Stockwinners Market Radar for July 13, 2017 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:50 EDT Formula 1, Snap announce global partnership - Formula 1 and Snap Inc. announced a new global partnership to cover its upcoming Grand Prix races on Snapchat's curated editorial platform, Discover. The deal marks Formula 1's first commercial collaboration with a major digital and mobile-first platform, and will officially kick-off this weekend, with coverage of the 2017 Formula 1 Rolex British Grand Prix on Sunday through Snapchat's Our Stories. This partnership with Snap is part of the ongoing Formula 1 strategy to develop the sport on several digital platforms, and of course the Official F1 App and Formula1.com.

18:19 EDT BioLife Solutions announces marketing approval for Invossa-K - BioLife Solutions announced that Kolon Life Science, TissueGene's exclusive licensee for Asia, including Korea, has received marketing approval for Invossa-K Inj., the world's first cell and gene therapy for degenerative arthritis from the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The manufactured Invossa cell and gene therapy will be frozen and shipped in BioLife's CryoStor cell freeze media to extend the shelf life until arrival at the clinic for injection into the patient, the company said.

18:03 EDT First Solar sells solar projects to EDF Renewable Energy - First Solar has sold the 179 MWac Switch Station 1 and Switch Station 2 Solar Projects EDF Renewable Energy in late June. The projects, currently under construction, will sell their combined output and environmental attributes under three Power Purchase Agreements to subsidiaries of NV Energy.

17:53 EDT Genworth and China Oceanwide provide update on merger agreement - Genworth Financial and China Oceanwide Holdings have withdrawn and re-filed their joint voluntary notice with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States - CFIUS - a second time to provide CFIUS more time to review and discuss the proposed transaction between Genworth and Oceanwide contemplated under the merger agreement entered into by the parties on October 21, 2016. CFIUS' acceptance of the joint voluntary notice will commence a new 30-day review period, which may be followed by an additional 45-day investigation period. Closing of the proposed transaction remains subject to other conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals in the U.S., China, and other international jurisdictions. Genworth recently received approval from the Delaware Department of Insurance and the Virginia Bureau of Insurance for the remaining internal reinsurance and recapture transactions required, under the merger agreement, as a condition to the purchase by a Genworth holding company of Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company from Genworth Life Insurance Company. These transactions have been completed effective July 1. It now appears that the timing of the regulatory reviews will likely delay the completion of the transaction to later than the originally targeted time frame of the middle of 2017. Genworth and Oceanwide are discussing an extension of the August 31 deadline set forth in the merger agreement and will make a final decision regarding the deadline in the coming weeks.

17:19 EDT Dow Chemical vice chairman to retire by December 31, 2017 - In a regulatory filing, Dow Chemical announced that Joseph E. Harlan, the vice chairman and Chief Commercial Officer of the company, will retire from the company by December 31, 2017. The company entered into an agreement with Harlan memorializing certain terms and conditions of his retirement, which provides for certain benefits.

17:10 EDT UR-Energy reports Q2 production results - UR-Energy reported 65,257 pounds of U3O8 captured within the Lost Creek plant in Q2. 70,833 pounds of U3O8 were packaged in drums and 74,406 pounds of U3O8 drummed inventory were shipped out of the Lost Creek processing plant. At June 30, inventory at the conversion facility was approximately 160,094 pounds U3O8. Q2 sales totaled $11.8M on contract sales of 241,000 pounds at an average price of $48.95 per pound, which was 135% above the average spot price for the same period of $20.79 per pound. Drilling and other construction work to develop the first three header houses in Mine Unit 2 commenced in early April. This development work continues on schedule, with the first of these header houses anticipated to come online Q3. The second and third header houses will follow, with operations anticipated to commence for both in during Q4.

17:05 EDT Mylan, Biocon say FDA's ODAC recommends approval of trastuzumab - Mylan and Biocon announced tha thte FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee, or ODAC, recommended approval of the companies' proposed biosimilar trastuzumab. The committee voted 16-0 in support of eligible indications of the reference product, Herceptin, which include HER2-positive breast cancer in the metastatic and adjuvant settings. Data presented to ODAC included results from analytical, nonclinical and clinical studies which demonstrated that our proposed biosimilar trastuzumab is highly similar to Herceptin, in line with the FDA assessment provided in the pre-meeting briefing documents. ODAC determined that no clinically meaningful differences exist between the biosimilar product and Herceptin in terms of safety, purity and potency. As such, the committee concluded that the totality of evidence supports a recommendation for FDA approval.

17:04 EDT National Security Group reports year-to-date catastrophe losses estimates - National Security Group released estimates of year to date catastrophe losses through June 30 incurred by property and casualty subsidiary National Security Fire & Casualty. In Q2, property and casualty subsidiary, National Security Fire & Casualty Company was impacted by 13 catastrophe events which produced 958 reported policyholder claims by the end of the second quarter. Estimated losses from Q2 catastrophe events are expected to be approximately $4,774,000. Net of tax, these losses are expected to reduce Q2 net income by $3,151,000 or $1.25 per share vs. 53c per share in 2Q16. During the six-month period ended June 30, National Security Fire & Casualty Company was impacted by 21 catastrophe events producing 1,856 policyholder claims with estimated losses expected to be approximately $9,178,000. Net of tax, these losses are expected to reduce EPS for the six-month period ended June 30 by approximately $6,057,000 or $2.41 per share vs. 91c per share in the year ago period. This pattern of increased frequency of severe thunderstorm activity in 2017 will materially impact Q2 and year to date earnings.

