Stockwinners Market Radar for July 07, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

17:32 EDT Sears modifies credit pact - On July 7, Sears Holdings, Sears Roebuck Acceptance and Kmart Corporation entered into a first amendment to the Second Lien Credit Agreement, dated as of September 1, 2016, among the company, the Borrowers, the lenders from time to time party thereto and JPP, LLC, as administrative agent and collateral administrator. The Line of Credit Loans will be secured on a pari passu basis with the company's existing obligations under the Credit Agreement, including the $300M of term loans outstanding thereunder, and its obligations under that certain Indenture, dated as of October 12, 2010, by and among the company, the company subsidiaries from time to time party thereto and Wilmington Trust, National Association, as successor collateral agent, pursuant to which the company issued its 6 5/8% Senior Secured Notes due 2018. The collateral includes inventory, receivables and other related assets of the Company and its subsidiaries which are obligated on the Line of Credit Loans, the Term Loan and the Notes. The company's obligations under the Amended Credit Agreement are guaranteed by all domestic subsidiaries of the Company that guarantee the Company's obligations under its existing revolving credit facility.

17:27 EDT First Light Asset Management reports 10.3% passive stake in Harvard Bioscience

17:15 EDT Aradigm: Orbit-3 didn't show significant results for the key PE endpoints - On July 7, the principal investigator, Charles Haworth, MD, FRCP, for the Phase 3 ORBIT-3 and ORBIT-4 clinical trials of Aradigm Corporation presented the analysis of the results for such trials, which investigated the safety and efficacy of the company's investigational drug product Linhaliq, at the 2nd World Bronchiectasis Conference in Milan, Italy. Additionally, Igor Gonda, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aradigm, presented two posters on the Studies; the first poster presented additional microbiological results and the second presented pharmacokinetics results. In ORBIT-4, cyclical treatment with ARD-3150 resulted in statistically significant prolongation of the time to first PE and reductions in the annual frequency of all and severe PEs in patients with NCFBE and chronic lung infections with PA. ORBIT-3 did not show significant results for the key PE endpoints. The safety profile between ARD-3150 and placebo was similar. ARD-3150 significantly reduced mean sputum PA density more than placebo on day 28 of the first dosing period by -1.80+/- 0.37 log10 and -1.87+/-0.38 CFU/g in ORBIT-4 and ORBIT-3, respectively. With the exception of cycle 3 in ORBIT-3, significant reductions in sputum PA density compared with baseline were observed at the end of every on-treatment period throughout both trials demonstrating a persistent antipseudomonal effect with ARD-3150, but not with placebo. PA density increased returning to near baseline values during the off-treatment periods. Reductions in PA sputum density with ARD-3150 occurred regardless of susceptibility of PA isolates to ciprofloxacin at baseline or when PA isolates became more resistant on treatment. There was a greater tendency for increasing ciprofloxacin MICs with ARD-3150 vs placebo during the on-treatment periods, and this increase subsided during the off-treatment periods. A small number of patients exhibited the emergence of PA strains with ciprofloxacin MIC 64 mcg/mL; however, these were often transient. Conclusion Cyclical treatment with once-daily inhaled ARD-3150 was associated with a significant reduction in sputum PA density, without attenuation of antibiotic activity, during each treatment cycle over the 48-week trial.

17:12 EDT Seattle Genetics reports 8.2% stake in Immunomedics

17:04 EDT Lipocine terminates emploment of Chief Business Officer Jyrki Mattila - On July 7, Lipocine terminated the employment of Jyrki Mattila, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer.

16:52 EDT Forward Management reports 10.5% passive stake in Jernigan Capital

16:34 EDT Rock Springs Capital reports 6.8% passive stake in Mersana Therapeutics

16:30 EDT Dominion Diamond receives final approval of Jay Projected Water License - Dominion Diamond announced that the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories, the Honourable Robert C. McLeod, has approved the Type A Water Licence for the Ekati Diamond Mine, including the Jay project. The Jay project is located in the 100%-owned Buffer Zone at the Ekati Diamond Mine. Jay is a large high-grade kimberlite, and was approved for construction by the company in July 2016.

