Stockwinners Market Radar for May 22, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:40 EDT U-Haul acquires portable storage containers of Door To Door - Amerco's U-Haul announced the purchase of all of the portable storage containers of Door To Door, a moving and storage company founded in 1996 and headquartered in Renton, Wash. "U-Haul is acquiring containers in 20 major markets across the U.S. Customer containers have been transferred to U-Haul U-Box facilities," the company noted. "Door to Door customers will receive the high level of quality and service we expect across all U-Haul product lines," remarked Amerco CEO Joe Shoen.

18:30 EDT Ocean Rig UDW announces launch of schemes of arrangement - Ocean Rig UDW announced that it will seek orders from the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands to convene meetings in relation to schemes of arrangement proposed by Ocean Rig, DFH, DOV and DRH. The Schemes will implement the restructuring envisaged by the RSA entered into on March 23.

18:04 EDT Raven CEO sees 'meaningful growth in revenues and operating profit' in FY18 - "We are off to a strong start to the year," said CEO Rykhus. "While we expect year-over-year comparisons to get progressively more challenging through the end of the year, we believe we are on track to deliver meaningful growth in revenues and operating profit in fiscal year 2018. At the same time, we are continuing to invest for the intermediate and long term. We are increasing our investment in research and development activities to continue our new product momentum, and we continue to look for additional strategic acquisitions."

18:03 EDT Raven sees FY18 CapEx approximately $10M-$12M

17:52 EDT First Capital completes first phase of PhotoMedex transaction, replaces CEO - First Capital Real Estate Trust announced it has closed the initial phase of the transactions contemplated in its March 31 agreement with PhotoMedex. In exchange for contributing various real property interests, First Capital was issued 879,234 shares of PhotoMedex common stock and 123,668 shares of newly designated non-voting PhotoMedex series A preferred stock. The PhotoMedex common stock issued to First Capital represented approximately 19.9% of the outstanding voting power of PhotoMedex immediately before the issuance. In connection with the closing, Suneet Singal, CEO of First Capital, was also appointed as CEO of PhotoMedex and became a member of its board. Stephen Johnson resigned as CFO of First Capital to become CFO of PhotoMedex.

17:47 EDT Universal Pictures unveils 'Dark Universe' of monster films - Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of Comcast, announced that its series of films reviving the studio's classic monster characters for a new generation will be known as "Dark Universe." The motion logo for the new initiative features a musical theme composed by Danny Elfman and will debut in theaters preceding The Mummy, which will be released on June 9. The announcement includes details of the enterprise relaunching Universal's iconic characters into modern cinema, as well as confirmations of superstar cast and that Academy Award winner Bill Condon will direct Bride of Frankenstein. Dark Universe was begun by core creatives Alex Kurtzman, who also serves as director and producer of The Mummy, the inaugural film in the new classic monster series, and The Mummy producer Chris Morgan. Also joining the enterprise to inspire and entertain a new generation are such visionary talents as Oscar winner Christopher McQuarrie and David Koepp.

17:35 EDT On The Fly: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Agilent (A), up 4.3%. ALSO HIGHER: Bellerophon (BLPH), up 2% after the company said its Phase 2 clinical trial that investigated INOpulse in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients with pulmonary hypertension met its primary endpoint. LOWER: Take-Two (TTWO), down 9% after the company's Rockstar subsidiary announced the delay of "Red Dead Redemtpion 2," which is now set to launch in spring of 2018... GlycoMimetics (GLYC), down 4.6% after it filed to sell 6M shares of common stock... Camping World (CWH), down 2.7% after it filed to sell 10M shares of Class A common stock.

17:26 EDT Independence Holding Co. to repurchase up to 2M shares of common stock - Independence Holding Company announced that it intends to commence a tender offer within the next week to purchase up to 2M shares of its common stock at a price per share of $20.00. The number of shares proposed to be purchased in the tender offer represents approximately 12.21% of IHC's currently outstanding common shares and involves an aggregate purchase price of $40M. On May 19, the closing price of IHC common stock on the New York Stock Exchange was $17.30 per share. The Board of Directors of IHC has determined to commence the tender offer in order to provide liquidity to its stockholders by permitting them the opportunity to tender shares of IHC common stock for cash in accordance with the terms of the offer to purchase that will be filed with the SEC.

17:22 EDT Euronet subsidiary signs partnerships with India remittance firms - Euronet subsidiary Ria Money Transfer has signed direct partnership agreements with three of India's leading cash remittance payout agents, Paul Merchants, Weizmann Forex and Transcorp International. "With the addition of Paul Merchants, Weizmann Forex and Transcorp International, Ria will upgrade its cash payout network during the next 12 months by adding tens of thousands of high-quality retail and non-banking financial company locations across India. The robust and ubiquitous network will provide Ria with increased brand recognition across India, while providing tremendous convenience and accessibility for beneficiaries to easily receive cash remittances," the company noted.

17:16 EDT Enstar Group CFO Mark Smith to step down, Guy Bowker to become CFO - Enstar Group (ESGR) announced its succession plan for Chief Financial Officer, Mark Smith. Smith has served as Enstar's CFO since August 2015 and will step down on December 31, 2017. He will move into a consulting role for Enstar beginning January 1, 2018. Guy Bowker, Chief Accounting Officer and Deputy CFO, will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer on January 1, 2018. Bowker joined Enstar in September 2015. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President - Controller of Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd. and as Director of Finance for AIG (AIG) in Bermuda. He began his career at Deloitte in its insurance practice.

17:03 EDT Wilks Brothers report 12.1% stake in CARBO Ceramics - On May 16, CARBO Ceramics held its 2017 annual meeting of its stockholders, at which it sought the approval, by an affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the votes cast of the Common Stock, of the issuance of 523,022 shares of Common Stock to Wilks Brothers upon exercise of the Warrant. The New York Stock Exchange requires the approval of CARBO Ceramics' stockholders of the issuance of an amount of shares of the Common Stock, or securities convertible into Common Stock, that exceeds more than 1% of the Common Stock outstanding, to a stockholder of CARBO Ceramics who holds more than 5% of the Common Stock outstanding before such issuance, such as Wilks Brothers. In accordance with Letter Agreement, the Supporting Stockholders have voted in favor of the Stockholder Approval. On May 19, 2017,CARBO Ceramics announced that it had obtained the Stockholder Approval. The Reporting Persons may be deemed to beneficially own, in the aggregate, 3,344,915 shares of Common Stock, representing approximately 12.1% of the Issuer's issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock, based on 27,139,979 shares of Common Stock of the Issuer issued and outstanding as of April 21, 2017, as set forth in the Issuer's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2017, filed with the Commission on April 27, 2017 and including 523,022 shares of Common Stock of the Issuer currently issuable upon exercise of the Warrant. See Item 4 of this Schedule 13D.

16:57 EDT Kosmos says one Blackstone-nominated director expected to resign - Kosmos (KOS) stated in its share sale announcement: "Upon completion of the offering, one of the directors nominated by the Blackstone Group (BX) is expected to resign from the Kosmos board of directors, and pursuant to the shareholders agreement that Kosmos previously entered with the Blackstone Group and Warburg Pincus, the Blackstone Group will only have the right to nominate one designee to the Kosmos board."

16:52 EDT Colony NorthStar reports 7.8% stake in Northstar Realty Europe Corp.