16:49 EDT Hain Celestial receives non-compliance notice from Nasdaq - Hain Celestial received an expected notification letter from NASDAQ indicating that, since the company has not yet held an annual meeting of stockholders within twelve months of the end of the company's fiscal year ended June 30, 2016, the company no longer complies with Nasdaq Listing Rules. The company filed its Annual Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016 on June 22, 2017 and plans to announce its annual meeting date shortly. The company has until August 21 to submit a plan to regain compliance.

16:47 EDT Man Group reports 5.01% passive stake in Commercial Vehicle Group

16:42 EDT MiMedx sees 'very strong year-over-year operating cash flow' in Q2 - Parker "Pete" Petit, Chairman and CEO stated, "We are very pleased with our second quarter revenue performance. It is always gratifying when we exceed the top end of our guidance and outperform our forecasts. Our revenue performance for the second quarter marks 26 consecutive quarters of sequential revenue growth and 25 of the last 26 quarters of meeting or exceeding our revenue guidance. As with our first quarter results, the second quarter is also expected to demonstrate very strong year-over-year operating cash flow performance compared to the second quarter of last year. We were very confident that our new sales management system would be a key asset and facilitator of strong revenue growth, and we are pleased with its positive impact on our sales productivity since its implementation in early 2016. The corresponding informatics and organizational structure investments made at that time are delivering results as planned. We are optimistic about the continuation of our robust revenue growth." Bill Taylor, President and COO, said, "Our second quarter revenue performance was especially gratifying in light of the tedious and time-consuming tasks that our sales force undertook to ensure the wind-down of our contract with AvKARE was seamless for our federal accounts and their patients. We are in a very good position in terms of year-to-date revenue performance as we move into the third quarter, which is typically one of our strongest quarters of the year. We had very solid revenue performance during the second quarter, and we are building momentum for a strong showing in the second half of the year and the delivery of a robust year overall. In addition to the fact that the AvKARE conversion is now behind us, there are several other catalysts expected in the second half of this year, such as the publication of our Venous Leg Ulcer and Diabetic Foot Ulcer studies and the Plantar Fasciitis Phase IIb study interim data results. These catalysts should provide further fuel to our rising momentum."

16:33 EDT American Lorain granted extension for listing compliance - American Lorain's business plan of compliance has been accepted by the NYSE, which has granted ALN an extension until October 18 to regain compliance with the Exchange's continued listing standards. On April 24, ALN received notification that the company was not in compliance with the NYSE Company Guide due to the company's failure to timely file with the SEC its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. The company expects to complete filing of its annual report for fiscal year ended December 31, 2016 and quarterly report for fiscal period ended March 30, 2017 as soon as possible. If the company's common stock was ultimately delisted from the exchange, it would be expected to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board.

16:19 EDT Antero Midstream GP declares cash distribution of 2.7c per share - The Board of Directors of AMGP GP LLC, the general partner of AMGP, declared a cash distribution of 2.7c per share for the second quarter. The distribution reflects a pro-rated distribution for the quarter from the closing of the AMGP initial public offering on May 9 through June 30. The distribution will be payable on August 23 to shareholders of record as of August 3.

16:17 EDT Antero Midstream Partners raises quarterly cash distribution 7% to 32c per unit - The Board of Directors of Antero Midstream Partners GP, the general partner of Antero Midstream, declared a cash distribution of 32c per unit for the second quarter. The distribution represents a 28% increase compared to the prior year quarter and a 7% increase sequentially. The distribution is Antero Midstream's tenth consecutive quarterly distribution increase since its initial public offering in November 2014 and will be payable on August 16 to unitholders of record as of August 3.

16:15 EDT Gabelli cuts BioScrip stake to 10.37% from 11.76%

16:13 EDT Huateng Ma reports 11.6% passive stake in Athenex

16:12 EDT BioLife Solutions' Asia licensee granted marketing approval for Invossa in Korea - BioLife Solutions' exclusive licensee for Asia, including Korea, Kolon Life Science, has received marketing approval for Invossa-K Inj., the cell and gene therapy for degenerative arthriti,s from the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The manufactured Invossa cell and gene therapy will be frozen and shipped in BioLife's CryoStor cell freeze media to extend the shelf life until arrival at the clinic for injection into the patient. Invossa is a first-in-class cell and gene therapy drug designed to conveniently and effectively treat osteoarthritis of the knee through a single intra-articular injection. Through its national US Phase III clinical trials, TissueGene will be using the results to seek a Disease Modifying Osteoarthritis Drug designation for Invossa from the FDA, potentially making Invossa the first and only cell and gene therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee.

