Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Note 14 - Stock-based Compensation

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Note 14 - Stock-based Compensation
12 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2022
Notes to Financial Statements  
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]

14.

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

 

2017 Plan

 

The Company has granted stock options and other stock-based awards under its 2017 Stock Option Plan (the “2017 Plan”). The maximum number of shares of common stock which could have been reserved for issuance under the 2017 plan was 1,899,327. The 2017 Plan was administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board. The Compensation Committee determined the persons to whom options to purchase shares of common stock, and other stock-based awards may be granted. Persons eligible to receive awards under the 2017 Plan were employees, officers, directors, and consultants of the Company. Awards were at the discretion of the Compensation Committee. On February 24, 2021, the Company terminated the 2017 Plan and adopted the 2020 Plan (defined below). 

 

2020 Plan

 

On October 23, 2020, the Board approved and on November 19, 2020 the stockholders approved the Byrna Technologies Inc. 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan”). The aggregate number of shares of common stock available for issuance in connection with options and other awards granted under the 2020 Plan was 2,500,000. On April 26, 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors approved and on June 17, 2022 the Company's stockholders approved the increase of the number of shares of common stock available for issuance under the 2020 Plan by 1,300,000 shares to a total of 3,800,000 shares. The 2020 Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board. The Compensation Committee determines the persons to whom options to purchase shares of common stock, stock appreciation rights (“SARs”), restricted stock units (“RSUs”), and restricted or unrestricted shares of common stock may be granted. Persons eligible to receive awards under the 2020 Plan are employees, officers, directors, consultants, advisors and other individual service providers of the Company. Awards are at the discretion of the Compensation Committee.

 

On February 24, 2021, following the termination of the 2017 Plan, the Company replaced outstanding options under the 2017 Plan with options under the 2020 Plan. In connection with the adoption of the 2020 Plan, the Company cancelled outstanding option awards granted under the 2017 plan.  There were no substantive changes to the rights of any holder of options granted under the 2017 plan other than replacing their award certificates with award agreements under the 2020 plan. The grant dates, exercise prices, expiration dates, and vesting provisions of any of the new award agreements under the 2020 plan that replace the certificates issued under the 2017 plan are identical for each grant and no change in valuation or accounting was required. 

 

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

 

Total stock-based compensation expense was $5.4 million and $3.2 million for the years ended November 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Total stock-based compensation expense was recorded in Operating expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss.

 

During the first half of 2022, the Board of Directors authorized granting of restricted stock unit awards (" RSUs") in excess of the limit stipulated under the 2020 Plan. Additionally, the Company agreed to grant 200,000 RSUs to the Chief Technology Officer ("CTO") in exchange for his waiver of rights to future royalty payments. See Note 19, "Commitments and Contingencies - Royalty Payments," for additional information. Because these awards were contingent on shareholder approval at the next annual shareholder meeting, these RSUs were not considered granted under Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 718, Compensation - Stock Compensation ("ASC 718") and were treated as obligation to issue RSU's and were remeasured at the end of each reporting period until the settlement date on June 17, 2022 and August 3, 2022 (for the RSUs to the CTO).  

 

Additionally, on March 23, 2022, the Board of Directors approved the issuance of RSU Amendment Agreements to each grantee of the double trigger RSUs in which 50% of the RSUs (778,750 RSUs) were exchanged for stock options. The original RSUs that were cancelled were issued in 2020 and 2021.  In accordance with ASC 718, a cancellation of an award accompanied by the concurrent grant of a replacement award shall be accounted for as a modification of the terms of the cancelled award.  Similarly, because these stock options were not considered granted under ASC 718, they were therefore treated as obligation to issue stock options and were remeasured at the end of each reporting period until the settlement date on June 17, 2022.  

 

On June 17, 2022, the stockholders approved to increase the stock compensation plan by 1,300,000 shares to 3,800,000 shares.  Consequently, the Company settled the obligation to issue RSUs and options by issuing the related RSUs and stock options and reclassified the fair value of the issuances at June 17, 2022 of $1.0 million from accounts payable and accrued liabilities to additional paid-in capital.  Additionally, the amounts recognized as employee incentive expense totaling $1.4 million during fiscal year end 2022 was reclassified to stock compensation expense.  The non-cash expense associated with these rewards were valued at the grant date of June 17, 2022, using a Monte Carlo model for double trigger RSUs and a Black Scholes model for simple employment period vesting stock options. 

 

Restricted Stock Units

 

During the years ended November 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company granted 536,805 and 174,493 RSUs, respectively. Stock-based compensation expense for the RSUs for the years  November 30, 2022 and 2021, was $2.6 million and $2.9 million, respectively. 

 

During the year ended November 30, 2022, the Company accelerated the vesting of 3,874 RSUs to a former director and 8,392 RSUs to current board members for 2021 services.   During the year ended November 30, 2022, 25,000 RSUs were forfeited due to a former employee who was terminated for cause.  These RSU's did not vest, as they were based on triggers and performance that were not met.  As a result, no expenses were reversed, and going forward no expenses will be recognized.  The forfeited RSUs were returned to the pool of shares available for issuance under the 2020 Plan.  

 

As of  November 30, 2022, there was $4.4 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation cost related to unvested RSUs which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average of 2.1 years. 

 

RSU Valuation

 

The assumptions that the Company used to determine the grant-date fair value of RSUs granted for the years ended November 30, 2022 and November 30, 2021 were as follows:

 

(Monte Carlo simulation model)

 

   

2022

   

2021

 

Risk free rate

    3.35 %     0.30 %

Expected dividends

    0.00 %     0.00 %

Expected volatility

    70 %     92 %

Expected life (in years)

    1.39       3  

Market price of the Company’s common stock on date of grant

  $ 7.69 - 8.24     $ 20.9 - 26.9  
                 

 

The following table summarizes the RSU activity during the year ended November 30, 2022:

 

   

RSUs

 

Outstanding, November 30, 2020

    1,573,500  

Granted

    174,493  

Vested

    (62,500 )

Forfeited

    (91,373 )

Outstanding, November 30, 2021

    1,594,120  

Granted

    536,805  

Settled

    (12,266 )

Cancelled

    (778,750 )

Forfeited

    (25,000 )

Outstanding, November 30, 2022

    1,314,909  
         

 

Stock Options

 

During the years ended  November 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company granted options to employees and directors to purchase 994,750 and 62,000 shares of common stock, respectively. The Company recorded stock-based compensation expense for options granted to its employees and directors of $2.8 million and $0.3 million during the years ended  November 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

 

As of   November 30, 2022, there was $3.2 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation cost related to unvested stock options which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.3 years.

 

Stock Option Valuation

 

The assumptions that the Company used to determine the grant-date fair value of stock options granted to employees and non-employees for the years ended  November 30, 2022 and 2021 were as follows:

 

   

2022

   

2021

 

Risk free rate

    3.34 %     0.26 - 0.64 %

Expected dividends

    0 %     0 %

Expected volatility

    78.44 %     80 - 113 %

Expected life (in years)

    6.5       4 - 5  

Market price of the Company’s common stock on date of grant

  $ 5.51     $ 14.74 - 20.94  

Exercise price

  $ 7.70     $ 14.90 - 20.20  

 

BYRNA TECHNOLOGIES INC. 

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 

November 30, 2022 and 2021

(Amounts expressed in US Dollars) 

 

The following table summarizes option activity under the 2020 Plan during the years ended November 30, 2022:

 

                 
           

Weighted-Average

 
   

Stock

   

Exercise Price Per Stock

 
   

Options

   

Option

 

Outstanding, November 30, 2020

    705,967     $ 3.10  

Granted

    62,000       17.18  

Exercised

    (81,182 )     (1.29 )

Forfeited

    (100,002 )     (5.91 )

Outstanding, November 30, 2021

    586,783     $ 3.48  

Granted

    994,750       5.51  

Exercised

    (252,250 )     1.84  

Expired

    (5,533 )     0.88  

Forfeited

    (26,000 )     9.59  

Outstanding, November 30, 2022

    1,297,750     $ 6.75  
                 

Exercisable, November 30, 2022

    267,001       1.63  

Exercisable, November 30, 2021

    524,783       1.92  

 

The stock options outstanding at the end of the year had weighted-average contractual life as follows:

 

   

2022

   

2021

 
   

(years)

   

(years)

 

Total outstanding options

    7.39       3.07  

Total exercisable options

    2.13       2.91  

 

 

 

BYRNA TECHNOLOGIES INC. 

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 

November 30, 2022 and 2021

(Amounts expressed in US Dollars)