Note 11 - Stockholders’ equity

Controlled Equity Offering

In May 2023, the Company entered into a sales agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with B. Riley Securities, Inc. as sales agent (“Riley”). Under the Sales Agreement, the Company may offer and sell, from time to time, through Riley, shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Shares”) having an aggregate offering price of up to $30 million. The Company pays Riley a commission of 3.0% of the aggregate gross proceeds received under the Sale Agreement. The Company is not obligated to make any sales of Shares under the Sales Agreement. The offering of Shares pursuant to the Sales Agreement will terminate upon the earlier of (a) the sale of all of the Shares subject to the Sales Agreement or (b) the termination of the Sales Agreement by Riley or the Company, as permitted therein. In May 2023, the Company filed with the SEC a “shelf” registration and sales agreement prospectus covering the Sales Agreement. A total of $150 million of securities, including those covered by the Sales Agreement, may be sold under the shelf registration which was declared effective in July 2023. During the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended July 31, 2023, the Company sold 276,479 shares for net proceeds of $386. There was no activity during the six months ended January 31, 2024.

Incentive stock plans

In January 2011, the Company’s stockholders approved the adoption of the 2011 Incentive Plan (the “2011 Plan”) for the issuance of equity awards, including, among others, options, restricted stock, restricted stock units and performance stock units for up to 3,000,000 shares of common stock. In January 2018, the Company’s stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the 2011 Plan (the “Amended and Restated 2011 Plan”) to increase the number of shares of common stock available for grant under the 2011 Plan by 2,000,000 shares of common stock bringing the total number of shares available for grant to 5,000,000 shares of common stock. On October 7, 2020, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the amendment and restatement of the Amended and Restated 2011 Plan, with an effective date of October 7, 2020 and subject to approval by the Company’s stockholders at the 2020 annual meeting of stockholders of the Company. The amendment and restatement of the Amended and Restated 2011 Plan was for purposes of, among other things, (i) increasing the shares of common stock available for grant under the Amended and Restated 2011 Plan by an additional 4,000,000 shares of common stock bringing the total number of shares available for grant to 9,000,000 shares of common stock and (ii) extending the term of the Amended and Restated 2011 Plan until October 7, 2030. In January 2021, the Company’s stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Amended and Restated 2011 Plan.

The exercise price of options granted under the Amended and Restated 2011 Plan, as amended and restated, is equal to or greater than fair market value of the common stock on the date of grant. The Amended and Restated 2011 Plan, as amended and restated, will terminate at the earliest of (a) such time as no shares of common stock remain available for issuance under the plan, (b) termination of the plan by the Company’s Board of Directors, or (c) October 7, 2030. Awards outstanding upon expiration of the Amended and Restated 2011 Plan, as amended and restated, will remain in effect until they have been exercised or terminated, or have expired. As of January 31, 2024, there were approximately 5,214,000 shares of common stock available for grant under the Amended and Restated 2011 Plan, as amended and restated.

The Company estimates the fair value of each stock option award on the measurement date using a Black-Scholes option pricing model or the fair value of our stock at the date of grant. The fair value of awards is amortized to expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. The Company expenses restricted stock awards based on vesting requirements, primarily time elapsed. Performance stock awards are not recognized until it is probable they will be earned. At such time, their expense is then recognized over the requisite service period, including that portion of the service period already elapsed. Options granted pursuant to the plans may be either incentive stock options or non-statutory options. The 2011 Plan provides for the issuance of stock options, restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards which generally vest over a two or three year period.

During the six months ended January 31, 2024, the Company recognized $519 of share based compensation with respect to stock options and $367 of share based compensation with respect to restricted stock units as a result of the termination of the former CEO during the quarter then ended. See Note 14.

The amounts of share-based compensation expense recognized in the periods presented are as follows:

The following table sets forth the amount of expense related to share-based payment arrangements included in specific line items in the accompanying statements of operations:

No excess tax benefits were recognized during the six month periods ended January 31, 2024 and 2023.

The following table summarizes stock option activity during the six month period ended January 31, 2024:

As of January 31, 2024, the total future compensation cost related to non-vested options, not yet recognized in the statements of operations, was $519 and the weighted average period over which the remaining expense of these awards is expected to be recognized is approximately one and one half years. The intrinsic value of stock option awards represents the value of the Company’s closing stock price on the last trading day of the period in excess of the exercise price multiplied by the number of options that are outstanding.

Restricted Stock Units

The following table summarizes RSU activity for the six months ended January 31, 2024:

Certain directors had not received their vested RSU shares, totaling 144,530, as of July 31, 2023. These shares were issued during the six months ended January 31, 2024.

During the six months ended January 31, 2024, 173,333 RSUs vested and 100,000 were cancelled as a result of the termination of the former CEO. The vested shares had not been issued as of January 31, 2024.

During the three and six months ended January 31, 2024, the Company recognized shared based compensation expense for RSU’s of $163 and $593, respectively. As of January 31, 2024, the total future compensation cost related to non-vested RSUs, not yet recognized in the statements of operations, was $300 and the weighted average period over which the remaining expense of these awards is expected to be recognized is approximately one half years.

Performance Stock Units

During the three and six months ended January 31, 2024, the Company recognized no share based compensation for Performance Stock Units (“PSUs”). During the three and six months ended January 31, 2023, the Company recognized $3 and $(45) of share based compensation (reversal of compensation) for PSUs. During the six months ended January 31, 2024, one senior executive vested in 10,640 shares of stock which were issued subsequent to January 31, 2024. As of January 31, 2024 there were no PSUs outstanding.