16:48 EDT Take-Two's Rockstar announces delay of Red Dead Redemption 2 - Red Dead Redemption 2 is now set to launch Spring 2018 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Reference Link

16:43 EDT Aspen University announces fiscal year end growth milestones - Aspen Group announced that Aspen University has over 3,000 students or 65% of its active student body now utilizing monthly payment methods to pay for their education. In the fiscal fourth quarter ending April 30, 2017, Aspen increased its total monthly payment method students by 485 for the quarter, surpassing last quarter's pace of ~120/month. The total contractual value of monthly payment plan students now exceeds $26.5 million which currently delivers monthly recurring tuition cash payments of approximately $780,000. Aspen's BSN program ended at 2,104 active students at fiscal year-end April 30, 2017, and grew by over 110 active students per month throughout the fiscal fourth quarter, surpassing the previous monthly pace of ~75/month. Aspen's BSN student body now represents 45% of the total active degree-seeking students in the university."Aspen's growth continues to be fueled by our mission of making higher education affordable again, but its our dedication to giving students the best academic experiences and support systems that also sets us apart from other online institutions," said Michael Mathews, Chairman & CEO at Aspen University.

16:37 EDT Aspe University announces fiscal year end growth milestones - Aspen Group announced that Aspen University has over 3,000 students or 65% of its active student body now utilizing monthly payment methods to pay for their education. In the fiscal fourth quarter ending April 30, 2017, Aspen increased its total monthly payment method students by 485 for the quarter, surpassing last quarter's pace of ~120/month. The total contractual value of monthly payment plan students now exceeds $26.5 million which currently delivers monthly recurring tuition cash payments of approximately $780,000. Aspen's BSN program ended at 2,104 active students at fiscal year-end April 30, 2017, and grew by over 110 active students per month throughout the fiscal fourth quarter, surpassing the previous monthly pace of ~75/month. Aspen's BSN student body now represents 45% of the total active degree-seeking students in the university."Aspen's growth continues to be fueled by our mission of making higher education affordable again, but its our dedication to giving students the best academic experiences and support systems that also sets us apart from other online institutions," said Michael Mathews, Chairman & CEO at Aspen University.

16:34 EDT MFP Investors reports 7.7% passive stake in Papa Murphy's

16:31 EDT Envision Physician Services acquires EMS group practice in Georgia - Envision Healthcare announced that Envision Physician Services acquired Gwinnett Emergency Specialists, P.C., an emergency medicine physician group practice located in Lawrenceville, Georgia. GES consists of more than 40 physicians and 30 advanced practice practitioners who provide patient care at two hospitals in Gwinnett County: Gwinnett Medical Center Lawrenceville, a Level II Trauma Center; and Gwinnett Medical Center Duluth. Annual patient volume for the group exceeds 150,000 patient encounters. GES has provided service at the Lawrenceville hospital since the physician group was founded in 1991. Following the acquisition of GES, Envision Physician Services staffs eight hospital-based emergency medicine departments in North Georgia, including the Atlanta metropolitan area.

16:27 EDT Morgan Stanley reports 6.5% passive stake in Apptio

16:26 EDT Elite Pharmaceuticals acquires Trimipramine ANDA - Elite Pharmaceuticals (ELTP) announced the acquisition of an approved and currently marketed Abbreviated New Drug Application, ANDA, or Trimipramine Maleate Capsules 25, 50 and 100 mg, from Mikah Pharma. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (RDY) will market and sell the Trimipramine products. Epic Pharma will manufacture the products under current agreements with Mikah. Eilte will assume these agreements with the acquisition of the products. This agreement insures the uninterrupted supply of generic Trimipramine. Trimipramine is a generic version of Surmontil(R), a tricyclic antidepressant. Surmontil and generic Trimipramine have total US sales of approximately $2 million in 2016 according to IMS Health Data. The ANDA purchased by Elite is currently the only marketed generic Trimipramine product.

16:16 EDT Fidelity National Financial announces acquisition of Hudson & Marshall - Fidelity National Financial announced the acquisition of Hudson & Marshall, a full-service auction company and one of the nation's top real estate and property auction providers. FNF and H&M expect to partner to further enhance the services FNF can provide to its strong lender, servicer and real estate agent relationships. Additionally, H&M will be powering ServiceLink Auction, a new, results-driven, full-service auction platform that will be fully integrated with ServiceLink's suite of products and technologies.

16:14 EDT CVI Investments reports 6.8% passive stake in ZIOPHARM

16:13 EDT Intellicheck Mobilisa to change name to Intellicheck, Inc. - Intellicheck Mobilisa announced that the company's shareholders and board of directors has approved a name change to "Intellicheck, Inc." effective immediately. "This name change is an important milestone in the history of the Company. It underscores our success in the focused execution of our strategic plan that has allowed us to establish ourselves as an industry leader in identification authentication and threat identification solutions. We believe our new company name emphasizes our fundamental focus on intelligently checking IDs to identify threats targeting our defined markets. We identify the threat of fraud to our financial and retail markets; of non-compliance with age-restricted sales; and of criminals and terrorists to our law enforcement personnel and critical infrastructure facilities. We believe the name change to 'Intellicheck' reflects the current and future direction of our Company and points to our focus and strength as proven innovators of solid solutions within our defined verticals," said Intellicheck CEO Dr. William Roof. "Going forward, we will continue our emphasis on addressing market needs with state-of-the-art products, executing effective growth strategies, and building long-term shareholder value," he concluded.

16:12 EDT Tiger Global reports 7.7% passive stake in TransDigm

16:09 EDT Shenandoah COO Earle MacKenzie to retire - Shenandoah Telecommunications Company announced that executive VP and COO Earle MacKenzie has informed the company of his intent to retire. Shentel has retained Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm, to initiate an open and comprehensive search for MacKenzie's replacement. MacKenzie has agreed to stay with the company until his successor is hired and for a period of time thereafter to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities.

16:06 EDT ViaSat receives $20M contract from Boeing - ViaSat (VSAT) announced it received a contract from The Boeing Company (BA) to deliver its KOR-24A Small Tactical Terminals for integration onto Boeing's AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft for United States Marine Corps and international customers. The contract is worth approximately $20M including exercisable options.

16:04 EDT Bellerophon presents data on INOpuls - Bellerophon Therapeutics announced the presentation of new clinical data from a Phase 2 clinical trial that investigated INOpulse in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients with pulmonary hypertension at the American Thoracic Society 113th International Conference, currently taking place in Washington DC. The company also presented preliminary data from a second, ongoing study evaluating INOpulse in COPD patients with Pulmonary Hypertension. "Pulmonary Hypertension with IPF or COPD has no approved therapies and has been associated with increased hospitalizations and mortality. The therapies used in other pulmonary hypertension populations, which act systemically, have failed to show a benefit for these patients, creating a critical unmet need for effective and safe long-term treatment options," said Prof. W. De Backer MD, Director in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, University Hospital and University of Antwerp. "Pulsed iNO has a potentially unique and distinguishing advantage as the data from these trials shows that it can provide selective vasodilation to the well-functioning parts of the lung, allowing for improvement in hemodynamic measures as well as increased exercise capacity without worsening oxygenation. "The PH-IPF study was a proof of concept study designed to evaluate the ability of pulsed inhaled nitric oxide to provide selective vasodilation as well as assess the potential for improvement in hemodynamics and exercise capacity in PH-IPF patients. The study met its primary endpoint showing an average of 15.3% increase in blood vessel volume (pless than0.001) during acute inhalation of iNO as well as showing a significant association between ventilation and vasodilation, demonstrating the ability of INOpulse to provide selective vasodilation to the better ventilated areas of the lung. The study showed consistent benefit in hemodynamics with a clinically meaningful average reduction of 14% in systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP) with acute exposure to iNO. The study also assessed the chronic effects of iNO on exercise capacity showing an average 75 meter improvement in 6MWD and consistent improvement of approximately 80 m% in composite endpoints of 6MWD and oxygen saturation with four weeks of treatment. The study assessed both the iNO 75 and iNO 30 dose, supporting iNO 30 as a potentially safe and effective dose. The next step in this program will be to conduct a larger Phase 2b study to inform the design of a pivotal registration trial. The company also shared preliminary results of an ongoing PH-COPD study designed to evaluate the acute effects of pulsed iNO on vasodilation as well as the chronic effect on hemodynamics and exercise tolerance. The interim data results from the first four patients showed a significant association between ventilation and vasodilation on acute treatment with iNO, suggesting that regions with better ventilation experience greater vasodilation. In addition, a meaningful reduction in sPAP was seen on all patients with chronic treatment of iNO. The full study results are expected around the middle of 2017.

