatility by benchmarking its volatility to that of several public company issuers that operate within its market segment. The guideline companies’ volatility was increased by a size adjustment premium to compensate for the difference in size between the guideline companies and the Company in its calculation.

There were 265,000 options with grant date fair values totaling $157,300 and 30,000 options with grant date fair values totaling $34,500 granted during the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. There were 1,177,000 options with grant date fair values totaling $2,231,970, and 302,500 options with grant date fair values totaling $363,550 granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. There were 107,000 and 65,000 options exercised during the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. There were 264,000 options and 450,000 options exercised during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. As of September 30, 2022, there was $2,019,066 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested share-based compensation arrangements granted under the stock incentive plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 9.4 months.

Total compensation expense related to these plans was $614,094 and $80,882 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $1,455,835 and $220,455 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and is included in selling, general and administrative expenses on the condensed consolidated statements of operations.