The Company sponsors a stock-based incentive compensation plan known as the 2017 Incentive Plan, as amended, (the “Plan”). As of March 31, 2025, there were 7,964,608 shares available and authorized for issuance under the Plan.

The following is a summary of stock option activity during the six months ended March 31, 2025:


	Number of Option Shares			Weighted Average Exercise Price ($)
Balance, September 30, 2024		2,285,462		$	15.58
Options granted		268,550		$	9.93
Options expired		(101,585	)	$	15.83
Options forfeited		(55,963	)	$	12.93
Options exercised		(25,510	)	$	6.05
Balance, March 31, 2025		2,370,954		$	15.09

As of March 31, 2025, there were options exercisable to purchase 1,484,820 shares of common stock in the Company. As of March 31, 2025, the outstanding options had a weighted average remaining term of 7.4 years and an intrinsic value of $678.

For the six months ended March 31, 2025, the Company also granted 268,550 options to purchase shares of common stock to employees with a total fair value of $2,372.

The Black-Scholes model utilized the following inputs to value the options granted during the six months ended March 31, 2025:


Fair value assumptions Options:		March 31, 2025
Risk free interest rate		3.56% - 4.65%
Expected term (years)		1.00 - 6.32
Expected volatility		121.01% - 123.02%
Expected dividends		0%

The Company recognized stock-based compensation expense relating to stock options of $2,121 and $3,620 for the six months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. As of March 31, 2025, the Company expects to recognize $8,155 of stock-based compensation for the non-vested outstanding options over a weighted-average period of 2.10 years.

The following table summarizes the activity for all restricted stock units (“RSUs”) during the six months ended March 31, 2025:


	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Fair Value Per Share		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at September 30, 2024		1,674,211		$	7.56	$	12,649
Granted		153,715		$	8.75
Vested		(86,237	)	$	9.12
Outstanding at March 31, 2025		1,741,689		$	7.58	$	11,704

On October 1, 2024, the Company granted 136,520 time-based RSUs to its board members as part of their annual compensation. These RSUs vest 25% quarterly and have a combined grant-date fair value of $1,200. The 25% quarterly vesting is scheduled to occur on February 13, 2025, May 13, 2025, August 13, 2025 and December 3, 2025. As of March 31, 2025, the company has settled and issued 34,130 of these time-based RSUs in accordance with the prescribed vesting schedule.

As of March 31, 2025, the Company had 1,741,689 outstanding unvested time-based restricted stock awards, which will vest over the weighted average 1.9 years. As of March 31, 2025, the unrecognized compensation costs related to all RSUs is $9,687.

The Company recognized stock-based compensation expense relating to RSUs of $3,942 and $2,530 for the six months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The following table summarizes the activity for all performance stock units (“PSUs”) during the six months ended March 31, 2025:


	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Fair Value Per Share		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at September 30, 2024		—		$	-	$	-
Granted		40,000		$	10.61
Vested		(1,540	)	$	10.61
Outstanding at March 31, 2025		38,460		$	7.58	$	258

During the six months ended March 31, 2025, the Company granted 40,000 performance-based RSUs to certain employees at a grant-date fair value of $424. The PSUs vest based on the achievement of certain milestones closely tied to the employees' job responsibilities.

As of March 31, 2025, the Company had 38,460 outstanding unvested performance-based restricted stock awards, which will vest over a weighted average of 2.6 years. As of March 31, 2025, the unrecognized compensation costs related to all PSUs is $354.

The Company recognized stock-based compensation expense relating to PSUs of $57 and $13,600 for the six months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

On October 1, 2024, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Compensation Committee”) approved the establishment of the Company’s Long-Term Incentive Program (the “2025 LTIP”), which permits the issuance of RSUs to executive officers and other executives. Awards granted pursuant to the 2025 LTIP are in addition to cash annual bonus awards and annual time-based RSU awards, if any, and are a key element of the Company’s compensation program.

On October 2, 2024, the Compensation Committee, with the consultation of independent compensation firm, performed an analysis to evaluate the structure of the 2025 LTIP with the combined goal of retention and performance of the senior leadership team. The number of awards will vary based on a year-end evaluation of the Compensation Committee against a currently undetermined group of metrics and the range of the awards can be between 0% and 200% at the discretion of the Compensation Committee. The number of awards at 100% is 5,381,021.

The awards will vest over a 4-year period, whereby 40% will vest at the end of fiscal 2025, and the remaining 60% will vest quarterly over the subsequent 3-years based on continuing employment of the grantee. In addition, the number of awards that will vest depends on the achievement of certain performance metrics. As of March 31, 2025, the specific performance metrics have not been determined with enough specificity to allow for a mutual understanding of the terms, and hence, there is no grant date nor service inception date. Therefore, as of March 31, 2025, there is no stock-based compensation expense recorded under the 2025 LTIP, until such time as the performance metrics are finalized and determined.