16:27 EDT Van Eck reports 4.93% passive stake in MAG Silver

16:17 EDT Rockwell Collins announces an additional $200M to share repurchase - The Board of Directors of Rockwell Collins recently approved the purchase of an additional $200M of Rockwell Collins common stock. With this additional authorization, total share repurchases authorized as of July 7 is $285M. "This additional authorization demonstrates the Board of Directors' continued confidence in our ability to generate cash flow needed to achieve our capital deployment priorities. Consistent with our near term capital deployment strategy announced in connection with the B/E Aerospace acquisition, we expect to maintain a share repurchase program to offset dilution while we repay a significant portion of acquisition-related debt," said Patrick Allen, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Rockwell Collins. "This additional authorization is expected to meet our share repurchase plans for the balance of fiscal year 2017 and into 2018."

16:15 EDT Cybersecurity shares up after Mondelez sees slower growth from attack - Shares of cyber security companies are outperforming a rally in the broad market after consumer food and beverage company Mondelez (MDLZ) cautioned that a recent cyber attack will hurt its Q2 revenue growth. PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES: After the close Thursday night, Mondelez said its preliminary estimate of the revenue impact from a late June cyber attack will be a negative 300 basis points on Q2 growth rates. The company added that it is still assessing the full financial impact of the June 27 event. "We are pleased that we are making good progress in restoring our systems across the enterprise. Since the time of the incident, our teams have done remarkable work to continue to operate the business, manufacture our products, serve customer needs and progress the recovery activities. We believe the issue has been contained and a critical majority of the affected systems are up and running again. Given the timing of this significant global attack, despite our best efforts, we experienced disruption in our ability to ship and invoice during the last four days of our second quarter. There are a few markets where we have permanently lost some of that revenue due to holiday feature timing, but we expect we will be able to recognize the majority of these delayed shipments in our third quarter results," said the company. NUCLEAR FACILITIES THREAT: The New York Times said hackers have been targeting "the computer networks of companies that operate nuclear power stations and other energy facilities, as well as manufacturing plants in the United States and other countries." According to the New York Times, companies that have been targeted include Kansas based Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation. In early May President Donald Trump vowed to strengthen the cybersecurity defenses of federal networks and critical infrastructure, the report added. PRICE ACTION: Cybersecurity stocks are outperforming the broader market, with FireEye (FEYE) up about 5%, Palo Alto Networks (PANW) up almost 3%, Proofpoint (PFPT) higher by almost 2%, and Barracuda Networks (CUDA) rallying almost 6%.

16:12 EDT Lighting Science Grp CFO Murphy resigning to pursue other opportunities - On June 30, Denis Murphy notified Lighting Science Group that he plans to resign from his position as the Executive Vice President and CFO of the company. Murphy is resigning to pursue other opportunities and his resignation is expected to be effective on July 24.

16:08 EDT Inotek announces results of glaucoma study, exploring strategic alternatives - Inotek Pharmaceuticals announced top-line results of the Phase 2 fixed-dose combination, FDC, trial of trabodenoson and latanoprost for the treatment of glaucoma. The trial was designed to assess the benefit/risk profile of the different fixed-dose combinations being evaluated. It was not powered for statistical differences among doses. After 28 Days of once-daily morning treatment, QAM, the fixed combination of trabodenoson 3% and latanoprost 0.005% showed a 1.2 mmHg improvement in intraocular pressure reduction compared to the latanoprost 0.005% alone . However, at Day 56, after 4 additional weeks of treatment and night-time dosing, QPM, no meaningful clinical advantage in IOP reduction for the fixed dose combinations was observed. "While the top-line results, which we received and analyzed over the past week, demonstrated a good safety and tolerability profile of the fixed-dose combinations of trabodenoson and latanoprost, the efficacy of the FDC was only marginally differentiated from that of latanoprost alone. When dosed in the AM and examined on Day 28, the trabodenoson 3%/latanoprost 0.005% combination showed 1.2 mmHg additivity to commercial latanoprost. However by Day 56, while the IOP lowering effect of latanoprost improved by 1.3 mmHg, the fixed dose combination of trabodenoson/latanoprost remained unchanged. Therefore, the addition of trabodenoson to latanoprost offered no clinically meaningful advantage in eye pressure reduction over latanoprost alone," commented David P. Southwell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Inotek. "Based on these results and the results previously reported for our Phase 3 MATrX-1 monotherapy trial, we are evaluating the future clinical potential of trabodenoson, as well as other strategic options." Mr. Southwell continued, "We remain focused on the interests of Inotek shareholders and are committed to enhancing shareholder value. Inotek is well-capitalized with an estimated $109M in cash and marketable securities as of the end of the second quarter of 2017." Inotek also announced that it is exploring its strategic alternatives. It has engaged Perella Weinberg Partners as a financial advisor to assist with the strategic review process. There can be no assurance a transaction will result from this process and Inotek does not intend to disclose additional details unless and until it has entered into a specific transaction or otherwise determines that further disclosure is appropriate.