16:02 EDT TreeHouse completes sale of Soup and Infant Feeding, terms not disclosed - TreeHouse Foods announced that it has completed the sale transaction of its Soup and Infant Feeding business to Riverbend Foods, a newly formed portfolio company of Insight Equity, a private equity firm. The SIF business is based in Pittsburgh, Pa. and is a leading manufacturer of private label condensed and ready-to-serve soup, baby food and gravy packaged in cans, glass jars and Tetra Recart formats. Sales of the business were approximately $210M in 2016, and the transaction will have a negligible impact on the ongoing operating income of TreeHouse Foods. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

15:45 EDT Twitter CEO: Seeing significant decrease in abuse - "We're seeing a significant decrease in the number of people experiencing abuse on Twitter, as measured by reports and blocks, so we feel really good about the progress because we applied greater urgency to this, and now it's ingrained into every single thing that we do," Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said during the company's annual shareholder meeting earlier.

15:28 EDT TripAdvisor dips after CFO cautions on potential Q2 deceleration - Shares of TripAdvisor have moved lower in afternoon trading following the company's presentation at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference. During the event, according to Reuters transcript, CFO Ernst Teunissen repeated some of the "number of reasons" why the company has previously cautioned about Q2. He explained that Q1 "was just a softer comp a year ago, which was pronounced for the quarter," but that is expected to have less of an impact in Q2. The company has also announced it would be pulling back on some external marketing to fund some of the TV ad its rolling out and "we started doing some of that in Q2 as well. So that's going to have an impact," he added. To sum up, Teunissen stated: "So all in all, we're still reiterating our outlook that we're going to get double-digit growth in our click-based and transaction revenue line for TripAdvisor. But Q2, we could see some [deceleration], actually, from the first quarter. And it could be in our expectation sort of mid- to high single-digit growth in the second quarter relative to the 12% growth that we saw in the first growth". In late afternoon trading, TripAdvisor is down 73c, or 1.7% to $43.35.

15:17 EDT Helmerich & Payne agrees to acquire MOTIVE Drilling Technologies - Helmerich & Payne announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire MOTIVE Drilling Technologies for $75M payable at closing and up to an additional $25M in potential earnout payments based on future performance during the next few years. Helmerich & Payne President and CEO John Lindsay stated, "We believe MOTIVE's directional drilling technology to be leading edge and high-potential for the industry and it has been successfully adopted by both E&P operators and directional drillers. Going forward, MOTIVE will continue to be available to all E&P operators and directional drilling service providers regardless of which drilling rig contractor is used." The transaction is pending and is expected to close in June.

14:56 EDT OncoCyte trading resumes

14:45 EDT Atkore acquires Marco Cable Management, terms not disclosed - Atkore International announced that it has acquired Marco Cable Management, a U.K. designer and manufacturer of wire basket cable tray and PVC trunking. "We are pleased to have Marco Cable Management join the Atkore family as their product portfolio adds value to our electrical distribution partners in the U.K. and enhances our offering to the data center and healthcare markets," commented Mike Schulte, President-Mechanical Products and Solutions. "Furthermore, as North America's leading electrical raceway manufacturer, this acquisition expands our electrical raceway presence in the U.K. and Europe." Terms of the sale are undisclosed.

14:20 EDT Samsung, T-Mobile launch 'buy one, get one' offer for Galaxy S8 - Samsung (SSNLF) and T-Mobile (TMUS) have launched a "buy one, get one free" offer for the Galaxy S8 smartphone. Reference Link

14:08 EDT OncoCyte trading halted, news pending

13:54 EDT Optical network names surge as China demand seen recovering - Stocks in the optical network space jumped Monday as Wall Street analysts highlighted a likely recovery in Chinese demand, punctuated by research firm Needham starting Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) with a Strong Buy while needling "timid" forecasts from the rest of Wall Street. JEFFERIES SEES CHINA DEMAND RECOVERY: Jefferies analyst James Kisner highlights that China Mobile (CHL) announced vendor selection to build out its packet transport network, with 70% of the award going to ZTE and the rest to Huawei. Naming Oclaro (OCLR) as a strong beneficiary given its 10% revenue exposure to ZTE as of last year, Kisner also argues that the news "bodes well" for recovering Chinese network demand, leading him to reiterate Buy ratings on Oclaro as well as Lumentum (LITE) and Finisar (FNSR). The analyst says the tender represents up to $200M in optical components and he continues to expect tenders from China Telecom (CHA) and China Unicom (CHU) later this year, adding that investors should interpret China Mobile's action as suggesting that China's spending pause "was indeed temporary and the underlying drivers remain intact." ROSENBLATT SAYS CHINA TELECOM PROJECTS PROGRESSING: Rosenblatt Securities analysts write that China Telecom has completed its 2017 provincial upgrade plan and begun work on the metro plan. The firm believes China Telecom will issue tenders for both projects in the "September/October time frame," and it expects this cycle of 100G network upgrades to be "larger" than those in 2016 due to increasing traffic demand. NEEDHAM STARTS AAOI WITH STRONG BUY: Needham's Alex Henderson initiated Applied Optoelectronics with a Strong Buy and $85 price target Monday, saying he sees "substantial upside" to forecasts and valuation. The analyst believes Applied will "materially exceed" Street forecasts in calendar 2017 as the industry progresses through the "steep ramp phase" of upgrades to 25G and 100G. Indeed, the "timidity" of average forecasts for Applied Opto provides significant upside potential, Henderson says, adding that the company appears the market share leader and lower cost supplier amid what should be "very strong demand growth" over the next few years. PRICE ACTION: Shares of Applied Optoelectronics are up 11.5% to $70.85 in afternoon trading, while Finisar, Oclaro and Lumentum are up a respective 9%, 9.4%, and 8%. NeoPhotonics (NPTN) has gained a similar 9%.

13:36 EDT Editas says will initiate LCA10 clinical natural history study in mid-2017 - Says will submit an IND for the LCA10 program by mid-2018. Comments taken from May 2017 Corporate Presentation slides.

13:32 EDT CBS extends Moonves employment agreement through June 2021

13:29 EDT Correction: FTI Consulting names Glenn Tobias as CEO of FTI Capital Advisors

13:08 EDT Employers Holdings names Thomas Warden chief data and analytics officer - Employers Holdings has named Thomas M. Warden as senior vice president, chief data and analytics officer. This position reports directly to the chief operating officer, and is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company's data and analytics strategy, building and leading a highly skilled, analytical organization delivering data solutions and capabilities that enable fact-based decision making. Warden joins the company from Bridgevine Strategy Partners, where he held the position of president.