16:10 EDT Global Payments partners with CaixaBank, Visa, Samsung - Global Payments (GPN) together with CaixaBank (CAIXY), Visa (V), Samsung (SSNLF) and Arval, will establish a Payment Innovation Hub at Barcelona's Pier01. Among the first of its kind, the collaboration center will bring industry leaders together from around the world to develop state-of-the-art payment solutions and create new purchase experiences that align with evolving technology and market trends. The Hub will have a multidisciplinary team comprised of experts in R&D, technology, market analysis and business development who will work to shape the payment technology needs of the future. Global Payments will leverage its expertise to help develop new solutions using emerging technologies including connected experiences made possible by the Internet of Things as well as omnichannel solutions that buyers and sellers will use to conduct commerce across both physical and virtual channels.

16:08 EDT Pfizer reports 9.8% passive stake in Mersana Therapeutics

16:07 EDT CTI BioPharma's Marketing Authorization for pacritinib validated by EMA - CTI BioPharma's Marketing Authorization Application for pacritinib for the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis who have thrombocytopenia has been validated by the European Medicines Agency. Validation confirms that the submission is complete and initiates the centralized review process by the EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use. The CHMP review period is 210 days, excluding question or opinion response periods, after which the CHMP opinion is reviewed by the European Commission, which usually issues a final decision on EU authorization within three months. If authorized, pacritinib would be granted a marketing license valid in all 28 EU member states. The MAA is primarily supported by data from two randomized Phase 3 clinical trials, PERSIST-1 and PERSIST-2, that evaluated pacritinib in patients with myelofibrosis.

16:07 EDT SeaSpine announces limited commercial launch of Skipjack - SeaSpine Holdings announced the limited commercial launch of and completion of initial cases for its Skipjack Expandable Interbody System. Skipjack is an expandable interbody system based on patented technology acquired as part of the NLT transaction announced in August 2016. Skipjack is designed to provide continuous in-situ expansion in either height or lordosis for a tailored anatomical fit. Skipjack adds to SeaSpine's portfolio of differentiated solutions within the interbody device market, which is estimated to be one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. spinal instrumentation market. Notably, Skipjack implants provide up to 20 degrees of lordotic correction from a posterior approach and are accompanied by integrated graft delivery instrumentation to post-pack the implant and surrounding disc space. "The alpha launch of Skipjack reflects the culmination of our ability to identify and acquire novel technologies and combine it with our surgeon-focused development and marketing expertise to rapidly bring innovative new products to market," said Keith Valentine, President and Chief Executive Officer of SeaSpine. "In surgeon-responsive and rapid fashion, SeaSpine has translated NLT's intellectual property into what we believe will be high clinical-value products that contribute to improving patient lives." Skipjack provides surgeons the ability to place smaller implants that expand within the interbody space, potentially enabling smaller incisions and more limited nerve retraction without sacrificing the advantages of larger, but more disruptive, implants. This in-situ expansion is intended to reduce tissue disruption, minimize endplate damage and, thereby, improve patient outcomes. "The parallel and lordotic options that Skipjack offers allow me to expand in-situ for a more patient-specific fit. The initial stability is excellent and being able to backfill the cage with the same set of instruments helps simplify the procedure," stated Dr. James Brennan, Sentara Virginia Beach Hospital.

16:05 EDT Sangamo's MPS candidates granted Fast Track designation by FDA - Sangamo announced that the FDA has granted Fast Track designation to SB-318 and SB-913, the company's clinical stage in vivo genome editing product candidates for the treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type I and MPS II, respectively. Using Sangamo's zinc finger nuclease genome editing technology, SB-318 for MPS I and SB-913 for MPS II are designed as a single treatment strategy intended to provide stable, continuous production of the IDUA or IDS enzyme for the lifetime of the patient. SB-318 and SB-913 have already received Orphan Drug and Rare Pediatric Disease designations from the FDA. The FDA has cleared an Investigational New Drug application for these programs, and Phase 1/2 clinical trials evaluating SB-318 and SB-913 in adults with MPS I and MPS II, respectively, are open and screening subjects for enrollment.

16:02 EDT ClearSign Combustion receives order from supermajor oil company - ClearSign Combustion announced that they have received a purchase order to qualify the company's revolutionary Duplex combustion technology as a precursor to an installation at a super major oil refinery. Qualification testing will occur at ClearSign's facility in Seattle, WA and involves evaluating the company's Duplex technology under a variety of fuel compositions and process conditions that mirror the customer's operations. The global oil giant is funding the testing to determine Duplex's suitability for a variety of refinery process heaters and conditions in a test expected to conclude later this year. The customer plans to continue testing at one of the oil giant's refineries. Following this qualification, the customer has indicated interest in standardizing the Duplex technology to existing heaters within the US and abroad where the Duplex platform is suited for deployment.

