Note 11 - Stockholders' Equity, Stock Options and Warrants

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Notes to Financial Statements

Equity [Text Block]

NOTE 11 – STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY, STOCK OPTIONS AND WARRANTS

Series F Preferred Stock Dividend and Reverse Stock Split

On March 16, 2023, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized the issuance of 80,000 shares of Series F Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share.

On March 16, 2023, the Board of Directors of the Company declared a dividend of one one-thousandth of a share of Series F Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share, for each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock held on record as of March 27, 2023. 79,404 shares of Series F Preferred Stock were issued pursuant to the stock dividend. Each share of Series F Preferred Stock entitled the holder thereof to 1,000,000 votes per share to vote together with the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company as a single class to adopt an amendment to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation to affect a reverse stock split.

On April 19, 2023, the Company completed a one-for-twenty reverse stock split that was effective for trading purposes on April 24, 2023. No fractional shares were issued as a result of the reverse stock split. Any fractional shares that would otherwise have resulted from the reverse stock split were rounded up to the next whole number. The number of authorized shares of common stock under the Company’s certificate of incorporation, as amended, remained unchanged at 200,000,000 shares. All numbers of shares and per-share amounts in this report have been adjusted to reflect the reverse split. Proportionate reductions were made to the number of shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2012 Equity Incentive Plan and the number of shares of common stock that may be issued upon exercise or vesting of outstanding equity incentive awards and warrants, and proportionate increases were made to the exercise price or share-based performance criteria, if any, applicable to such awards and warrants.

Redemption of Series F Preferred Stock

On April 17, 2023, the Company convened a special meeting of stockholders, which was adjourned due to the lack of a quorum and reconvened on April 19, 2023 (the “Special Meeting”), at which the Company’s stockholders approved a proposal to amend the Company’s certificate of incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of the Company’s common stock at a ratio in the range of 1-for-2 to 1-for-25, with such ratio to be determined by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Reverse Split Proposal”). All shares of Series F Preferred Stock that were not present in person or by proxy at the Special Meeting as of immediately prior to the opening of the polls (the “Initial Redemption Time”) were automatically redeemed (the “Initial Redemption”). All outstanding shares of Series F Preferred Stock that were not redeemed pursuant to the Initial Redemption were redeemed automatically upon the approval by the Company’s stockholders of the Reverse Split Proposal (the “Subsequent Redemption” and, together with the Initial Redemption, the “Redemption”). Both the Initial Redemption and the Subsequent Redemption occurred on April 19, 2023. As a result, no shares of Series F Preferred Stock remain outstanding.

At The Market Offering

On May 3, 2024, the Company entered into an ATM Sales Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (“Wainwright”), to sell shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Shares”), having an aggregate sales price of up to $3,696,000, from time to time, through an “at the market offering” program pursuant to which Wainwright acted as sales agent. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Sales Agreement, Wainwright was permitted to sell the Shares by methods deemed to be an “at the market offering” as defined in Rule 415(a)(4) promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Under the Sales Agreement, Wainwright was entitled to compensation for its services of 3.0% of the gross sales price of all shares sold through Wainwright under the Sales Agreement. As of June 30, 2024, the Company sold 1,607,100 shares of common stock at an average price of approximately $2.30 per share, resulting in aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $3,696,000. No further shares are available to be sold under the Sales Agreement.

Warrant Inducement Transaction

On July 25, 2024, the Company entered into definitive agreements with certain of its existing warrant holders for the exercise of warrants to purchase an aggregate of 958,117 shares of its common stock having a current exercise price of $14.00 originally issued in February 2021, June 2021 and May 2022, at a reduced exercise price of $1.32 per share. The gross proceeds to the Company from the exercise of the existing warrants were approximately $1,265,000, prior to deducting placement agent fees and transaction expenses payable by the Company. The reduction of the exercise price represented a modification to the existing warrants, which was recognized as an equity issuance cost of $594,033 charged against the proceeds of the offering.

In consideration for the immediate cash exercise of the warrants, the Company concurrently issued to the warrant holders new unregistered Series A warrants to purchase up to 958,117 shares of common stock (the “Series A Warrants”) and new Series B warrants to purchase up to 958,117 shares of common stock (the “Series B Warrants”). The Series A Warrants and the Series B Warrants have an exercise price of $1.07 per share and are exercisable immediately upon issuance. The Series A Warrants have a term equal to five years from the date of issuance, and the Series B Warrants have a term equal to 18 months from the date of issuance.

The transactions described above closed on July 26, 2024. Wainwright acted as the exclusive placement agent for the above-mentioned transactions. The Company paid Wainwright as consideration (i) an aggregate cash fee equal to 7.0% of the gross proceeds from the exercise of the existing warrants, (ii) a management fee equal to 1.0% of the aggregate gross proceeds from the exercise of the existing warrants, (iii) $35,000 for expenses, and (iv) $15,950 for clearing fees. Additionally, the Company issued to Wainwright (or its designees) as compensation, warrants to purchase up to 67,068 shares of common stock of the Company (equal to 7.0% of the aggregate number of existing warrants exercised in the offering) (the “Placement Agent Warrants”). The Placement Agent Warrants have a term of five years from the closing of the offering and an exercise price of $1.65 per share.

Equity Incentive Plan

The Company’s Amended and Restated 2012 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2012 Plan”) allows for the issuance of incentive and non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, stock awards, restricted stock, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and performance awards to employees, directors, and consultants of the Company, where permitted under the plan. The exercise price for each stock option is determined by the market price on the date of issuance. Vesting requirements are determined by the Board of Directors when granted and currently range from immediate to three years. Options outstanding under this plan have a contractual life of ten years.

ASC 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”), requires that a company that issues equity as compensation record compensation expense that corresponds to the estimated cost of those equity grants. ASC 718 requires companies to estimate the fair value of stock-based payment awards on the date of grant using an option-pricing model or other acceptable means.

Valuation and Accounting for Stock Options and Warrants

The Company determines the grant date fair value of options and warrants using a Black-Scholes option valuation model based upon assumptions regarding risk-free interest rate, expected dividend rate, volatility, and estimated term.

The fair value of each stock option grant was estimated on the grant date using the Black-Scholes option valuation model with the following assumptions:

	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2024		2023
	Stock Options
Expected dividend yield		-		0.0%
Expected stock price volatility		-		90.8% – 91.6%
Risk-free interest rate		-		3.38% – 3.72%
Expected life		-		10 years
	Warrants
Expected dividend yield		0.0%		-
Expected stock price volatility		97.3%		-
Risk-free interest rate		4.06% – 4.58%		-
Expected life		1.5 – 5 years		-

Stock Options and Warrants Granted by the Company

The following summarizes transactions for stock options and warrants for the period indicated: 

	Stock Options					Warrants
	Number of Shares			Average Exercise Price		Number of Shares			Average Exercise Price
Outstanding as of December 31, 2023		47,664		$	82.23		1,806,589		$	21.52
Issued		-			-		1,983,302			1.09
Forfeited		(309	)		5.04		-			-
Expired		(2,164	)		3.03		(81,346	)		37.90
Exercised		-			-		(958,117	)		1.32
Outstanding as of September 30, 2024		45,191		$	86.55		2,750,428		$	8.92

Stock-based compensation expense, net of forfeitures, recognized for the three months ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, was $88 and $(14,336), respectively. Stock-based compensation expense, net of forfeitures, recognized for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, and 2023, was $1,103 and $10, respectively. Stock-based compensation expense is recorded within each of the captions comprising Operating expenses from continuing operations. The Company has $16 of unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested stock options that is expected to be recognized over the next 4 months.