12:50 EDT Triumph, Boeing sign MOA on expanded partnership - Triumph Group (TGI) announced the signing of a new memorandum of agreement with Boeing (BA). The MOA supports Triumph's participation in Boeing's growth platforms within their commercial aircraft, defense programs, and global services market. This expands Triumph's traditional roles in aerospace structures and precision components into the areas of integrated systems and services. Under the MOA, the companies will identify new areas where each of Triumph's four business units can add value on Boeing's commercial and military aircraft programs, including the development of a long-term partnership on MRO work that will assist in the growth of the Boeing Global Services business.

12:18 EDT UMB Financial director Timothy Murphy acquires 2,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, UMB Financial director Timothy R. Murphy disclosed the acquisition of 2,000 common shares of the company at a price of $70.53 per share. The transaction, dated May 19, 2017, brings Murphy's total direct common stock ownership to 2,549 shares.

11:39 EDT Analyst says sell Synchronoss after AT&T cancels deal - The shares of Synchronoss Technologies (SNCR) are falling after Credit Suisse downgraded the shares to Underperform, the firm's equivalent of a sell rating, citing the upcoming closure of AT&T's (T) "Locker" offering. The personal cloud service was powered by Synchronoss, the firm noted. In separate news that came after Credit Suisse's downgrade, Siris Capital announced that it had entered into a non-disclosure agreement with the company on May 19 as it "continues the exploration of a potential transaction" involving Synchronoss. Siris, which holds a stake of about 13% in Synchronoss, had previously said that it was considering taking the company private or making a significant minority investment in it. Synchronoss provides software and services for communications companies. DOWNGRADE Credit Suisse analyst Michael Nemeroff today downgraded Synchronoss to Underperform from Neutral. Although the company was not receiving a great deal of revenue from its "Locker" deal with AT&T, that revenue was expected to ramp and become "more meaningful over time," the analyst stated. No reason was given for the discontinuation of the deal, but Nemeroff believes that AT&T felt that the service did not provide sufficient value to justify the marketing initiatives required to support its expansion. More importantly, AT&T's decision increases the risk that Verizon (VZ) could alter its cloud deal with Synchronoss, the analyst warned. He kept a $13 price target on Synchronoss shares. WHAT'S NOTABLE: AT&T announced on May 8 that it was discontinuing its Locker service as of August 3. Users will not be able to upload anything to the service after June 4, the company noted. On April 27, Synchronoss announced that its results for this quarter would miss expectations and said that its CEO and CFO would leave the company. At that time, JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty downgraded Synchronoss to Neutral and cut his price target for the shares to $27 from $65. The analyst made "significant cuts" to his 2017 and 2018 revenue and profitability estimates and noted that the company's press release about its management changes and guidance reduction had "very limited information." PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, Synchronoss fell 8% to $12.45.

11:15 EDT MTBC jumps after announcing releases of app for smartphones - Earlier today, MTBC announced this week's release of the newest version of MTBC PHR, its patient portal app for users of smartphones that operate on Apple iOS and Android operating systems. Hema Patel, M.D., a Houston-based internal medicine physician, said, "My patients use MTBC PHR to access their patient charts, schedule appointments, and more." She continued, "My patients and staff love the convenience of MTBC's patient portal app and we're excited about this week's release." The updated version of MTBC PHR empowers patients to do all the following from the convenience of their smartphones in MTBC's newly redesigned app: View open appointment slots and schedule appointments; Check-in via smartphone on the day of the appointment; View patient chart details and other clinical information; Send and receive secure text messages with the physician's office; View statement details and pay open balances; and Request prescription refills. Shares of MTBC are up 11.5% to $2.12 per share in morning trading.

11:09 EDT Orbotech sinks after disclosing criminal probe by Israel Tax Authority - Orbotech earlier today disclosed in a regulatory filing that on May 22, the the Israel Tax Authority conducted an investigation that involved document collection at the company's headquarters in Israel and at the office of the company's tax consultant. Several of the company's employees, including officers, are being questioned, as are tax consultants from the company's independent registered accounting firm, Orbotech added. "The criminal investigation relates to tax positions taken by the Company in the audit period as well as in prior periods. The Company is co-operating with the ITA," it added. The Company believes that it "has made adequate provisions for its potential tax liabilities in its financial statements in all periods. Based on the advice of its tax consultants, the Company believes that it has strong arguments to dispute the positions taken by the ITA in the Assessment and intends vigorously to contest the Assessment in accordance with Israeli law. However, given that the process is in its preliminary stages, the Company cannot assure the outcome or timing of completion of the process, including the amount of tax ultimately payable related to 2012-2014 and prior fiscal years, and additional taxes, penalties, criminal sanctions, fines and other amounts may be imposed as a result of the Assessment and investigation, which may be material in amount or in adverse impact on the Company's results of operations, financial position and reputation." Shares of Orbotech are down 14% to $31.68 in morning trading.

11:06 EDT Avnet named exclusive global distributor for Silego Technology - Avnet and Silego Technology announced a new exclusive global distribution channel agreement. Effective immediately, Avnet will be Silego's only global distributor and will serve as Silego's sole demand creation distributor in the Americas and Europe. Avnet will also bolster Silego's current regional distributor network in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. Silego pioneered the development of Configurable Mixed-signal ICs, using nonvolatile memory to configure and integrate analog, digital logic and power functions, enabling design engineers to reduce power, cost, size and time to market. Since the introduction of the CMIC technology, Silego has developed five generations of CMIC silicon and design tools and sold over 2.7B units.

10:53 EDT Citi releases statement on settlement with DOJ over BUSA - Citi issued the following statement regarding its settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice related to conduct within Banamex USA, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Citi. "We are pleased to resolve these matters which conclude all remaining open inquiries conducted jointly by the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts concerning the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance conduct of Citigroup and related entities, including BUSA. The settlement includes a non-prosecution agreement and a Forfeiture Amount of roughly $97M, for which Citi is fully reserved. Citi previously announced a BUSA settlement in July 2015 with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and California's Department of Business Oversight. At that time, we also announced our intention to wind down banking operations at BUSA, subject to a satisfactory liquidation plan. That liquidation plan was submitted to the FDIC and received a non-objection. As a result, BUSA anticipates ceasing banking operations as of June 30. Among our most serious obligations as a bank is to achieve the strongest possible system for anti-money-laundering and sanctions compliance to protect the integrity of the financial system, and we continually take steps to strengthen and enhance our BSA and AML programs."

10:41 EDT FirstEnergy announces Beaver Valley Power Station Unit 2 returns to service - FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, or FENOC, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, announced its Beaver Valley Power Station Unit 2 in Shippingport, PA, returned to service on Sunday, May 21, at 6:18 a.m. following an April 22, 2017, shutdown for refueling and maintenance. The 933-megawatt plant is currently operating at about 66% power. While the unit was shut down, 53 of the 157 fuel assemblies were replaced. In addition, numerous safety inspections and preventive maintenance and improvement projects were successfully completed, including inspections of the unit's reactor vessel head, three steam generators and turbine. Enhancements also were made to the unit's electrical generator to support continued reliable operations. More than 1,000 temporary contractor workers and FENOC and FirstEnergy employees supplemented the Beaver Valley workforce during the outage. Prior to the outage, Beaver Valley Unit 2 operated safely and reliably, generating more than 11.5M megawatt hours of electricity since the completion of its last refueling in October 2015.