16:02 EDT LendingClub: IEG Holdings exchange offer 'grossly inadequate' - LendingClub announced that on June 29, 2017, its board of directors received a letter from IEG Holdings Corporation stating its intention to acquire up to 9.99% of the outstanding common stock of LendingClub on the basis of two shares of IEG common stock for each share of LendingClub common stock, representing a 38% discount to the current trading price of LendingClub's common stock. The board believes there is no rational economic basis upon which LendingClub stockholders should accept IEG's proposed exchange offer, which appears intended to "mislead investors into mistakenly tendering into a deeply discounted offer." The board has unanimously concluded the offer is "grossly inadequate," is not in the best interests of LendingClub and its stockholders and urges stockholders not to be misled into tendering into the offer, if and when it is made.

15:59 EDT Box Office Battle: 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' swinging into theaters - Expected to easily win this weekend's box office is Sony's (SNE) "Spider-Man: Homecoming," which is opening this weekend at 4,348 theaters. The comic book movie, starring Tom Holland as the web-slinging superhero, is expected to earn over $110M domestically. 'Spider-Man' has already earned $15.4M in Thursday night previews at 3,493 theaters. Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) subsidiary Universal's "Despicable Me 3," the third film in the animated franchise, is expected to earn an additional $33M in its second weekend at theaters, after topping the box office last weekend. Sony division TriStar Pictures' action film "Baby Driver," starring an impressive cast including Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, and Jamie Foxx, is expected to earn another $15M this weekend, a drop of just over 25% from last weekend. Time Warner's (TWX) superhero flick "Wonder Woman," starring Gal Gadot, is expected to earn an additional $10M in its sixth weekend at theaters, approaching a domestic gross of $370M. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include 21st Century Fox (FOX, FOXA), Disney (DIS), Lionsgate (LGF.A, LGF.B), and Viacom (VIA, VIAB).

13:53 EDT Applied and peers lead tech higher as memory, display demand continues - Shares of semiconductor equipment makers are leading the tech sector after two research firms had bullish commentary on peer Applied Materials (AMAT). SEMICON NEXT WEEK: Semiconductor equipment suppliers will likely speak to "positive expectations on industry fundamentals," said Citi analyst Atif Malik, in a research note out before the open. Malik, who also is bullish on the sector, sees the recent "pullback in the group on tech sector rotation as a buying opportunity, with group well positioned to benefit from multiple secular growth drivers thru 2020." The analyst is especially constructive on shares of Applied Materials due to its growing market share in OLED display equipment. Malik sees Applied Materials' diversification into the OLED business as a buffer to the seasonality of its wafer fabrication equipment, WFE, business, a huge part of most equipment makers businesses. "With WFE shipments set to decline thru 2H17 on capex seasonality, we move Applied Materials to our number one pick," said Malik, citing its display business as Asian panel makers, like LG and Samsung, ratcheting up their investments in display equipment. According to the Citi note, Applied Materials can grow its display business 25% in calendar year 2018, " on sustained display CapEx plus modest SAM expansion on new products. Citi raised his price target on Applied Materialss shares to $60 from $52. The approaching SEMICON West event encouraged a separate bullish note out of Morgan Stanley this morning. Despite semiconductor equipment makers "overearning their cycle average, ongoing improvements in memory keep equipment revenues stronger for longer than our expectations," said Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore in a research note to investors earlier. Memory chip demand and pricing have recently been robust and is seen rising. Memory chip makers like Micron (MU) have been on a tear this year as supply is tight amid a broad-based demand for servers, including cloud servers and data centers. Also adding to the demand for memory are the new phones from Apple and Samsung set to be introduced in the fall. Morgan Stanley also sees bullish commentary from Applied Materials at SEMICON next week, especially due to the equipment maker's display business. "The intermediate term outlook for capital spending in both semis and display continues to improve. In particular, the continued improvement in memory, and the growing importance of the display investment cycle as phones switch to new "OLED" technology, both continue to be much stronger than our prior expectations," said Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore. Moore raised 2018 semiconductor capex forecasts to up 1% from down 8% primarily due to memory spending, resulting in a material increase in Applied Materials estimates. His FY18 earnings forecast moves up to $3.31 from $2.87 and revenues go up to $15.3B from $13.9B. Moore reiterated his Overweight on Applied Materials and increased his price target to $52 from $47. PRICE ACTION: Shares of Applied Materials are leading the equipment-makers, up almost 4%. Other names in the group are all higher, including Lam Research (LRCX) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC), also up approximately 4%. ASML (ASML) and Teradyne (TER) are up around 2%, while Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) is higher by 4%.