16:00 EDT Lumos Networks signs multi-year enterprise contract with VMI - Lumos Networks signed a multi-year agreement with the Virginia Military Institute to provide 1.5 Gigabit of Dedicated Internet to its campus, located in Lexington Virginia. Lumos Networks also will provide VMI with a 1 Gigabit Dedicated Internet connection at the Rockbridge Area Network Authority Data Center. Lumos Networks previously announced RANA as a new Data Center connected to their network.

14:35 EDT Rayonier Advanced Materials, Tembec deal approved by Germany's FCO - Rayonier Advanced Materials and Tembec announced that they have received notification of clearance from Germany's Federal Cartel Office in connection with the previously announced proposed statutory arrangement under Section 192 of the Canada Business Corporations Act involving the acquisition by Rayonier AM of all of the outstanding shares of Tembec. Subject to obtaining the approvals of the holders of Tembec Shares and the Quebec Superior Court and other necessary approvals and clearances, as well as the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions to the Transaction, it is expected that the Transaction will be completed by the end of 2017.

14:01 EDT Occidental Petroleum raises quarterly dividend to 77c per share from 76c - Occidental Petroleum said that its board of directors has declared an increase of the company's regular quarterly dividend to 77c per share. On an annual basis, the dividend is $3.08 per share at the new rate, compared to the previous annual rate of $3.04 per share.

13:41 EDT Meridian addressing FDA-483 observations with 'highest sense of urgency' - Meridian Bioscience is providing the following comments regarding the FDA press statement and website announcement concerning the posting of the Form FDA-483 issued following the inspection of Magellan Diagnostics, which closed on June 29, 2017. As FDA noted, this Form represents the investigators' observations and is not a final Agency determination. Consistent with FDA policy, Magellan will promptly submit responses to the Form FDA-483 for the Agency's consideration. "Meridian Bioscience, Inc. and Magellan reiterate their mutual commitment to strengthening Magellan's quality system and ensuring all aspects of the system are in full compliance," Meridian said. "Both organizations take this very seriously and Magellan is addressing the observations noted in the Form FDA-483 with the highest sense of urgency."

13:01 EDT Exxon Mobil announces acquisition of acreage offshore Suriname - Exxon Mobil (XOM) announced that its subsidiary ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Suriname B.V., along with co-venturers Hess (HES) and Statoil (STO), signed a production sharing contract for Block 59 with Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname N.V., the national oil company of Suriname. The block is 2.8 million acres, or 4,430 square miles, and shares a maritime border with Guyana, where ExxonMobil is the operator of three offshore blocks, including the world-class Liza field discovered by ExxonMobil in 2015. Following contract signing, the co-venturers are preparing to begin exploration activities, including acquisition and analysis of seismic data. ExxonMobil and consortium partners Hess and Statoil each hold a third of the interest in the block. ExxonMobil is the operator.

12:23 EDT HBO leads Emmy nomination with 110 nods - Nominations for the 69th Emmy Awards were announced today. NBC's (CMCSA) "Saturday Night Live" and HBO's (TWX) "Westworld" led the tally for the most nominations in all categories with 22 each, followed by Netflix's (NFLX) "Stranger Things" and FX's (FOXA) "FEUD: Bette and Joan," each with 18, and HBO's "Veep" with 17. Leading the nominations in totals by platform were HBO with 110, Netflix with 91 and NBC with 60. Other companies in the television space include CBS (CBS), Disney (DIS), and Viacom (VIA). Reference Link

11:40 EDT FDA accepts supplemental New Drug Application for Pfizer's Xeljanz - Pfizer announced earlier today that the supplemental New Drug Application for Xeljanz, an investigational oral treatment for adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, has been accepted for filing by the FDA. The FDA provided an anticipated Prescription Drug User Fee Act action date in March 2018, Pfizer added. The sNDA submission package included data from three Phase 3 studies from the Oral Clinical Trials for tofAcitinib in ulceratiVE colitis global clinical development program evaluating the safety and efficacy of tofacitinib in patients with moderately to severely active UC, and OCTAVE Open, the open label long-term extension study of tofacitinib in patients who completed or who had treatment failure in OCTAVE Sustain, or who were non-responders in OCTAVE Induction 1 or 2.

11:31 EDT AstraZeneca CEO defection seen looking 'terrible' ahead of lung cancer data - After an Israeli website reported that AstraZeneca's (AZN) CEO appears to be set to leave the company, Leerink says that such a development would be a "major surprise" and look "terrible" for the company. NEWS: AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot has agreed to become the CEO of Israeli drug company Teva (TEVA), Calcalist reported yesterday, according to Reuters. "MAJOR SURPRISE": The news is a "major surprise," wrote Leerink analyst Seamus Fernandez. After speaking with AstraZeneca, he reported that the company would not comment, but also declined to formally deny the report. If Soriot does depart, the development would look "terrible" for the company at a time when it is expected to announce results from a trial of its durvalumab and tremelimumab drug combination in non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, very soon, the analyst stated. Although the news involving the CEO does not appear to be related to the trial results, the company would be left with a leadership vacuum following a resignation by Soriot, given the recent departures of other executives, Fernandez stated. AstraZeneca could potentially merge with another company following a departure by Soriot, but it would be "left in a state of flux" ahead of the NSCLC data and other important trial results, the analyst believes. Warning that the CEO's resignation would be "a clear negative" for the company, Fernandez nonetheless kept an Outperform rating on the stock. PRICE ACTION: AstraZeneca is off its lows and now up fractionally in New York trading, while Teva shares have risen 2%.

