9. Stock Options and Restricted Shares

 

Stock Options

 

The following is a summary of stock option activity under the Company’s 2017 Equity Incentive Plan for the year ended December 31, 2025:

 

  

Number of Shares

  

Weighted Average Exercise Price

  

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Life (years)

 

Outstanding at December 31, 2024

  564,126        

Options Granted at $2.50 Exercise Price

  415,000  $2.50     

Options Expired at $26.50 Exercise Price

  (277) $26.50     

Options Expired at $21.10 Exercise Price

  (1,377) $21.10     

Options Expired at $24.40 Exercise Price

  (10,000) $24.40     

Options forfeited at $26.50 Exercise Price

  (222) $26.50     

Options Granted at $2.12 Exercise Price

  10,000  $2.12     

Outstanding at December 31, 2025

  977,250         

Outstanding Options at $20.00 Exercise Price

  25,000  $20.00   6.02 

Outstanding Options at $24.00 Exercise Price

  9,090  $24.00   6.02 

Outstanding Options at $90.00 Exercise Price

  25,675  $90.00   4.98 

Outstanding Options at $262.00 Exercise Price

  675  $262.00   2.30 

Outstanding Options at $21.00 Exercise Price

  58,850  $21.00   7.53 

Outstanding Options at $21.10 Exercise Price

  136,460  $21.10   8.22 

Outstanding Options at $26.60 Exercise Price

  2,500  $26.60   8.12 

Outstanding Options at $15.00 Exercise Price

  80,000  $15.00   0.05 

Outstanding Options at $27.50 Exercise Price

  200,000  $27.50   1.10 

Outstanding Option at $17.60 Exercise Price

  10,000  $17.60   8.47 

Outstanding Options at $14.90 Exercise Price

  2,000  $14.90   8.43 

Outstanding Options at $22.00 Exercise Price

  2,000  $22.00   8.30 

Outstanding Options at $2.50 Exercise Price

  415,000  $2.50   9.42 

Outstanding Options at $2.12 Exercise Price

  10,000  $2.12   9.39 

Outstanding at December 31, 2025

  977,250         
             
             
             

 

As of  December 31, 2025 stock options for 761,776 shares of common stock were exercisable. Unrecognized compensation for unvested options was $107,000 as of December 31, 2025.

 

On  March 10, 2025, the Compensation Committee (the "Compensation Committee") of the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") granted the non-employee directors and certain executives and consultants options to purchase an aggregate of 415,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.50 per share, of which 385,000 of these options vested immediately upon grant and expire on the tenth anniversary of the grant date. The remaining 30,000 options vest on the one-year anniversary of the grant date and expire on the tenth anniversary of the grant date.

 

On  May 21, 2025, the Compensation Committee granted a consultant options to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $2.12 per share, all of which vested immediately upon grant and expire on the tenth anniversary of the grant date.

 

As of December 31, 2025, the outstanding stock options had intrinsic value of $0.

 

Performance Options

 

On  February 28, 2024, the Company issued options to an external party to purchase 200,000 shares of the Company's common stock at an exercise price of $27.50 per share, contingent upon achieving certain sales targets. On December 31, 2025, the sales targets were not met and therefore, no compensation expense was recorded for the year ended December 31, 2025. The Company does not believe that the criteria will be met. These options expire on  February 5, 2027.

 

The options granted during 2025 were valued using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, resulting in a weighted average fair market value of approximately $1.37 per option for the years ended December 31, 2025. The weighted average assumptions used in the valuation of the options are summarized in the following table:

 

  

2025

 

Risk-free interest rate

  4.03%

Expected volatility

  60.4%

Expected option term (years)

  5 

Expected dividend yield

  0%

 

As of December 31, 2025, the outstanding options had no intrinsic value.

 

Restricted Shares

 

In November 2023, the Company awarded 65,660 restricted shares to a vendor that vested over a six-month period in exchange for marketing services to be provided over the same period. As a result, the Company recorded stock compensation expense of $58,671 during the year ended December 31, 2024. No compensation expense was recognized for these restricted shares during the year ended December 31, 2025.

 

The Company recorded total stock compensation expense of $639,815 and $1,889,353 for the years ended December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively.

 

 

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Apr 13, 2026Showing above
2024Apr 15, 2025
2023Mar 28, 2024
2022Sep 25, 2023

About Stock Compensation Disclosures

Stock-based compensation disclosures detail the equity awards granted to employees and executives — including stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), and performance shares — along with the valuation methods and assumptions used to expense them. This section reveals the true cost of talent retention and the alignment between management incentives and shareholder interests.

Key signals: total unrecognized compensation expense and its expected recognition period signal future earnings headwinds from already-granted awards. For stock options, examine Black-Scholes assumptions — expected volatility, risk-free rate, and expected term — as understating any of these reduces reported compensation expense. Compare stock compensation expense as a percentage of revenue against peers to assess dilution cost. Watch vesting schedules for acceleration clauses tied to change-of-control events. Performance-based awards with undemanding targets may indicate weak governance. Add back stock compensation to operating cash flow to calculate a more conservative free cash flow figure.