10:29 EDT Boeing announces $238M contract extension for Navy support - Boeing said it will upgrade additional F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet fighters for the Navy and Marine Corps through a recently awarded $238M contract extension. The U.S. Department of Defense awarded this contract on May 5.

10:16 EDT Puma Biotechnology trading resumes, shares up 76% to $66.40

10:10 EDT Puma halts again for volatility after jumping 83% to $69.35

10:05 EDT Puma trading resumes, shares up 58% to $59.88

09:57 EDT Puma resumes trading, shares up 45% to $55.00

09:57 EDT FDA sees 'robust scientific and clinical rationale' for Puma's neratinib - The FDA said in briefing documents ahead of Wednesday's advisory panel on Puma Biotechnology's breast cancer drug, "In conclusion, the totality of evidence demonstrating the magnitude of activity of neratinib to treat HER2 positive breast cancer across multiple clinical settings, plus the strong neoadjuvant data, provides robust scientific and clinical rationale for proceeding into the adjuvant setting with neratinib. An unmet medical need exists during the 'extended adjuvant period' or the time after standard of care adjuvant therapy with other anti-HER2 therapy has been completed. Patients who have completed their 1 year of trastuzumab adjuvant therapy have no options for further anti-HER2 treatment and enter into a "watch and wait" period. In the interest of being able to turn this time into a period of active anti-HER2 therapy with the intent to provide further improvement in iDFS, neratinib was studied as extended adjuvant therapy in a multicenter randomized, double blind placebo controlled Phase 3 Study 3004 (N=2840) which demonstrated clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in iDFS with a manageable safety profile consistent with other approved agents within the class of TKIs targeting EGFR and HER2. The sponsor believes the totality of the data support approval of neratinib 240 mg po qd for 1 year in the extended adjuvant setting in order to provide physicians and patients with a new strategic therapeutic option to reduce the rate of recurrence of HER2 positive breast cancer." Puma shares rallied 9% to $41.25 before halting for volatility.

09:52 EDT Puma Biotechnology reverses decline, shares up 9% to $41.25

09:51 EDT Puma Biotechnology drops ahead of FDA briefing documents - Shares of Puma Biotechnology are down 60c to $37.20 as investors await the FDA's positing of the briefing documents for Wednesday's advisory panel meeting.

09:33 EDT Arconic, Elliot reach resolution to end proxy contest - Arconic announced that it has entered into an agreement with affiliates of Elliott Management which have combined beneficial and economic ownership of approximately 13.2% of the Company's outstanding common stock, to resolve the pending proxy contest in connection with the Company's May 25 annual meeting of shareholders. Under the terms of the agreement, Elliott will nominate Christopher L. Ayers, Elmer L. Doty and Patrice E. Merrin for election as directors at the upcoming annual meeting, and the Company will nominate David P. Hess and Ulrich R. Schmidt for election as directors. Elliott and the Company have agreed to withdraw their respective nominations of any other director candidates for election at the annual meeting. The Company's Board of Directors issued the following statement about the agreement: "We are pleased to have reached a constructive agreement with Elliott, our largest shareholder, and look forward to working collaboratively with Elliott to enable Arconic to realize the full potential of its great businesses. We are proud of what Arconic has accomplished to date. In the weeks and months ahead, we will recruit a new world-class CEO and select a new permanent Board Chair. We expect the new CEO to work with the Board to review Arconic's strategy and its operations with the goal of optimizing the Company's strategic plan and associated performance targets." One of Elliott's director nominees will be added to the CEO search committee and Elliott will have the opportunity to engage collaboratively with the CEO search committee and meet with candidates as the Board manages the search and selection process. The mandate of the CEO search committee is to identify a world-class leader for Arconic. It will consider a number of candidates, including Larry Lawson. Dave Miller, Senior Portfolio Manager of Elliott, said, "Elliott greatly appreciates the support received from other Arconic shareholders throughout this contest, and we would like to express our profound gratitude to those shareholders. We commend and thank the Arconic Board for demonstrating its responsiveness to the Company's shareholders through this agreement. We believe the governance improvements and substantial infusion of new perspectives and talent into the Board announced today - with highly qualified directors being drawn from both the Elliott and Company cards - will successfully position Arconic to realize its immense potential. We look forward to working collaboratively with the CEO search committee and the Board to ensure that Arconic has the right leadership at this critical juncture of its evolution." The agreement between the Company and Elliott will be filed with the U.S. SEC. In addition, the Company announced that L. Rafael Reif, an Arconic director since 2015, has announced his resignation as a Board member and that the Board has appointed James "Jim" F. Albaugh, who was a candidate previously nominated by Arconic for election at the annual meeting, to fill the resulting vacancy on the Board, with such resignation and appointment to be effective immediately following the 2017 annual meeting. The Board remarked, "Rafael has been a valued colleague and member of this Board, helping to lead our oversight of the transformational separation that created today's Arconic. On behalf of the shareholders and the entire Board, we sincerely thank him for all his efforts and energy." The Company also announced that it will be working to reincorporate in Delaware by the end of this year, and the certificate of incorporation and bylaws of the resulting Delaware corporation will provide for an annually elected Board and contain no provisions requiring a supermajority shareholder vote.

09:29 EDT On The Fly: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Ford (F), up 2.4% after confirming that it is replacing CEO Mark Fields with Jim Hackett... Nutraceutical (NUTR), up 49.3% following an announcement that the company will be acquired by an affiliate of HGGC in a transaction valued at approximately $446M... Huntsman (HUN), up 5.8% after announcing that it will combine with Clariant in a merger of equals... Impinj (PI), up 6.6% following a positive mention in Barron's... Cheetah Mobile (CMCM), up 14.5% after reporting quarterly results. LOWER: Amgen (AMGN), down 2% after announcing results from the ARCH study... La Jolla Pharmaceutical (LJPC), down 10.6% after announcing results and publication of its Phase 3 LJPC-501 study.

09:23 EDT Alere provides update on 2016 annual report on Form 10-K - As previously disclosed, the Company was delayed in filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 due to the Company's review of certain revenue transactions in the Company's South Korea and Japan locations. Based on this review, the Company determined that it had incorrectly recorded certain revenue transactions at its Standard Diagnostics subsidiary in South Korea. Specifically, the Company failed to correctly apply U.S. GAAP regarding the timing of revenue recognition primarily relating to transactions in which the Company recognized revenue prior to full satisfaction of all contractual criteria for title and risk of loss passing to the customer as required by U.S. GAAP. The principal cause of these misstatements in the timing of revenue recognition was inappropriate conduct at the Company's Standard Diagnostics subsidiary. As also previously disclosed, as a result of this review, the Company will be restating certain previously issued financial statements. The Company has completed its review of the above matters at its South Korea and Japan locations and, consistent with its prior expectation, the Company expects the following adjustments to previously reported financial information as set forth in the tables below. In addition, the Restatement reflects corrections for certain other misstatements that the Company identified in 2017 relating to 2014, 2015 and 2016. These adjustments relate to (a) misstatements in the classification of certain amounts between current assets, noncurrent assets and current liabilities, (b) misstatements in the classification of certain legal-related charges between non-operating expenses and operating expenses, and (c) misstatements to general and administrative expenses to correct the timing of bad debt expenses and fair value adjustments related to contingent consideration liabilities from acquisitions.