11:17 EDT Microsoft's board adopts board tenure policy - John Seethoff, Microsoft's VP, Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, said in a blog post that "Since we first adopted our Corporate Governance Guidelines, it has been our intention to maintain a board with diverse backgrounds and experiences that matches the evolution of the company. In keeping with this mindset, our Board of Directors recently adopted a board tenure policy that targets an average tenure of 10 years or less for the board's independent directors. Director tenure has received increasing attention among investors. Through our shareholder engagement, we know that some are concerned that extended service risks eroding director independence by producing an overly close relationship between long-serving directors and management. Others note longer service can help bridge management transitions by providing historical context and perspective, and longer-serving directors may be better positioned to oppose management... The revised policy, included in Section 7 of our Corporate Governance Guidelines, highlights that directors should not expect to be re-nominated annually. In determining whether to recommend a director for re-election, the Governance and Nominating Committee considers the director's participation in and contributions to the activities of the board, the results of the annual board evaluation and past meeting attendance." Reference Link

11:07 EDT Broadfin Capital reports 5.28% passive stake in Cidara Therapeutics

11:06 EDT Progressive seen as beneficiary as technology fights distracted driving - Raymond James upgraded Progressive (PGR) citing the improving profitability of the auto insurance industry as the spread between year-over-year changes in rate increases and auto repair costs gradually narrows. "STEPPING ON THE GAS": Raymond James analyst Gregory Peters upgraded Progressive to Strong Buy from Outperform and increased his price target on the stock to $52 from $45. He believes Progressive will continue to grow net premiums written at a double digit pace through 2017 and is well positioned to benefit from emerging smartphone technology to monitor and price for distracted driving over the next 24 months. Peters said the implementation of usage-based insurance products, specifically mobile apps, in auto insurance markets has the ability to decrease risky driving habits, leading to lower accident frequency. He expects up to 15% of Progressive's personal auto business could begin to report up to a 20% decline in risky driving habits over the next 18 months, resulting in improving underwriting margins. Peters added he believes the combined launch of a lower-priced smartphone app and an improved incidence rate of distracted driving may generate 10% or more improvement in the company's personal auto combined ratio results over the next 18 months. "BEST POSITIONED": Peters also upgraded Infinity Property (IPCC) to Outperform from Market Perform and established a $105 price target, saying Infinity is one of the best positioned small cap peers to benefit from emerging smartphone technology to monitor and price for distracted driving. He expects management's focus on new technology adoption and current favorable market conditions to result in the company meeting or exceeding its 10% return on equity target over the next 12 months. PRICE ACTION: Progressive rose 0.4% to $45 per share and Infinity Property rose about 1% in morning trading.

10:52 EDT Boeing reports no new orders in weekly update - Boeing reported no new orders in the weekly update posted on its website and says it reduced 747 orders by three. Year to date information: 737 net orders: 65 NG and 197 MAX; 777 net orders: 13 777 and 20 777X.

10:48 EDT Delta Air Lines says nothing to indicate unit revenue will turn negative in Q4 - Sees 1% capacity growth this year. Sees replacing 20%-25% of fleet over the next three years.

10:34 EDT Battleground: Stifel says buy Snap after Morgan Stanley fueled selloff - Following the recent selloff in shares of Snapchat's parent company, Stifel analyst Scott Devitt upgraded Snap Inc. (SNAP) to Buy as he views the current as a "compelling" risk and reward opportunity. Meanwhile, his peer at Piper Jaffray cut his price target on the stock, citing increasing competition from Facebook (FB). Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak had downgraded Snap to Equal Weight, citing similar concerns about Instagram's influence. BUY SNAP: While Snap's shares have faced increased selling pressure following a first quarter revenue miss and in anticipation of the company's lock-up event beginning in late July, Stifel's Devitt told investors that he believes its business remains on track fundamentally as it continues to develop innovative consumer products and increasingly sophisticated tools for advertisers. Moreover, competition from Facebook's Instagram remains a concern for investors, but recent app download trends appear healthy in key ad markets, leading him to believe near-term risks to revenue-generating Daily Average User, or DAU, may be overstated. Devitt believes Snap is what investors have long wanted Twitter (TWTR) to be, namely a thriving communications platform for hundreds of millions of high-value consumers whose nimble product innovation can drive engagement/monetization in the face of competition from Internet behemoths like Google (GOOGL; GOOG), Facebook, and Amazon (AMZN). The analyst added that he views shares as a "compelling risk and reward opportunity" and upgraded Snap to Buy from Hold, with a $22 price target. INCREASING COMPETITION: In a research note of his own, Piper Jaffray analyst Samuel Kemp lowered his price target for Snap to $16.50 from $20, citing his firm's second survey measuring engagement modes on Facebook's Instagram. The survey indicated an increasing proportion of Instagram users are directly messaging friends' photos or videos and posting to their Stories, Kemp noted, adding that he believes Instagram's use case is increasingly pivoting to encompass Snapchat's core use case, or that of direct ephemeral photo/video messaging and stories. This reflects the analyst's biggest concern in the Snap story, namely that while monetization can manifest over time through new media formats and better UX funnels, it cannot offset the real risk of crowding out from competitors. He also upped his price target for Facebook to $170 from $165, keeping an Overweight rating on the name. Earlier this week, his peer at Morgan Stanley had downgraded Snap to Equal Weight from Overweight. Analyst Brian Nowak told investors that he now sees Snap's ad revenue growth being materially slower than he previously expected. The analyst also acknowledged that he has been wrong about Snap's ability to innovate and improve its ad product this year and user monetization as it works to move beyond "experimental" ad budgets into larger branded and direct response ad allocations. The company faces rising competition from Instagram, which has become more aggressive in competing with Snap's ad dollars, he argued. Nowak lowered his price target on Snap's shares to $16 from $28. PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of Snap have gained about 3.5% to $15.77. However, over the last five days the stock is down 9% and it has dropped about 35% since its IPO on March 2 of this year.

