v3.26.1
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2026
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY  
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

NOTE 17 – STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Issuance of Common Stock

During the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, the Company issued 3,449,209 shares and 1,472,097 shares, respectively, of its common stock in conjunction with the vesting of RSUs and exercising of stock options. See the “Share-Based Compensation” section below for further details.

Sale of Common Stock

During the six months ended June 30, 2026, the Company sold 4,326,433 shares of its common stock in “at the market offerings” and received gross proceeds of $50,033,307 based on a weighted average price of $11.56 per share. The aggregate net proceeds received by the Company, after deducting direct issuance costs of $962,469, totaled $49,070,838. During the first six months of 2025, the Company sold 1,857,923 shares of its common stock in “at the market offerings” and received gross proceeds of $5,158,787 based on a weighted average price of $2.78 per share. The aggregate net proceeds received by the Company, after deducting direct issuance costs of $94,304, totaled $5,064,483.

The Company also issued 2,703,643 shares of its common stock during the first six months of 2026 related to the exercise of warrants. See the “Common Stock Warrants” section below for further details.

Share-based compensation

In December 2023, shareholders approved the Company’s 2023 Equity Incentive Plan (“the Plan”), which provided for the grant of incentive stock options and non-qualified stock options and other types of awards. The general purpose of the Plan is to provide a means whereby eligible employees, officers, directors and other service providers develop a sense of proprietorship and personal involvement in the development and financial success of the Company, and to encourage them to devote their best efforts to our business, thereby advancing our interests and the interests of our shareholders. On July 31, 2025, the Company’s shareholders approved the Amended and Restated 2023 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Amended Plan”) which increased the maximum number of shares of common stock available for issuance under the Amended Plan to 23,700,000 shares.

Share-based compensation expense for the periods noted was as follows:

Three months Ended

Six months Ended

June 30, 

June 30, 

  ​ ​ ​

2026

  ​ ​ ​

2025

  ​ ​ ​

2026

  ​ ​ ​

2025

Stock options

$

1,852,602

$

251,571

$

4,033,894

$

404,083

RSUs

 

1,052,325

 

335,342

 

3,704,998

 

428,214

Total share-based compensation expense

$

2,904,927

$

586,913

$

7,738,892

$

832,297

The following table summarizes the aggregate non-cash stock-based compensation recognized in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for stock options and RSUs:

Three months Ended

Six months Ended

June 30, 

June 30, 

  ​ ​ ​

2026

  ​ ​ ​

2025

  ​ ​ ​

2026

  ​ ​ ​

2025

General and administrative

$

218,435

$

263,385

$

597,043

$

331,093

Salaries and benefits

 

2,682,591

 

319,627

 

7,134,048

 

493,403

Professional fees

 

3,901

 

3,901

 

7,801

 

7,801

Total non-cash share-based compensation expense

$

2,904,927

$

586,913

$

7,738,892

$

832,297

Stock options

Stock options granted typically have a 10-year contractual term and are subject to either service or performance-based vesting conditions. The following table shows the weighted-average assumptions used to value options granted during the six months ended June 30, 2026:

Six Months Ended

 

Weighted-Average Grant Date Assumptions

  ​ ​ ​

June 30, 2026

 

Expected term (in years)

 

9.8

Risk-free interest rate

 

4.2

%

Expected dividend yield

 

%

Expected volatility

 

97.7

%

Fair value per share

$

7.45

Expected term – The expected term represents the period of time that options are expected to be outstanding. As the Company does not have sufficient historical exercise behavior, it uses the contractual term of the option or the simplified method as defined in Staff Accounting Bulletin Topic 14 for the expected term assumption.

Risk-free interest rate – The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury rate in effect at the time of the grant with an equivalent term approximating the expected term of the options.

Expected dividend yield—The Company bases the expected dividend yield assumption on the fact that it has never paid cash dividends and has no present intention to pay cash dividends.

Expected volatility – The expected volatility is based on the historical volatility of our stock price over the expected term of the stock option.