09:13 EDT DISH Network announces direct compatibility with Amazon Alexa - DISH Network (DISH) announces that customers with a Hopper or Wally and an Amazon (AMZN) Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap can watch hands-free TV with Alexa. DISH is the first TV provider to offer direct compatibility with Amazon Alexa, the company stated.

09:10 EDT L3 Technologies acquires Open Water Power - L3 Technologies announced that it has acquired Open Water Power. The acquisition was completed on May 19 and the terms were not disclosed. The business will be renamed L3 Open Water Power and will be integrated into L3's Sensor Systems business segment. Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, Open Water Power is developing safe and high-energy-density undersea power generation technologies for use by Unmanned Undersea Vehicles and other maritime platforms. "Its breakthrough technology enables safe power generation solutions for UUVs and results in significant safety and endurance improvements over current technologies. Additionally, the company's capabilities complement and are applicable to L3's existing portfolio of maritime platform, sensor and payload offerings," the company says.

09:08 EDT Central Garden & Pet names Nicholas Lahanas CFO - Central Garden & Pet Company announced the appointment of Nicholas Lahanas as CFO. Lahanas has worked at Central Garden & Pet for over ten years, holding a variety of finance positions within the company. He most recently served as a SVP finance, operations management & reporting and CFO of Central's Pet Segment.

09:07 EDT Illumina names Mark Van Oene as Chief Commercial Officer - Illumina announced that Mark Van Oene has been named Chief Commercial Officer. Van Oene was previously Illumina's Senior VP of the Americas region and subsequently named interim Chief Commercial Officer in late 2016. As Chief Commercial Officer, Van Oene will be responsible for world-wide sales, services and marketing at Illumina and will report to President and CEO Francis deSouza.

09:05 EDT Nektar, Takeda Pharmaceutical enter research collaboration - Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) announced that Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TKPYY) and Nektar have entered into a research collaboration to explore the combination of Nektar's lead immuno-oncology candidate, the CD122-biased agonist NKTR-214, with five oncology compounds from Takeda's cancer portfolio. The two companies will explore the anti-cancer activity of NKTR-214 with five different targeted mechanisms in preclinical tumor models of lymphoma, melanoma and colorectal cancer. Under the terms of the collaboration, the companies will share costs related to the preclinical studies and each will contribute their respective compounds to the research collaboration. Nektar and Takeda will each maintain global commercial rights to their respective drugs and/or drug candidates. Takeda signed the research collaboration agreement with Nektar Therapeutics through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

09:01 EDT Hortonworks names Frank Mong as Chief Marketing Officer - Hortonworks announced it has appointed Frank Mong as chief marketing officer. Mong is a seasoned enterprise marketing executive and brings 20 years of software and security marketing experience to Hortonworks.

08:58 EDT Changyou.com receives proposal from Charles Zhang to acquire company

08:45 EDT Belmond to acquire Cap Juluca resort for $84.6M - Belmond announced that it has entered into agreements to acquire the entirety of Cap Juluca, a 96-key luxury resort on the Caribbean island of Anguilla, British West Indies. The company has entered into agreements with the principal owner and three other owners to acquire the entirety of the resort for a total purchase price, including all related taxes and costs, of approximately $84.6M. At the same time, the company has agreed a 250-year ground lease for property that comprises approximately 167 acres, including approximately 250,000 square feet of additional developable beachfront land. The acquisition is initially expected to be financed using cash on hand and $45M of borrowings under the company's previously undrawn $105M revolving credit facility. When the transaction closes, which is expected to be by early June, Belmond will assume management of the resort, which has historically been independently managed, and will rebrand the resort as Belmond Cap Juluca.The company expects to spend a combined approximate $36M on renovation and expansion projects, which it expects to complete by the end of 2018. Following these anticipated works, the company's total investment in the property is expected to be approximately $1M per key. The company anticipates that Cap Juluca will generate adjusted EBITDA of between $12M-$14M following renovation and expansion and upon stabilization, and expects that the resort will start positively contributing to the company's adjusted EBITDA in 2019.

08:41 EDT Rent-A-Center urges shareholders to vote for board nominees - Rent-A-Center mailed a letter to its stockholders in connection with its 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on June 8. The Rent-A-Center Board unanimously recommends stockholders vote the white proxy card for the company's director nominees Mark Speese, Jeffery Jackson and Leonard Roberts. Rent-A-Center's letter to stockholders and other materials regarding the Board's recommendation for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders can be found at http://investor.rentacenter.com. The letter says, "We are less than three weeks away from the 2017 Rent-A-Center Annual Meeting of Stockholders, on June 8. As you know, activist hedge fund Engaged Capital is seeking to replace three of our highly-qualified and accomplished directors with three of its own hand-picked nominees. We urge you to protect the value of your investment by voting for the company's slate of directors - as Engaged Capital's slate lacks the requisite skills, experience and commitment to best protect your interests. In seeking representation on the Rent-A-Center board, Engaged Capital is acting solely in its own interests and at the expense of all other Rent-A-Center stockholders. As a testament to Engaged Capital's lack of understanding of Rent-A-Center's business and industry, its only proposal has been to pursue an opportunistic, self-serving sale process at a time when the Company is undergoing a significant operational transformation. Engaged Capital's sale proposal is not surprising given its short-term focus. The hedge fund first took a stake in Rent-A-Center in October 2016 and continued to build its position while the company's shares were trading at multi-year lows...We urge you to protect the value of your investment in Rent-A-Center and vote "FOR" all three of the Company's experienced and highly-qualified director candidates - Mark Speese, Jeffery Jackson and Leonard Roberts - on the white proxy card today."

08:38 EDT Limoneira announces commissioning of new joint energy project with Tesla - Limoneira (LMNR) announced the commissioning of a new joint project with Tesla (TSLA) to reduce energy costs. Limoneira has 6 solar installations across the company totaling 4.2M kWhs annually. An additional solar project is planned for 2017 which will add 1.5MWs on Limoneira's packing house roof for 2.8M kwhs or a total of 7M kwhs annually. "This project will study the efficacy of battery systems paired to solar manufacturing facilities. The goal is to reduce demand from the utilities during the day, which is the high cost period, and offset that use with less expensive night time energy that is stored in the battery," said Limoneira Senior Director Mark Palamountain.

08:35 EDT Ford announces Hackett to replace Fields as CEO - Ford Motor announced that it has named Jim Hackett as its new president and CEO and announced key global leadership changes the company said are "designed to further strengthen its core automotive business and accelerate a strategic shift to capitalize on emerging opportunities." Hackett, who was formerly CEO of Steelcase and Interim Athletic Director at the University of Michigan, has been executive chairman of Ford Smart Mobility since March 2016. Hackett succeeds Mark Fields, who has elected to retire. "We're moving from a position of strength to transform Ford for the future. Jim Hackett is the right CEO to lead Ford during this transformative period for the auto industry and the broader mobility space. He's a true visionary who brings a unique, human-centered leadership approach to our culture, products and services that will unlock the potential of our people and our business," Bill Ford said. Ford also announced a new structure for its operations and named three new leaders reporting to Hackett: Jim Farley is appointed executive vice president and president, Global Markets; Joe Hinrichs is appointed executive vice president and president, Global Operations; and Marcy Klevorn is appointed executive vice president and president, Mobility. All three appointments are effective June 1. New leaders to succeed Hinrichs, Farley and Klevorn will be the subject of a future announcement, the company noted. In addition, Ford appointed Mark Truby as vice president, Communications, effective immediately, and elected Paul Ballew as Global Chief Data and Analytics Officer.