10:34 EDT Delta says 'at the table' on ATC reform talks - Says ability to drive value "much greater once you get inside the boardroom" rather than just in a contract. Doesn't see foreign ownership rules changing dramatically over next 5-10 years, but says may continue with foreign investments. Says not "philosophically opposed" to ATC privatization for privatization sake, but says wants proper governance of any ATC reforms.

10:24 EDT Delta Air Lines sees CASM headwinds easing in 2H, sees margin recovery - Sees CASM headwinds easing in 2H. Sees unit cost growth up roughly 2% in September quarter. Sees September quarter y/y market fuel price "slightly higher" vs. last year. Expects margin expansion in 2H as revenue recovery continues to gain traction, fuel prices remain stable. Sees Q3 CapEx approximately $1B, including $175M to complete purchase of 49% stake in Aeromexico.

10:14 EDT Delta: Keeping capacity at or below GDP growth over time 'appropriate' - CEO Ed Bastian says 2017 has been a financial transition year. Says confident company will achieve profit margin expansion in 2H17. Says still expects to achieve lower end of long-term targets that were updated in May. Specifcally, in each of the next three years, Delta is targeting operating margins of 16%-18%, EPS growth of 15% and $4.5B-$5.5B of freeh cash flow. Says seeking to keep CASM ex-fuel growth below 2%. Bastian noted that Delta believes keeping capacity at or below GDP growth over time is the "appropriate level" to ensure it can deliver consistent net revenue growth. Comments taken from the Q2 earnings conference call.

09:47 EDT Gartner says Worldwide IT spending forecast to grow 2.4% in 2017 - IT spending is projected to total $3.5T in 2017, a 2.4% increase from 2016, according to Gartner. This growth rate is up from the previous quarter's forecast of 1.4%, due to the U.S. dollar decline against many foreign currencies. The worldwide enterprise software market is forecast to grow 7.6% in 2017, up from 5.3% growth in 2016. As software applications allow more organizations to derive revenue from digital business channels, there will be a stronger need to automate and release new applications and functionality. Worldwide spending on devices is projected to grow 3.8% in 2017, to reach $654B. This is up from the previous quarter's forecast of 1.7%. Mobile phone growth will be driven by increased average selling prices for premium phones in mature markets due to the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and the increased mix of basic phones over utility phones. However, the tablet market continues to decline, as replacement cycles remain extended.

09:38 EDT Tesaro drops 7.5% after CNBC's Faber says sale process unlikely to lead to deal

09:37 EDT Hudson Bay Capital urges Sabra shareholders to vote against Care Capital deal - Hudson Bay Capital Management, which beneficially own approximately 3.2% of the common stock of Sabra Health Care REIT, (SBRA) released an open letter to Sabra shareholders urging them to reject Sabra's proposed acquisition of Care Capital Properties (CCP). A special meeting to vote on the proposed merger is scheduled to be held August 15. The letter says,"As a large shareholder of the company, we believe it is our duty to ensure that we, and more importantly all Sabra shareholders, achieve full and fair value for our collective investment in Sabra. Accordingly, we are calling on our fellow Sabra shareholders to protect the fair value of their investment and to vote against Sabra's proposed acquisition of Care Capital Properties at the special meeting of Sabra shareholders scheduled to be held August 15. We are confident that Sabra shareholders have a lot to lose by approving the CCP Acquisition, and even more to win by rejecting it. On May 7, Sabra announced an agreement to acquire Care Capital Properties for all stock consideration valued at $29.96 per CCP share, an 11.8% premium to CCP's closing share price of $26.79 on May 5, the trading day prior to announcement. Since then, Sabra's share price has deteriorated significantly on both an absolute and relative basis. Sabra's share price is down nearly 14% as compared to its closing price of $26.68 on May 5, while comparable companies chosen by Sabra's financial advisor and CCP's financial advisor in their fairness opinions, have seen an average share price increase of nearly 6% over the same period. As a result of the CCP Acquisition, in just over two months, there has been a massive relative underperformance in Sabra shares versus the Sabra Peers of nearly 20%. Based on this drastic decline in Sabra shareholder value, it is clear to us that the strategic rationale of the CCP Acquisition, as stated by Sabra management, has NOT been accepted by the market and the CCP Acquisition is not in the best interests of shareholders.....We urge you to turn around this destruction and protect and maximize your investment in Sabra by voting against the CCP Acquisition at the upcoming Special Meeting."