13:33 EDT Textron's Bell Helicopter resumes Bell 525 Relentless flight test program - Bell Helicopter, a Textron company, announced the Bell 525 Relentless program has resumed flight test activity after receiving experimental certificate renewal from the Federal Aviation Administration. Mitch Snyder, president and CEO, said "Bell Helicopter has worked with the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA since the accident and we are confident in the resumption of flight test activity."

13:31 EDT Rambus trading resumes

13:27 EDT Rambus halted for volatility after jumping 13% to $12.84

13:12 EDT Boeing reports 31 new orders since last update - Boeing on its website announced 31 new orders since its last update, from Aviation Capital Group for 20 737s, BOC Aviation for four 787s and unidentified customers for seven 737s. In the changes category, reduced 737 orders by seven and 787 orders by four and identified Monarch Airlines for five 737s previously listed as unidentified. Year to date information: 737 net orders: 65 NG and 197 MAX; 777 net orders: 13 777 and 20 777X.

13:01 EDT Minnesota PUC approves Xcel Energy's Upper Midwest wind energy expansion - Yesterday, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved Xcel Energy's plan for the largest expansion of wind energy in the Upper Midwest. The North Dakota Public Service Commission will review the plan later this year. The new wind projects will save Xcel Energy customers billions of dollars in fuel and other costs, as compared to the costs of other energy sources. Seven new wind farms are slated to be built in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota and will be operational by the end of 2020. The projects will provide enough energy to power more than 800,000 homes, increasing Xcel Energy's regional wind output by approximately 70%.

12:43 EDT Sprott reports 5.6% passive stake in Almaden Minerals

12:35 EDT Facebook invests in expansion of Menlo Park campus - Facebook said in a blog post said that it is investing in expanding its Menlo Park, California campus. "When we first expanded beyond our original campus, we looked no further than across the street," the post says. "Frank Gehry helped us design that building, which we call MPK20. Our presence has expanded further since then, and we are now planning to redevelop the former Menlo Science & Technology Park which we intend to call Willow Campus." The company said that its goal for the Willow Campus is to create an "integrated, mixed-use village that will provide much needed services, housing and transit solutions as well as office space." "The first official step will be the filing of our plan with Menlo Park in July 2017," Facebook said. "We will begin more formal conversations with local government officials and community organizations over the course of the review process, which we expect to last approximately two years. We envision construction will follow in phases, with the first to include the grocery, retail, housing and office completed in early 2021, and subsequent phases will take two years each to complete." Reference Link

12:32 EDT Tesla reports Q2 deliveries of 22,000 vehicles - Tesla delivered just over 22,000 vehicles in Q2, of which just over 12,000 were Model S and just over 10,000 were Model X. This represents a 53% increase over Q2 2016. Total vehicle deliveries in the first half of 2017 were approximately 47,100. The company provided the following information: "The major factor affecting Tesla's Q2 deliveries was a severe production shortfall of 100 kWh battery packs, which are made using new technologies on new production lines. The technology challenge grows exponentially with energy density. Until early June, production averaged about 40% below demand. Once this was resolved, June orders and deliveries were strong, ranking as one of the best in Tesla history. Provided global economic conditions do not worsen considerably, we are confident that combined deliveries of Model S and Model X in the second half of 2017 will likely exceed deliveries in the first half of 2017. Q2 production totaled 25,708 vehicles, bringing first half 2017 production to 51,126. We always want our customers to experience the newest versions of Model S and X while their cars are in service, so we added fully loaded, newly built cars to our service loaner fleet. We always want the service loaner Tesla to be *better* than the customer car being serviced. The customer should never suffer for something that is our fault. We also finally added a sufficient number of Model X cars to our test drive and display fleet because our stores had been operating with far short of what was needed and, in some cases, none at all. There appears to be substantial untapped sales potential for Model X. It should also be noted that production quality and field reliability of the Model X, for which Tesla has been fairly criticized, have improved dramatically. It is now rare for a newly produced Model X to have initial quality problems. The first certified production Model 3 that meets all regulatory requirements will be completed this week, with a handover of ~30 customer cars at our Fremont factory on July 28. More details to follow soon. Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct. Final numbers could vary by up to 0.5%. Tesla vehicle deliveries represent only one measure of the company's financial performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly financial results, which depend on a variety of factors, including the cost of sales, foreign exchange movements and mix of directly leased vehicles."

11:25 EDT Digimarc share rally from Amazon/Whole Foods deal fuels analyst to cut rating - Shares of Digimarc (DMRC) are falling after in morning trading after an analyst at Craig-Hallum downgraded the stock citing the run-up in shares post Amazon's (AMZN) acquisition of Whole Foods (WFM) and the "continued lack of scale rollouts." WHAT'S NEW: Craig-Hallum analyst Jeff Van Rhee downgraded Digimarc to Hold from Buy citing the recent rally in shares as a result of Amazon's offer to buy Whole Foods, "limited" supply chain progress and absence of scale rollouts. In a note to clients, Van Rhee, who has a $44 price target for Digimarc shares, said that Amazon's proposed $13.7B acquisition of Whole Foods will capture the attention of leading grocers and their boards, potentiallu fueling change. He added that other segments targeted by Amazon have been "amazingly slow" to respond and that a similar response by the grocers can't be ruled out. The company also faces the challenge of unifying the food-chain to work together for "successful implementation" for end users, wrote Van Rhee, but he believes key segments and functionalities in the food chain are "lacking." He said Digimarc may be able to deliver highly functional solutions more rapidly through vertical integration in international markets as they become more in focus. WHAT'S NOTABLE: In an analyst note last month, Needham's James Ricchuiti said he believed Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods could speed up adoption of Digimarc's Barcode. PRICE ACTION: Digimarc fell 12.8%, or $4.93, to $33.47 in morning trading. Shares are up nearly 12% year-to-date.

11:03 EDT Boeing reports total Q2 deliveries of 183, year-to-date deliveries of 352 - Boeing reports total Q2 commercial airplane deliveries of 183, year-to-date deliveries of 352. The company reported Q2 737 deliveries of 123, 3 747 and 3 767 deliveries, 21 777 deliveries and 33 783 deliveries.

10:45 EDT Berkshire Hathaway Energy to acquire Energy Future Holdings for $9B in cash - Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., announced it has executed a definitive merger agreement with Energy Future Holdings Corp. Berkshire Hathaway Energy will acquire reorganized EFH, which will ultimately result in the acquisition of Oncor, an energy delivery company serving approximately 10M Texans. The all-cash consideration for reorganized EFH is $9B implying an equity value of approximately $11.25B for 100% of Oncor and is subject to closing conditions, including the receipt of required state, federal and bankruptcy court approvals. The transaction is currently expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017. Effective upon closing of the transaction, Bob Shapard will assume the role of executive chairman of the Oncor Board, and Allen Nye will assume the role of CEO of Oncor.

10:26 EDT Peregrine announces reverse stock split to take effect at 5:00pm today - Peregrine Pharmaceuticals announced that a previously approved 1-for-7 reverse split of its outstanding shares of common stock will take effect at 5:00pm EDT on Friday, July 7, 2017. Peregrine's common stock will open for trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market on July 10, 2017 on a split-adjusted basis under the existing trading symbol "PPHM". The reverse stock split was approved by stockholders of Peregrine at the annual meeting of stockholders held on October 13, 2016 and is intended to increase the per share trading price of the company's common stock to enable the company to satisfy the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the NASDAQ Capital Market.

10:05 EDT Poland picks Lockheed Martin HIMARS launcher for exclusive further negotiations - The Polish Armament Group has selected Lockheed Martin for exclusive further negotiations to develop the Polish Homar program on the basis of the Lockheed Martin High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. The partnership will develop in-country defense technology modernization via transfer of technology, in-country production/manufacturing and future modernization.

09:33 EDT Hill International receives construction supervision contract in Greece - Hill International announced that it has received a contract to provide construction supervision services in support of a $399M Capital Expenditure Program for the Piraeus Port Authority in Greece. The four-year contract has an estimated value to Hill of approximately $2.7M.

09:29 EDT Azul reports preliminary June traffic up 20.7% y/y - Azul S.A., announces its preliminary traffic results for June 2017. Passenger traffic increased 20.7% compared to June 2016 on a capacity increase of 16.4%. As a result, load factor was 81.2%, 2.8 percentage points higher than in the same period last year. Year-to-date load factor increased 2.7 percentage points over last year, reaching a total of 81.2%. Domestic load factor was 79.2% and international was 91.1%.

09:21 EDT Whole Foods countered Amazon at $45 per share, had another interested party - A regulatory filing this morning from Whole Foods (WFM) reveals the company sought a $45 per share takeover price from Amazon.com (AMZN) and that another company expressed interest in an acquisition. Whole Foods disclosed, "After a discussion of potential responses, the board of directors decided that making a counter proposal at a higher price was the most effective response and resolved to make a counter-proposal to Amazon.com at $45.00 per share...The representatives from Goldman Sachs then said that as a last stretch Amazon.com was willing to offer $42.00 per share but stressed several times that this was Amazon.com's best and final offer." Regarding another bidder, Whole Foods wrote, "Company X made a presentation regarding its business and suggested that, if the Company were to be interested, they would be interested in pursuing a merger-of-equals transaction, which they believed would be potentially valued at $35.00 to $40.00 per share to the Company's shareholders." A third company had interest, but not in an outright acquisition of Whole Foods. "The Company Y representatives said that they had an interest in exploring a possible commercial relationship, such as a supply arrangement, between the two companies but did not discuss any possible merger or acquisition of the Company," Whole Foods disclosed.

09:16 EDT Terreno Realty acquires buildings in California for $14.9M - Terreno Realty Corporation acquired an industrial property located in Santa Fe Springs, California on July 6 for a purchase price of approximately $14.9M. The property consists of two rear-load industrial distribution buildings containing approximately 87,000 square feet on 5.3 acres. The property is at 12803 Telegraph Road and 12828 Romandel Avenue, east of the intersection of I-5 and I-605, provides 17 dock-high and ten grade-level loading positions, parking for 150 cars and is 100% leased to eight tenants. The estimated stabilized cap rate of the property is 4.7%.

09:01 EDT Townsquare Media announces acquisition of six radio stations - Townsquare Media announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 6 radio stations and two FM translators in and around the Pittsfield, MA market, from Gamma Broadcasting LLC and Berkshire Broadcasting Co., Inc. Pro forma for the Acquisition, Townsquare will own 318 radio stations in 67 markets, maintaining its position as the third largest owner of radio stations in the United States. The company expects the Acquisition to close in the third quarter of 2017, subject to closing conditions and customary regulatory approvals.

08:49 EDT Banro Corporation appoints Rory Taylor as CFO - Banro Corporation announced the appointment of Rory Taylor as CFO of Banro. Most recently, Taylor served as CFO of Aura Minerals.

08:33 EDT RPX Corp. says patent trial and appeal board invalidates Rothschild patent - RPX Corporation announced that yesterday, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated all instituted claims on all grounds in a final written decision in an inter partes review filed by RPX against a patent owned by Rothschild Connected Devices Innovations. RCDI asserted the patent at issue in a litigation campaign brought in the Eastern District of Texas that has targeted more than 65 defendants operating in sectors including automotive, energy, and home automation. The invalidated patent is US 8,788,090 and the proceeding is IPR2016-00443. To date, RPX has filed 40 petitions for inter partes review and has a ~95% merits-based institution rate.

08:32 EDT SkyWest reports combined June traffic down 5.6% y/y - SkyWest reported 159,214 block hours in June 2017, compared to 168,060 block hours in June 2016, a decrease of 8,846 or 5.3%. The net decrease was consistent with SkyWest's fleet transition plan to improve the mix of aircraft in its fleet by adding new E175 aircraft, while reducing its 50-seat jets. The year-over-year net change was primarily driven by approximately 13,800 additional block hours from its E175 aircraft and a decrease of approximately 22,600 block hours from its other aircraft types. In June 2017, SkyWest's dual class aircraft represented approximately 51% of SkyWest's total block hour production for the month compared to approximately 43% for the month of June 2016. SkyWest reported 919,783 block hours for year-to-date June 2017, compared to 980,209 block hours year-to-date June 2016, a decrease of 60,426, or 6.2%. This net change was primarily driven by approximately 76,400 additional block hours from its E175 aircraft and a decrease of approximately 136,800 block hours from its other aircraft types. SkyWest generated 2.84 billion available seat miles for June 2017, compared to 2.95 billion ASMs for June 2016, or a 3.9% decrease.

08:20 EDT USA Technologies, Chase expand merchant services relationship - USA Technologies (USAT) and Chase (JPM) are expanding joint efforts to help more self-serve and unattended retail go cashless, through a strategic marketing agreement. "The two companies have been working together for some time to bring greater opportunities to their shared customers, by leveraging USAT's best-in-class cashless payments and loyalty platforms, with the added security and expanded reach of market-leading payments from Chase," the company said. "Through the companies' joint marketing efforts, consumers will now have a better understanding of the opportunities available when paying with credit or via mobile wallet. In addition, retailers will now have the tools to better engage with customers in the moment at the point of sale."

08:04 EDT ManTech awarded $39M contract by NSWCDD/CDSA - The Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, or NSWCDD,/Combat Direction Systems Activity, or CDSA, Dam Neck has awarded ManTech International Corporation a five year, $39M prime contract for the Navy's Fleet Support. The mission of CDSA is to modernize and sustain systems on aircraft carriers, cruisers/destroyers, amphibious ships and submarines for the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Special Warfare, Coalition, and Joint Forces. Under this contract, ManTech will deliver expertise to the NSWCDD's computer build and installation program and documentation management capability to weapons and combat systems. This effort includes engineering expertise for naval ships worldwide, as required.

08:02 EDT Frontier Communications to implement reverse stock split on July 10 - As previously announced, Frontier Communications Corporation will implement its 1-for-15 reverse stock split of the issued shares of common stock as of the beginning of trading on Monday, July 10. Following the reverse stock split, Frontier common stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "FTR," although it will have a new CUSIP number.

08:01 EDT Bank of Marin announces new shareholder rights plan - The Board of Directors of Bank of Marin announced that it has executed a rights agreement in connection with the adoption of a new shareholder rights plan. In connection with the new plan, the company declared a dividend distribution of one right for each outstanding share of the company's common stock to holders of record as of July 23. The new plan replaces the current plan and the rights issued pursuant thereto which expire July 23. The new plan and related rights will expire on July 23, 2022. The new rights will be evidenced by, and will trade with, the company's common stock until the occurrence of certain events set forth in the rights agreement. Company shareholders are not required to take any action at this time in connection with either the new or the expiring plan.