08:35 EDT Core-Mark signs Definitive Agreement to acquire Farner-Bocken Company for $190M - Core-Mark announced that it has entered into a Definitive Asset Purchase Agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Farner-Bocken Company located in Carroll, Iowa. The purchase price is estimated to be approximately $190M, predicated on the value of certain assets to be determined at closing. No debt or significant liabilities are being assumed by Core-Mark in the transaction. Core-Mark will fund the purchase with borrowings under its credit facility. The closing of this deal is subject to standard regulatory approvals, including HSR and applicable state licensing requirements for the sale of tobacco and other regulated products. The acquisition is expected to be accretive within the first year following closing, including start-up and due diligence costs in connection with the transaction.

08:33 EDT Spero Therapeutics appoints Joel Sendek as CFO - Spero Therapeutics announced the appointment of Joel Sendek as CFO. Sendek brings more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences sector to Spero. Sendek was most recently the CFO of Forward Pharma A/S, which he joined in 2014.

08:31 EDT Ford confirms Fields out as CEO, Hackett named as replacement

08:24 EDT RENN Fund board urge shareholders to vote in favor of proxy proposals - The RENN Fund (RCG) entered into a letter of intent on October 19 2016 with Horizon Kinetics, through one of its wholly owned subsidiary investment advisers, to become the new investment manager of the fund, subject to shareholder approval. On April 28, the fund filed a definitive proxy outlining the proposals submitted to shareholders for approval. The board of directors of the fund recommends that shareholders vote in favor of all proposals at or prior to the Special Meeting to be held on June 5. "If approved by shareholders, Horizon, an accomplished investment manager with over $5B in assets under management, will bring its 30-plus years of investing experience to the Fund. The board and Horizon believe it is a unique opportunity for shareholders to potentially realize investment returns in the fund in a tax efficient manner while incurring no management fee until net assets reach $25M," the company says.

08:16 EDT Agree Realty raises quarterly dividend 2% to 50.5c per share - The dividend is payable July 14 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 30.

08:13 EDT Equity Bancshares promotes Julie Huber, Scott Smits named Chief Credit Officer - Equity Bancshares announced the promotion of Julie Huber, Executive Vice President, who will take on a new leadership role - serving to direct Mergers and Acquisitions integration and strategic initiatives for Equity. The company is replacing her Chief Credit Officer responsibilities with the hiring of Scott Smits, who is being named as Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of Equity Bank. In her new executive role, Huber will specialize in strategic initiatives and management for Equity Bancshares. Huber will lead Equity's implementation during merger integrations, and will support Equity Bancshares' merger pipeline through research, development and planning efforts. Huber will also oversee strategic projects for the company, including efforts related to innovation, process improvement, and customer service.

08:09 EDT Union Bankshares agrees to acquire Xenith Bankshares in all-stock deal - Union Bankshares (UBSH) and Xenith Bankshares (XBKS) jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for Union to acquire Xenith in an all-stock transaction. Combining the two organizations will create the preeminent community banking franchise in Virginia and expand Union's retail footprint into North Carolina and Maryland. Based on financial data as of March 31, 2017, the combined company would have total assets of $11.9B, total deposits of $9.2B and gross loans of $8.9B. This transaction strengthens Union's presence in Virginia's second most populous market, Hampton Roads / Virginia Beach, and adds to its Richmond and Northern Virginia footprints. After systems integration, on a pro forma basis, Union will have the fourth largest branch network in Virginia and will remain the only community bank with a statewide footprint across the Commonwealth. Under the terms of the merger agreement, each outstanding share of Xenith common stock will be converted into the right to receive 0.9354 shares of Union common stock. This implies a deal value per share of $29.67 per share of Xenith common stock or approximately $701.2 million in the aggregate based on Union's closing stock price of $31.72 on May 19, 2017. Shareholders owning more than 4.9% of Xenith common stock will, after the closing of the merger, be subject to a restriction on the sale of their Union shares for 60 days. The merger agreement has been approved by the board of directors of each company. The companies expect to complete the transaction in early January 2018.

08:07 EDT Biocept awarded patent for broad use of antibodies - Biocept announces that it has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 9671407, entitled "DEVICES AND METHODS OF CELL CAPTURE AND ANALYSIS." The patent covers the broad use of antibodies for the capture of any target of interest on any solid surface from any sample type. Targets of interest include, but are not limited to, circulating tumor cells, sub-cellular vesicles, and exosomes shed by solid tumors into the bloodstream.

08:04 EDT Hostess Brands announces completion of strategic refinancing - Hostess Brands announced the repricing of its existing First Lien Term Loan. Under the transaction, the company's First Lien Term Loan was repriced from LIBOR plus 3% to LIBOR plus 2.50%. In addition to the 50 basis points reduction to the interest rate, the LIBOR floor was reduced to 75 basis points from 100 basis points. No covenants were changed and the First Lien Term Loan continues to have a maturity date of August 3, 2022. As a result of the repricing, the company's annualized interest expense savings is approximately $5M, or 2c of basic and diluted earnings per share to common stockholders. For 2017, based on the impact and timing of the repricing as well as the Company's current expectation of future LIBOR, the company expects interest expense of $39M to $41M, a savings of 1c to 2c per basic and diluted earnings per share.

08:03 EDT Axcelis announces multiple follow on orders for Purion products - Axcelis Technologies announced that it has received multiple follow on orders for the Purion H high current and Purion XE high energy system from several leading chip manufacturers in the Asia Pacific Region. These orders include both 200 and 300mm systems that will support high volume production of 3D NAND, DRAM and mature logic devices to support the expanding IoT, mobile and data storage markets. The systems will ship in the second quarter.

07:58 EDT Berkshire Hills Bancorp to acquire Commerce Bancshares in $209M transaction

07:41 EDT FTI Consulting appoints Glenn Tobias as CEO - FTI Consulting announced leadership appointments and the addition of three Managing Directors at FTI Capital Advisors, the wholly owned investment banking subsidiary of FTI Consulting, effective immediately. Glenn Tobias, who has been with FTI Consulting for more than eight years and has been instrumental in building the FTI Capital Advisors business, has been named CEO of FTI Capital Advisors. He assumes the role from Carlyn Taylor, who becomes Chairperson of FTI Capital Advisors after more than 10 years as CEO. In addition, Asher Cohen, Peter Gray and James McLain have joined FTI Capital Advisors as Managing Directors. Mr. Cohen joins after 12 years with Houlihan Lokey, Inc. and will focus on developing investment banking deal flow in the telecommunications, media and technology industry, working closely with FTI Consulting's TMT industry practice. Mr. Gray joins from Gerald Metals and will focus on driving mergers and acquisitions and capital markets activities for mining companies and their investors and stakeholders in FTI Consulting's Global Mining Advisory Practice. Mr. McLain joins from Coker Capital Advisors and will focus on providing investment banking advisory services to clients of FTI Consulting's Health Solutions practice, middle-market healthcare companies and private equity investors.