09:30 EDT Diana Shipping announces time charter contract for m/v Alcyon with Hudson - Diana Shipping, announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Hudson Shipping Lines Incorporated for one of its Panamax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Alcyon. The gross charter rate is $8,800 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum 12 months to maximum 15 months. The charter is expected to commence on July 21, 2017. The m/v Alcyon is currently chartered, as previously announced, to Dampskibsselskabet Norden A/S, Copenhagen, at a gross charter rate of $5,000 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties. The "Alcyon" is a 75,247 dwt Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2001. This employment is anticipated to generate approximately $3.17M of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter.

09:28 EDT U.S. Geothermal appoints Douglas Glaspey Interim CEO - U.S. Geothermal announced that the company's board of Directors has appointed Douglas Glaspey as Interim CEO, effective July 19. Glaspey will also continue to serve as the company's President and COO. The company also announced that it has entered into a six-month agreement with current CEO, Dennis Gilles, to serve as an Executive Advisor to the company, effective at the conclusion of Gilles' current employment agreement, which expires on July 18.

09:18 EDT On The Fly: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Target (TGT), up 5.4% after updating its second quarter guidance... Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI), up 6.5% after raising its Q2 guidance... J.C. Penney (JCP), up 1.7% after announcing that it will introduce toy shops in all stores... Teva (TEVA), up 2.6% after Reuters reported that the company could name AstraZeneca (AZN) Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot as its new CEO... eBay (EBAY) is up 1.9% and Shopify (SHOP) is up 1.2% after the companies announced hat Shopify merchants will soon be able to list and sell their products on eBay directly from their Shopify account. LOWER: Delta Air Lines (DAL), down 2.5% after reporting Q2 results... AstraZeneca is down marginally following the Reuters report about Teva's CEO.

09:09 EDT Advaxis to present axalimogene filolisbac clinical data at ESMO conference - Advaxis announced presentation of clinical data and a publication reviewing the mechanism of action via two prestigious oncology forums for its lead immunotherapy candidate, axalimogene filolisbac.The European Society for Medical Oncology has accepted an abstract for a poster presentation at its 2017 Congress, featuring data from Advaxis' Phase 2 FAWCETT study in patients with advanced anal cancer. This poster, entitled "Phase 2 study of ADXS11-001 immunotherapy in patients with persistent/recurrent surgically unresectable locoregional, or metastatic squamous cell anal cancer," will feature Stage 1 data from the trial, which shows promising activity with axalimogene filolisbac in patients with late-stage anal cancer. It will be presented by Principal Investigator Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, Professor and Associate Medical Director, colorectal cancer, Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The peer-reviewed journal Gynecologic Oncology Research and Practice published a review article, entitled "Mechanistic insights into ADXS11-001 human papillomavirus-associated cancer immunotherapy", illustrating the mechanism of action of axalimogene filolisbac and the scientific validity of using Listeria monocytogenes as an immunotherapeutic bacterial vector. Brett A. Miles, MD, of the Division of Head and Neck Cancer Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Bradley J. Monk, MD, Professor, Gynecologic Oncology: University of Arizona and Creighton University; and Howard P. Safran, MD, of the Brown University Oncology Group, cowrote the article. According to Miles, the lead author, axalimogene filolisbac has shown a consistent safety profile and promising signs of anti-tumor activity in multiple clinical investigations, paving the way for registrational quality phase 3 trials. In addition, a second article titled, "Therapeutic options for treatment of HPV-associated cancers - novel immunologic vaccines: ADXS11-001," has also been accepted for publication in GORP. It will showcase the potential for widespread application of axalimogene filolisbac across various types of HPV-associated cancers, placing it among the promising immunotherapeutic tools currently in clinical development.

09:04 EDT Salem Media announces acquisition of TradersCrux - Salem Media Group announced that it has acquired TradersCrux and its http://www.TradersCrux.com website. Salem, through its wholly-owned Eagle Financial Publications, currently publishes products and services written by investment experts Mark Skousen, Jim Woods, Nicholas Vardy, Bob Carlson, Bryan Perry and Mike Turner. Eagle also has several financial websites: www.StockInvestor.com, www.DividendInvestor.com and www.RetirementWatch.com. Roger Michalski, VP and publisher of Eagle, said, "TradersCrux is a highly complementary acquisition for Eagle. With Eagle's broad range of investing content and advice, we will be able to provide TradersCrux's website visitors and newsletter subscribers an enhanced choice of investing resources. At the same time, adding TradersCrux gives Eagle an expanded audience for marketing its products and for increasing its advertising revenue."

