STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

6. STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

Stock-based compensation awards consist of stock options, restricted stock units and bonus shares issued under the Company’s equity incentive plans, which include the 2013 Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2013 Plan”) and the Amended and Restated 2004 Directors’ Stock Option and Restricted Stock Plan (the “2004 Directors’ Plan”). Under the 2013 Plan, the Company may grant awards of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units (“RSUs”), unrestricted stock, dividend equivalent rights, performance shares and other performance-based awards, other equity-based awards and cash bonus awards to eligible persons. Equity awards under the 2013 Plan are granted from time to time at the discretion of the Compensation Committee of the Board (the “Committee”), with vesting periods and other terms as determined by the Committee with a maximum term of 10 years. The 2013 Plan is administered by the Committee, which can delegate the administration to the Board, other committees or to such other officers and employees of the Company as designated by the Committee and permitted by the 2013 Plan.

As of December 31, 2023, 560,254 shares were available for future issuances under the 2013 Plan. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recorded stock-based compensation expense of $0.8 million and $1.0 million, respectively. Stock compensation expense is recorded in general and administrative expenses.

In addition to the plans above, on May 9, 2022, the Board of Directors adopted an Employment Inducement Incentive Award Plan (the “Inducement Plan”) and on May 13, 2022, the Company filed a registration statement on Form S-8 to register an aggregate of 250,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. These shares may be issued pursuant to the Inducement Plan as equity awards to be granted for the sole purpose of recruiting and hiring new employees. Since inception of the Inducement Plan, 135,571 RSUs have been issued with vesting occurring over two years from the respective grant dates.  As of December 31, 2023, 109,023 RSUs granted pursuant to the Inducement Plan remain unvested.  

Stock Options

Stock options are valued using the Black-Scholes option pricing model on the date of grant. The Company accounts for forfeitures upon occurrence.

The following table summarizes stock options outstanding and changes during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

	December 31, 2023			December 31, 2022
		Weighted			Weighted
	Number of	Average		Number of	Average
	Stock	Exercise		Stock	Exercise
	Options	Price		Options	Price
Stock options outstanding at beginning of period	356,296	$	5.06	277,576	$	6.18
Granted	117,637		1.01	78,720		1.09
Canceled or forfeited	(49,107)		16.07	—		—
Stock options outstanding at end of period	424,826		2.66	356,296		5.06
Stock options exercisable at end of period	307,189	$	3.29	277,576	$	6.18

The weighted average remaining term for stock options outstanding as of December 31, 2023, is approximately 7.8 years.

The following table summarizes assumptions used to assess the fair value of stock options granted during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

	Years ended December 31,
	2023		2022
Expected volatility		99%		105%
Expected term of options (years)		6		6
Expected dividend rate		—		—
Risk-free interest rate		3.51%		2.95%
Expected forfeiture rate		—		—
Weighted-average grant-date fair value	$	0.81	$	0.89

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had less than $0.1 million of unrecognized compensation costs related to non-vested stock options that will be recognized over a period of approximately five months.  

Restricted Stock Units

Time-based and performance-based RSUs are valued using the closing share price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. The final number of shares issued under performance-based RSUs is generally based on the Company’s prior year performance as determined by the Committee at each vesting date, and the valuation of such awards assumes full satisfaction of all performance criteria when satisfaction of such criteria is deemed probable.

The following table summarizes RSU activity for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

	December 31,			December 31,
	2023			2022
		Weighted-			Weighted-
		Average			Average
	Number of	Grant Date		Number of	Grant Date
	RSUs	Fair Value		RSUs	Fair Value
Unvested RSUs at beginning of period	1,207,872	$	1.40	385,004	$	3.18
Granted	1,516,091		0.99	1,229,950		1.16
Forfeited/Expired	(432,587)		1.67	(225,091)		2.39
Vested	(518,318)		1.16	(181,991)		2.31
Unvested RSUs at end of period	1,773,058	$	1.03	1,207,872	$	1.40

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had $0.6 million of unrecognized compensation costs related to non-vested restricted stock units that will be recognized over a period of approximately 2 years.