07:33 EDT Celgene RADIANCE trial meets primary endpoint - Celgene announced that its phase III RADIANCE trial, evaluating the efficacy and safety of ozanimod, an investigational oral, selective S1P 1 and 5 receptor modulator, in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, met the primary endpoint in reducing annualized relapse rate, compared to weekly interferon beta-1a. RADIANCE evaluated two doses of oral ozanimod, with patients treated for two years. The trial enrolled 1,313 RMS patients in 21 countries. Both ozanimod 0.5 mg and 1 mg doses demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in the primary endpoint of ARR and the key secondary endpoints of the number of new or enlarging T2 MRI lesions over 24 months of treatment compared to Avonex and the number of gadolinium-enhancing MRI lesions at 24 months of treatment compared to Avonex. In a pre-specified pooled analysis of the time to confirmed disability progression in both the RADIANCE and SUNBEAM phase III trials, a very low rate of disability progression was observed across the three treatment groups, and ozanimod did not reach statistical significance compared to Avonex. Additionally, both doses of ozanimod demonstrated statistically significant reductions in brain atrophy compared to Avonex in each phase III trial. The overall safety and tolerability profile was consistent with results from the recently completed phase III SUNBEAM RMS trial and previously reported phase II trials. Further analyses of the RADIANCE trial are ongoing. In February, Celgene announced positive top-line results from the second active comparator phase III, SUNBEAM, in RMS. Detailed results from the RADIANCE and SUNBEAM trials will be presented at an upcoming medical congress. A New Drug Application submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, based on the combined SUNBEAM and RADIANCE trials for RMS, is expected by the end of 2017.

07:30 EDT Xenetic Biosciences trading resumes

07:28 EDT Macellum urges Citi Trends shareholders to vote the WHITE proxy card - Macellum SPV III, Macellum Advisors GP, and certain of their affiliates, a large stockholder of Citi Trends, that has nominated two highly qualified candidates, Jonathan Duskin and Paul Metcalf, for election at the Company's upcoming annual meeting of stockholders, reiterated the facts stockholders should consider when voting their proxies, addressed certain misperceptions dispensed by the Company regarding Macellum and its nominees and expressed its strong view that the election of both Macellum nominees on the WHITE proxy card is necessary to maximize stockholder value. "Macellum sees tremendous value in Citi Trends and believes the stock could more than double with proper oversight by truly independent and experienced directors with relevant experience and a dedication to stockholder interests. We believe this value can only be unlocked with meaningful change to the Board. We urge stockholders to vote the WHITE proxy card for both Mr. Duskin and Mr. Metcalf."

07:17 EDT Verisk Analytics acquires MAKE - Verisk Analytics announced it has acquired MAKE, an industry-leading research and advisory business specializing in wind power. MAKE will become part of Wood Mackenzie, a Verisk Analytics business focused on providing research and advisory services to the natural resources sector. The combined organization will enhance the offering to existing clients and form the leading market analysis and advisory firm on renewables and the transformation of the global electricity industry.

07:14 EDT Ford announces news conference after report of CEO change - Ford Motor announced that it will host a news conference at 9:45 am EDT today at Ford World Headquarters. The news conference announcement follows the report that Ford is replacing CEO Mark Fields with Ford Smart Mobility chief Jim Hackett.

07:08 EDT RXi Pharmaceuticals, PCI Biotech extend research collaboration - PCI Biotech and RXi Pharmaceuticals announced that they are extending their preclinical research collaboration initiated April 7, 2015. This extension is supported by a new preclinical research collaboration agreement that reflect RXi's recently completed acquisition of MirImmune and PCI Biotech's focus in oncology. In brief, the preclinical research collaboration will evaluate technology compatibility and synergy based on in vivo studies. The companies will evaluate results achieved from this research collaboration and then explore the potential for a further partnership.

07:07 EDT Xenetic says Shire Hemophilia A study does not achieve principal objective

07:06 EDT Vertex Energy signs exclusive agreement with Penthol - Vertex Energy announced that The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, or ADNOC, announced this week that it has signed an exclusive agreement with Penthol, a global organization in the supply and distribution of oil products and petrochemicals, appointing them as exclusive seller of their Group III base oils into the United States of America. In line with its strategy to maximize value from its refining and petrochemical business, ADNOC produces up to 500,000 metric tonnes per year of high quality Group III base oils through the Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company, an ADNOC Group Company. Group III base oils are typically used to manufacture top tier, high performance, engine oils.

07:04 EDT Radius jumps after Amgen's Evenity shows cardiovascular safety signal - Shares of Radius Health (RDUS) are up 17% after Amgen (AMGN) over the weekend reported that 2.5% of patients experienced serious cardiovascular toxicity in a Phase 3 trial of Evenity. Amgen's drug, if approved, would compete with Radius Health's recently approved Tymlos. Radius is up $6.07 to $41.00 in premarket trading.

07:00 EDT Nutraceutical to be acquired by HGGC in $446M transaction

06:56 EDT Nutraceutical trading halted, news pending

06:52 EDT National Oilwell announces joint venture with Saudi Aramco - National Oilwell Varco announced entering into a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Aramco to form a joint venture in Saudi Arabia. Through its state-of the art manufacturing and fabrication facilities and NOV's market-leading drilling technologies, the joint venture will manufacture high-specification land rigs, rig and drilling equipment, and offer certain aftermarket services. Additionally, the companies announced their proposed joint venture will establish a training center to develop Saudi technicians to maintain and operate the sophisticated drilling technology produced by the venture. The joint venture will be supported by a commitment from the recently announced Saudi Aramco Nabors Drilling Company to purchase fifty onshore drilling rigs over a ten-year period, and the joint venture will have the opportunity to supply, through an exclusivity agreement, Saudi Arabia, GCC and MENA region. NOV will own a 70% interest in the joint venture, while Saudi Aramco will own 30%. The memorandum of understanding, which includes a detailed commercial term sheet, remains subject to final negotiation.

06:49 EDT Axalta Coating to acquire Spencer Coatings Group, terms not disclosed - Axalta Coating announced that it has entered an agreement to acquire the Spencer Coatings Group, a leading manufacturer of high performance industrial coatings for heavy-duty equipment, general industrial, oil and gas, and glass coatings segments. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

06:33 EDT Highwoods Properties to develop third building for MetLife technology campus - Highwoods Properties (HIW) announces that it has been selected by MetLife (MET) to develop a third office building for its global technology campus in Cary's highly-desirable, mixed-use Weston PUD (planned unit development). Highwoods delivered the first two 100% pre-leased buildings for MetLife in 2015. With the addition of the third building, Highwoods total investment in this 655,000 square foot campus is expected to be approximately $172M. The newest 219,000 square foot building will seek LEED-certification and will include structured parking. It will be situated on the remaining 13.5 acres of a 40-acre Highwoods-owned site fronting the 520-acre Lake Crabtree, which is adjacent to I-40 and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

06:13 EDT CMS Energy investing nearly $440M to modernize natural gas system - Focusing on safety and reliability, Consumers Energy is spending nearly $440M this year to modernize its natural gas system. Upgrade projects for 2017 are in infrastructure replacement, growth, and pipeline integrity. A total of $75M will be spent to complete 40 improvement projects and replace 67 miles of pipe with plastic and steel, using approximately 500 Consumers Energy employees dedicated to this program. With the economy expanding, Consumers Energy is investing $120 million in its natural gas system in 2017 to keep up with growth in Michigan. Consumers Energy is investing $183 million in pipeline integrity this year to help ensure the continued safe delivery of natural gas.

05:51 EDT Western Gas appoints Jaime Casas as CFO - Western Gas Partners (WES) and Western Gas Equity Partners (WGP) announced that the boards of directors of their general partners have appointed Jaime Casas as Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer of the Partnerships effective immediately. He will succeed Benjamin Fink, who was recently named President and CEO of the Partnerships.

05:39 EDT Huntsman, Clariant to combine in merger of equals