Stockwinners Market Radar for June 25, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:30 EDT Takata says bankruptcy processes should not disrupt airbag recall - Takata said it intends to use the Civil Rehabilitation and Chapter 11 processes to address the costs and liabilities related to airbag inflator recalls, including to fund its remaining obligations under the terms of the plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice announced on January 13 and Consent Orders entered into with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Consistent with the DOJ plea agreement, Takata's agreements in principle with the customer group and the proposed restructuring terms provide for the proceeds of the sale to KSS to be used to fund the $850M OEM restitution fund, the company said. "The commencement of Civil Rehabilitation proceedings in Japan and the Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. should have no effect on the ability of drivers to get replacements for recalled Takata airbag inflators free of charge," the company added.

20:24 EDT Takata confirms bankruptcy filings - Takata announced Sunday: "With the expected support of a group of its OEM customers representing more than 80% of Takata's annual sales and KSS as plan sponsor, TKJP and its Japanese subsidiaries have commenced proceedings under the Civil Rehabilitation Act in Japan in the Tokyo District Court. In addition, TKJP's main U.S. subsidiary, TK Holdings, and certain of its North America affiliates and subsidiaries, filed for Chapter 11 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Japanese OEMs have committed to provide Takata with valuable accommodations and liquidity enhancements during the civil rehabilitation and the company is working with the customer group on an agreement to do so on a global basis. Takata intends to use the Civil Rehabilitation Act and Chapter 11 processes to continue to work with its customer group and KSS to finalize and execute restructuring support agreements that would include comprehensive terms of the restructuring... It is contemplated that upon the anticipated effective date of the plan, Takata's global PSAN assets will be transferred to TKH or one of its subsidiaries, as reorganized under the plan, and all of the PSAN assets, including PSAN contracts, will be transferred to RTK. It is expected that RTK will emerge from the Chapter 11 process and operate independently from KSS under the supervision of a plan administrator and oversight board. RTK will continue to manufacture PSAN airbag inflators for recalls and the ongoing production needs of Takata's customers. It is expected that the proceedings under the Civil Rehabilitation Act in Japan and Chapter 11 process in the U.S. will be completed in 1Q18."

20:12 EDT Iridium confirms successful second launch of Iridium NEXT satellites - Iridium Communications confirmed the successful second launch of its next-generation network, Iridium NEXT. This payload of 10 satellites was deployed into low-Earth orbit, approximately one hour after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, at 1:25pm PT. Iridium NEXT satellites from today's launch will be tested and integrated into the constellation over the coming weeks, the company said. "Right now, it's two down with six more launches to go. Our operations team is eagerly awaiting this new batch of satellites and is ready to begin the testing and validation process," said Matt Desch, chief executive officer.

18:46 EDT Third Point confirms $3.5B stake in Nestle, urges change at company - In a letter published Sunday, Dan Loeb's Third Point confirmed it has taken a stake in Nestle and urged several changes at the company. The activist fund stated, "Third Point currently owns roughly 40M shares of Nestle. We hold this stake in our funds and in a special purpose vehicle raised for this opportunity. Our investment, including options, currently amounts to over $3.5B... The category and geographic mix of [Nestle's] portfolio is excellent and offers the company a long runway for growth as emerging market customers increase consumption and developed market consumers trade up. However, despite having arguably the best positioned portfolio in the consumer packaged goods industry, Nestle shares have significantly underperformed... Nestle has fallen behind over the past decade in an environment where growth has slowed due to changes in consumer tastes and shopping habits, as well as an influx of new competition from smaller, local brands. While its peers have adapted to this lower growth world, Nestle has remained stuck in its old ways." Outlining its specific recommendations for the company, Third Point said, "We believe Nestle is positioned to create enormous value for shareholders over the next several years if the company focuses on: 1) Improving Productivity; 2) Returning Capital to Shareholders; 3) Re-shaping the Portfolio; and, 4) Monetizing its L'Oreal Stake." Reference Link

16:20 EDT Box Office Battle: Fifth 'Transformers' film ekes out $45M in franchise low - Viacom's (VIA) "Transformers: The Last Knight" earned $45.3M in its U.S. debut over the June 25 weekend, matching expectations for roughly $46M but significantly underperforming against the $100M launch of its immediate predecessor as well as a franchise average of $94M. The fifth installment in the transforming robots series received a B+ in audience polls from CinemaScore, holds a critics rating of 15% on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and was produced with a reported budget of $217M. In foreign markets, "The Last Knight" took a notable $196M. BOX OFFICE RUNNERS-UP: In a photo finish, Time Warner's (TWX) "Wonder Woman" and Disney (DIS) "Cars 3" each grossed $25.2M, with the latter dipping roughly 53% from its opening weekend and missing estimates of $29M. Rounding out the top five, aquatic horror "47 Meters Down" from privately held Entertainment Studios and Tupac Shakur biopic "All Eyez On Me" from Lionsgate (LGF.A) earned a respective $7.4M and $5.8M in their second weekends. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include 21st Century Fox (FOX), Sony (SNE) and Comcast (CMCSA).

14:40 EDT Biohaven granted Orphan designation for Rett syndrome treatment - The FDA granted Biohaven Orphan designation for its treatment of Rett syndrome. The designation was granted June 22. Reference Link

14:23 EDT Partner Communications executes early loan repayments, sees Q2 expense - Partner Communications announced Sunday that it has executed early repayments of four loans to commercial banks in a principal amount of NIS 500M. In connection with the repayments, the Company will record a one-time expense of NIS 21M in Q2 results. The repayments will enable accumulated savings of approximately NIS 38M of interest costs. In addition to the repayments described Sunday, the Company is planning on early repayments of additional loans over the next coming months in an amount of approximately NIS 380M, Partner said. This is in addition to repayments of approximately NIS 490M of notes and loans scheduled in 2017 as part of the Company's payment schedule.

14:17 EDT Verastem reports long-term follow up data from 'DYNAMO' study - Verastem announced the presentation of long-term follow-up data from the DYNAMO study, which met its primary endpoint of Overall Response Rate at the final analysis, at the Congress of the European Hematology Association. DYNAMO is a Phase 2 clinical study evaluating duvelisib in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma whose disease is refractory to both rituximab and chemotherapy or radioimmunotherapy. The presentations focused on the subsets of patients with follicular lymphoma or small lymphocytic lymphoma. For the follicular lymphoma group, with 18 months of follow-up, the data continues to be consistent with the primary analysis. Of the 83 patients, 36 responded, which included 1 complete response and 35 partial responses, for an ORR of 43%. Responses generally occurred shortly after the start of treatment -- median 2 months. Notably, 83% of evaluable patients with FL treated with duvelisib had a reduction in the size of their target lymph nodes. Median duration of response was 7.9 months, median progression-free survival was 8.3 months, and median overall survival was 27.8 months. The safety profile of duvelisib monotherapy remains consistent with what has been previously reported in iNHL and other advanced hematologic malignancies. The most common Grade 3 or higher hematologic adverse events were neutropenia, anemia and thrombocytopenia. Diarrhea was the most frequently reported nonhematologic adverse event. Pneumonitis and colitis remained relatively uncommon. Treatment discontinuations attributed to severe adverse events were infrequent. In the small lymphocytic lymphoma group, Verastem said that of the 28 patients, 19 responded, all of which were PRs, for an ORR of 68%. Responses generally occurred shortly after the start of treatment -- median 2 months. Importantly, 100% of evaluable patients with double-refractory SLL treated with duvelisib had a reduction in the size of their target lymph nodes. With a median time on duvelisib of 12 months, median duration of response was 10.1 months, median progression-free survival was 11.7 months, and median overall survival was 28.9 months. The most common Grade 3 or higher hematologic adverse events were neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia. The most frequently reported Grade 3 or higher nonhematologic adverse events were pneumonia, increases in alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, and diarrhea. Colitis occurred in 3 SLL patients. No double-refractory SLL patients experienced pneumonitis. Treatment discontinuations attributed to the most common adverse events were infrequent.

14:05 EDT Agios Pharmaceuticals reports new data from Phase 1/2 trial of IDHIFA - Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO) announced new efficacy and safety data from the ongoing Phase 1/2 dose-escalation and expansion study evaluating investigational oral IDHIFA in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia and an isocitrate dehydrogenase-2 mutation. IDHIFA, being developed in collaboration with Celgene (CELG), is an investigational first-in-class, oral, targeted inhibitor of the mutant IDH2 enzyme. Data at the Congress of the European Hematology Association demonstrated an overall response rate of 37 percent, including a complete response rate of 20.1 percent in 214 patients with R/R AML who received enasidenib at 100 mg daily, which was the recommended starting dose in the expansion phases of the trial. A maximum tolerated dose was not reached. Median duration of response was 5.6 months for all patients who responded and 8.8 months for patients who achieved a CR. Median time to first response was 1.9 months and median time to CR was 3.7 months. At the time of the data cut-off, median overall survival as observed in the study was 8.3 months. Additional results including qualitative improvement in response over time, improvement in hematological parameters over time, OS for patients achieving a CR and transfusion independence were also reported. The overall safety profile observed for enasidenib was consistent with previously reported data. For all patients in the study, 26.1 percent had treatment-related serious adverse events, notably IDH differentiation syndrome, leukocytosis, tumor lysis syndrome and hyperbilirubinemia.

13:53 EDT Intrawest Resorts says Hart-Scott-Rodino merger waiting period expires - Intrawest Resorts announced Saturday that the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act has expired with respect to the proposed acquisition of Intrawest by a newly-formed entity controlled by affiliates of Aspen Skiing Company and KSL Capital Partners. Expiration of the waiting period under the HSR Act satisfies one of the conditions to the closing of the pending merger. The transaction remains subject to other certain closing conditions, and it is expected to close by the end of the third quarter.