07:59 EDT Entellus Medical trading halted, news pending

07:48 EDT UK Supreme Court rules in Lilly's favor in Alimta vitamin regimen patents - Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) announced that the UK Supreme Court has decided in the litigation relating to alternative salt forms of Alimta that Actavis's (AGN) products directly infringe Lilly's vitamin regimen patents in the UK, France, Italy and Spain. The UK Supreme Court also affirmed the indirect infringement finding by the UK Court of Appeal. The full judgment is scheduled to be handed down on Wednesday, July 12, 2017. The ruling came in the case of Actavis v. Eli Lilly and Company. In June of 2015, the UK Court of Appeal ruled the Alimta vitamin regimen patent would be indirectly infringed when the generic product is reconstituted or diluted in saline, but not directly infringed under the doctrine of equivalents. Following this decision, Actavis launched pemetrexed Armisarte, previously Pemetrexed Actavis, at risk. Today's announcement by the UK Supreme Court finds the Actavis product infringing, regardless of the diluent used in reconstitution or dilution. "While we do not yet know the court's reasoning, we are pleased with the UK Supreme Court's key conclusions that confirm the Alimta vitamin regimen patent would be infringed by these generic pemetrexed products in the UK, France, Italy and Spain prior to June 2021," said Michael J. Harrington, senior vice president and general counsel for Lilly.

07:07 EDT Fifth Street Asset agrees to sell middle market CLO unit to NewStar Financial - Fifth Street Asset Management (FSAM) announced that it has agreed to sell Fifth Street CLO Management LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fifth Street Holdings L.P., to NewStar Financial, Inc. (NEWS). FSAM intends to use the proceeds from this transaction to pay down its credit facility and for general corporate purposes. The estimated purchase price is approximately $16M, net of $13M of assumed indebtedness, and will be subject to adjustment up or down based on certain working capital items as of closing. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to certain investor consents and closing conditions set forth in the purchase agreement between Fifth Street Holdings L.P. and NewStar. "Over the course of FSAM's strategic review, it became clear to us that given the market environment and headwinds we faced over the past year and a half, it would be difficult to scale our CLO business," said Leonard M. Tannenbaum, CEO of FSAM. "We believe that exiting this business line is in the best interest of our shareholders and is an important step as we continue to enhance our liquidity position and streamline operations."Natixis Securities Americas LLC served as financial advisor to FSAM and Dechert LLP served as its legal counsel.

07:02 EDT Sparton agrees to be acquired by Ultra Electronics for $23.50 per share in cash - Sparton announced today that it had entered into a merger agreement with Ultra Electronics Holdings, pursuant to which Ultra will acquire Sparton for $23.50 per share in cash. The board of directors of Sparton unanimously approved the transaction. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances and approval of Sparton's and Ultra's respective shareholders, and is expected to close no later than January 1, 2018. Additional details regarding the transaction will be set forth in a proxy statement that will be sent by Sparton to its shareholders in advance of the special meeting at which Sparton's shareholders will be asked to approve the transaction.

06:25 EDT Wal-Mart's Walmex unit reports June SSS up 7.2% - Wal-Mart de Mexico, or Walmex, announced yesterday that June comp sales increased 7.2% compared to the same month last year. Total sales in Mexico increased 8.6% in the same period, Walmex said.

06:03 EDT eBay launches Price Match Guarantee in Canadian market - eBay announced the launch of a Price Match Guarantee in the Canadian market, just in time for its summer Deals event, running July 10-18 at eBay.ca/deals. Launching on Monday, July 10, this new eBay program guarantees that eligible deals will be offered at the best price online, or eBay will match the lower price of a competitor.

05:57 EDT Tesla's Musk says project to be 'highest power battery system by factor of 3' - Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweets that the lithium-ion battery storage project in South Australia will be the "highest power battery system in the world by a factor of 3. Australia rocks!!" Reference Link

05:19 EDT Volvo liquidates stake in Deutz AG - Volvo has sold its complete holding in the German listed engine manufacturer Deutz AG. Divestment proceeds amount to SEK 1.9B, corresponding to SEK 62.73 per share. The sale will result in a capital gain of approximately SEK 350M that will impact operating income in Q3. Volvo Group has sold 30.25M shares, corresponding to 25% of total shares in Deutz. The sale will have a positive impact on Group cash flow and the net financial position in the Industrial Operations in an amount of SEK 1.9B. The capital gain will be reported in the segment "Group functions and Other".