SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Equity [Abstract]

SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

NOTE 7     SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Stock Options

On October 1, 2023, the Company granted options to three of its non-employee directors to purchase an aggregate of 332,409 shares of its common stock at an exercise price of $0.76 per share. The options vest one year from the date of grant and expire five years from the date of the grant. The options have a weighted average grant-date fair value of $0.36 per share and an aggregate grant-date fair value of $120,000, which will be recognized ratably over the vesting period. No options were granted during the three months ended December 31, 2022. There were no options exercised during the three months ended December 31, 2023 or 2022.

The Company recognized compensation expense for stock option awards of $51,000 and $24,000 during the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, which was recorded as a component of general and administrative expenses in its condensed consolidated statements of operations. At December 31, 2023, there was $91,000 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to nonvested stock option awards that is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 0.8 years.

Nasdaq

  

On July 31, 2023, the Company was notified by Nasdaq that it was not compliant with its closing bid price requirement because the closing bid price of our common stock was below $1.00 per share for 30 consecutive trading days. The Company had 180 days, or until January 29, 2024, to regain compliance with this requirement. On January 30, 2024, we were notified by Nasdaq that based on our continued non-compliance with this requirement, it had determined that the Company’s common stock would be scheduled for delisting from Nasdaq. The Company requested a hearing on this matter with the Nasdaq Hearings Panel (“Panel”) and a hearing has been scheduled for April 9, 2024.  This request stayed any trading suspension or delisting of the Company’s common stock until the completion of the hearings process.  The Company has received shareholder approval for a reverse stock split (see below), on February 6, 2024, and is considering its options. We can provide no assurances that we will regain compliance with the requirements to remain listed on Nasdaq or that the Panel will approve our plans to regain compliance.

Reverse Stock Split

On February 6, 2024, the Company's shareholders approved an amendment to our Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the "Amendment") to effect a reverse stock split at a ratio in the range of 1-for-2 to 1-for-3, with such ratio to be determined at the discretion of the Company's board of directors and with such reverse stock split to be effected at such time and date, if at all, as determined by the Company's board of directors in its sole discretion. The Company’s board of directors intends to determine whether to proceed with the reverse stock split, the effective time and ratio of the reverse stock split at a future date. We can provide no assurances that it will be implemented or that it will result in our stock price increasing to meet the bid price requirement for a period of time sufficient to regain compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements.