Note 13. Stock-Based Compensation and Employee Stock Purchase Program

Stock Incentive Plans

The Company had two equity incentive plans: the 2006 Stock Plan (“2006 Plan”) and the 2015 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan (“2015 Plan”).

In 2006, the Company adopted the 2006 Plan, which provided for the granting of stock options to executives, employees, and other service providers under terms and provisions established by the Board of Directors. The Company granted non-statutory stock options (“NSOs”) under the 2006 Plan until May 2015, when it was terminated as to future awards, although it continues to govern the terms of options that remain outstanding and were issued under the 2006 Plan. The 2015 Plan became effective upon the Company’s IPO in May 2015 and all shares that were reserved, but not issued, under the 2006 Plan were assumed by the 2015 Plan. Upon effectiveness, the 2015 Plan had 3,860 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance, which included 259 that were transferred to and assumed by the 2015 Plan. The 2015 Plan provided for automatic annual increases in shares available for grant. In addition, shares subject to awards under the 2006 Plan that are forfeited or canceled were added to the 2015 Plan. The maximum number of shares that may be awarded to any individual employee, including our directors and officers, during any calendar year was 9,375 shares. The 2015 Plan provided for the grant of incentive stock options (“ISOs”), NSOs, restricted stock awards, stock units, stock appreciation rights, and other forms of equity compensation, all of which may be granted to employees, officers, non-employee directors, and consultants. The exercise price for ISOs and NSOs were granted at a price per share not less than the fair value of our common stock at the date of grant. Options granted generally vest over a four-year period; however, there might be alternative vesting schedules, as approved by the Board. Options granted, once vested, are generally exercisable for up to 10 years, after grant to the extent vested.

On June 25, 2024, the shareholders approved an amendment to the Company’s 2015 Plan that increased the number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the 2015 Plan by 200,000 shares and increased the maximum number of shares of common stock issuable to employees, including our officers and directors, in any fiscal year from 9,375 shares to 50,000 shares. In May 2025, the 2015 Plan terminated as to future awards. On February 2, 2022, former president and chief executive officer of the Company, Stanley Jacot Jr. was hired. The Company granted Mr. Jacot an inducement stock option to purchase 7,902 shares of the Company’s common stock pursuant to Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. The Company filed a registration statement on Form S-8 to register the issuance of shares upon exercise of this inducement stock option. The inducement options grants were issued outside of the 2015 Plan, but were subject to the terms and conditions of the 2015 Plan. As of December 31, 2025, a total of 332,650 shares of common stock were reserved for issuance under the 2015 Plan pursuant to the exercise of outstanding options, and no further options or other awards may be granted pursuant to the 2015 Plan. As of December 31, 2025, a total of 9 and 179,755 options were outstanding under the 2006 and 2015 Plans, respectively. As of December 31, 2024, a total of 40 and 205,236 options were outstanding under the 2006 and 2015 Plans, respectively. A total of 199 inducement options were outstanding as of December 31, 2025 and 2024.

The following is a summary of stock option information and weighted average exercise prices under the Company’s stock incentive plans (in thousands, except share data and price per share):

 

 

 

Shares
Subject to
Outstanding
Options

 

 

Weighted-
Average
Exercise
Price Per
Share

 

 

Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value

 

Outstanding — Balance at December 31, 2023

 

 

80,078

 

 

$

85.00

 

 

$

 

Options granted

 

 

158,000

 

 

 

3.00

 

 

 

 

Options exercised

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options forfeited

 

 

(11,197

)

 

 

24.00

 

 

 

397

 

Options expired

 

 

(21,406

)

 

 

129.00

 

 

 

 

Outstanding — Balance at December 31, 2024

 

 

205,475

 

 

 

21.00

 

 

 

516,378

 

Options granted

 

 

25,000

 

 

 

3.88

 

 

 

 

Options exercised

 

 

(5,691

)

 

 

2.81

 

 

 

12,434

 

Options forfeited

 

 

(27,446

)

 

 

3.39

 

 

 

11,230

 

Options expired

 

 

(17,375

)

 

 

90.98

 

 

 

 

Outstanding — Balance at December 31, 2025

 

 

179,963

 

 

 

14.65

 

 

 

 

Vested and expected to vest — December 31, 2025

 

 

170,562

 

 

 

15.29

 

 

 

 

Exercisable —December 31, 2025

 

 

127,131

 

 

$

19.37

 

 

$

 

Aggregate intrinsic value represents the difference between the exercise price of the options and the estimated fair value of the Company’s common stock determined by its Board of Directors for each of the respective periods.

As of December 31, 2025, there was $113,000 of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock-based compensation grants that will be recognized over the weighted-average remaining recognition period of 1.4 years.

In determining the fair value of the stock-based awards, the Company uses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and assumptions discussed below. Each of these inputs is subjective and generally requires significant judgment to determine.

Expected Term—The expected term is the estimated period of time outstanding for stock options granted and was estimated based on a simplified method allowed by the SEC, and defines the term as the average of the contractual term of the options and the weighted-average vesting period for all open employee awards.

Expected Volatility—The historical volatility data was computed using the daily closing prices for the Company’s shares during the equivalent period of the calculated expected term of the stock-based awards.

Risk-Free Interest Rate—The risk-free interest rate is based on the interest rate of U.S. Treasuries of comparable maturities on the date the options were granted.

Expected Dividend—The expected dividend yield is based on the Company’s expectation of future dividend payouts to common stockholders.

The fair value of stock option awards was estimated at the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following weighted-average assumption:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

Assumptions

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Expected term (years)

 

 

6.07

 

 

 

8.04

 

Expected volatility

 

 

104

%

 

 

101

%

Risk-free interest rate

 

 

4.10

%

 

 

3.77

%

Expected dividend yield

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weighted-average, estimated grant date fair value of employee stock options granted during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $3.20 and $2.33, respectively. The Company recognized $234,000 and $512,000 of compensation expense for stock options awards for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

The Company’s 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) became effective on May 14, 2015. The ESPP allows eligible employees to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at a discount of up to 15% of their eligible compensation through payroll deductions, subject to any plan limitations. After the first offering period, which began on May 14, 2015 and ended on February 1, 2016, the ESPP provides for six-month offering periods, and at the end of each offering period, employees are able to purchase shares at 85% of the lower of the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the first trading day of the offering period or on the last day of the offering period. The ESPP provides for automatic annual increases in the shares available for purchase beginning on January 1, 2016. As of December 31, 2025, 10,560 shares had been issued under the ESPP. The Company recorded $7,000 of ESPP related compensation expense for each of the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Mar 26, 2026Showing above
2024Mar 25, 2025
2023Mar 28, 2024
2022Mar 30, 2023
2021Mar 31, 2022
2020Mar 31, 2021

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.