Activity with respect to stock options is summarized as follows:

Weighted-

Weighted-

Average

Average

Exercise

Remaining

Aggregate

Price Per

Contractual

Intrinsic

  ​ ​ ​

Shares

  ​ ​ ​

Share

  ​ ​ ​

Term (in years)

  ​ ​ ​

Value

Options outstanding, December 31, 2025

 

5,635,748

$

1.21

 

5.5

$

21,526,399

Granted

 

945,606

 

8.30

 

 

Exercised

 

(1,722,289)

 

0.77

 

 

Forfeited

 

(433,020)

 

2.98

 

 

Expired

 

 

 

 

Options outstanding, June 30, 2026

 

4,426,045

$

2.72

 

6.3

$

20,982,450

Nonvested options, June 30, 2026

 

2,960,929

$

3.23

 

6.3

$

12,844,596

Vested and exercisable options, June 30, 2026

 

1,465,116

$

1.71

 

6.3

$

8,137,854

At June 30, 2026, total unrecognized share-based compensation expense related to stock options was $4,188,207, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining period of 0.8 years. During the six months ended June 30, 2026, 1,722,289 stock options were exercised to purchase shares of common stock. These exercises included 421,797 options for cash proceeds of $259,501 and cashless exercises where 372,185 shares of common stock were acquired by the Company as treasury stock to pay for the aggregate exercise price of the stock options and, in certain cases, to satisfy mandatory payroll tax withholding obligations, where 928,307 shares of common stock were issued to the award recipients. See the “Treasury Stock” section below for further details. The total intrinsic value of the 1,722,289 stock options exercised during the six months ended June 30, 2026 was $14,560,523.

During the six months ended June 30, 2025, 622,500 stock options were exercised to purchase shares of common stock. These exercises included 250,000 options for cash proceeds of $55,000 and cashless exercises where 50,269 shares of common stock were surrendered to the Company to pay for the aggregate exercise price of the stock options and 322,231 shares of common stock were issued. The total intrinsic value of the 322,500 stock options exercised during the six months ended June 30, 2025 was $1,061,033.

Restricted stock units

Activity with respect to RSUs is summarized as follows:

Weighted-

Average

Grant Date

Fair Value

  ​ ​ ​

Shares

  ​ ​ ​

Per Share

RSUs outstanding at December 31, 2025

 

2,869,111

$

1.86

Granted

 

790,106

 

8.30

Vested

 

(1,726,920)

 

2.11

Forfeited

 

(263,871)

 

3.14

RSUs outstanding at June 30, 2026

 

1,668,426

$

4.44

At June 30, 2026, total unrecognized share-based compensation expense related to RSUs was $6,009,654, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining period of 1.7 years. The weighted average remaining contractual term of the nonvested RSU shares was 1.5 years at June 30, 2026. During the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025,1,726,920 and 899,866 shares of common stock, respectively, were issued upon the vesting of RSUs with a total fair value of $16,656,240 and $1,269,256, respectively. Also, during the six months ended June 30, 2026, 528,362 of the newly issued common shares were acquired by the Company as treasury stock to satisfy the mandatory payroll tax withholding obligations resulting from the RSU vesting. See the “Treasury Stock” section below for further details.

Common stock warrants

During the six months ended June 30, 2026, the Company issued 2,703,643 shares of common stock related to the exercise of pre-existing warrants and received gross proceeds of $1,963,812 based on a weighted average exercise price of $0.73 per share. In the first two quarters of 2025, the Company issued 2,919,643 shares of common stock related to the exercise of pre-existing warrants and received gross proceeds of $2,225,411 based on a weighted average exercise price of $0.76 per share. There were no warrants issued or that expired during the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025.

Following is a summary of the Company’s warrant activity during the six months ended June 30, 2026:

Weighted

Number of

Average

  ​ ​ ​

Warrants

  ​ ​ ​

Exercise Price

Balance at December 31, 2025

 

2,833,893

$

0.73

Exercised

 

(2,703,643)

 

0.73

Balance at June 30, 2026

 

130,250

$

0.85

Each warrant represents the right to receive one share of the Company’s common stock. The composition of the Company’s remaining warrants outstanding at June 30, 2026 was as follows:

Number of warrants

  ​ ​ ​

Exercise Price

  ​ ​ ​

Expiration Date

  ​ ​ ​

Remaining life (years)

130,250

$

0.85

 

8/3/2026

 

0.09

Treasury Stock

The Company retains and holds shares of its common stock as treasury stock to manage the settlement of employee equity awards. Shares are retained primarily to cover the option exercise price and, if any, required tax withholding for cashless stock option exercises and to satisfy employees’ tax obligations upon RSU vesting. During the six months ended June 30, 2026, the Company withheld 372,185 shares of common stock, with an aggregate value of $3,654,449, in connection with certain stock option exercises. These shares were retained as treasury stock to satisfy the related exercise price and, where applicable, payroll tax withholding obligations. Also, during the six months ended June 30, 2026, 528,362 newly issued common shares with a cost of $5,189,407 were retained by the Company as treasury stock to satisfy the mandatory payroll tax obligations resulting from the vesting of RSUs. There were no common shares retained and transferred to treasury stock during the six months ended June 30, 2025.