09:02 EDT Teledyne to acquire Scientific Systems; terms not disclosed - Teledyne Technologies announced that its subsidiary, Teledyne Instruments, Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire assets of Scientific Systems. Headquartered in State College, Pa., SSI manufactures precision components and specialized subassemblies used primarily in analytical and diagnostic instrumentation, such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography systems and specific medical devices. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

09:02 EDT Teradata acquires San Diego-based start-up StackIQ, terms not disclosed - Teradata announced the acquisition of StackIQ, developers of one of the industry's fastest bare metal software provisioning platforms which has managed the deployment of cloud and analytics software at millions of servers in data centers around the globe. The deal will leverage StackIQ's expertise in open source software and large cluster provisioning to simplify and automate the deployment of Teradata Everywhere. Offering customers the speed and flexibility to deploy Teradata solutions across hybrid cloud environments, allows them to innovate quickly and build new analytical applications for their business. In addition to technology assets, the acquisition also includes StackIQ's talented team of engineers, who will join Teradata's R&D organization to help accelerate the company's ability to automate software deployment in operations, engineering and end-user customer ecosystems. The terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed.

08:47 EDT CBS News, BBC News announce new editorial relationship - CBS News and BBC News announced a new editorial and newsgathering relationship that will significantly enhance the global reporting capabilities of both organizations. The announcement was made by CBS News President David Rhodes and BBC Director of News and Current Affairs James Harding. This new deal allows both organizations to share video, editorial content, and additional newsgathering resources in New York, London, Washington and around the world. The relationship between CBS News and BBC News will also allow for efficient planning of newsgathering resources to increase the content of each broadcaster's coverage of world events. "CBS News is completely committed to original reporting around the world - a commitment clearly shared by the BBC," said Rhodes. "There's no better partner to strengthen and extend our global coverage than BBC News. I look forward to working with James Harding as we increase the capabilities of both organizations." Sharing of content between CBS News and BBC News will begin immediately. Additional newsgathering components will be rolled out in the coming months.

08:45 EDT SPI Energy announces repurchase of EnSync shares - SPI Energy announced the buyback of preferred shares in EnSync. On August 30, 2016, SPI Solar, a subsidiary of the company, entered into an agreement with Melodious Investments and certain other party to sell to Melodious 8M shares of common stock, 7,012 shares of series C-1 convertible preferred stock and 4,341 shares of C-2 convertible preferred stock of EnSync for an aggregate price of $17M, which sale was completed in December 2016. Pursuant to the Melodious SPA, Melodious has the right to request SPI Solar to repurchase 7,012 shares of the C-1 preferred stock and 4,341 shares of the C-2 preferred stock under certain circumstances. In April 2017, Melodious exercised such right and requested that SPI Solar repurchase those preferred stocks at a per share price of $1,018.25, with a total repurchase consideration of $11.6M plus interest. The aforementioned repurchase was completed on July 10, 2017. Among the repurchase consideration, $8.5M was set off against the outstanding payment obligation of Melodious under the Melodious SPA with net payment by SPI Solar in the amount of $3.2M. After the completion of this repurchase, SPI Solar holds 28,048 shares of series C preferred stock of EnSync and a warrant to purchase 50M shares of common stock of EnSync, subject to certain conditions. Those preferred stocks and the warrant were originally acquired by SPI Solar from EnSync in July 2015.

08:39 EDT Great Panther Silver reports Q2 consolidated production up 6% - Great Panther Silver reported Q2 production results from its two wholly-owned Mexican silver mining operations: the Topia Mine in Durango and the Guanajuato Mine Complex, which includes the San Ignacio Mine. Q2 consolidated metal production increased 6% to a record 1,102,290 silver equivalent ounces; silver production increased 6% to 569,229 Ag oz; gold production decreased 8% to 5,543 Au oz; ore processed decreased 1%, with 98,576 tons milled; iQ2 metal production at the GMC was 2% lower than the previous quarter, and decreased by 8%, to 715,423 Ag eq oz vs. same quarter in the previous year. The decrease was attributed to lower tonnes milled from San Ignacio, combined with lower overall grades, mainly reflecting variability in the mineral resource. Topia achieved a record 386,867 Ag eq oz in metal production, reflecting an increase of 47% vs. 2Q16. This was attributed to a combination of higher tonnes milled, higher grades of feed material and improved recoveries.

08:37 EDT Solitario completes acquisition of Zazu Metals, interest in Lik Zinc project - Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp. and Zazu Metals Corporation announced that Solitario has completed its acquisition of Zazu Metals Corporation pursuant to the plan of arrangement previously announced on April 27. The Arrangement was approved by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on July 7, after overwhelming approval by both Solitario and Zazu shareholders on June 29. The combination creates a new zinc-focused company with two advanced high-grade zinc projects that more than triples the company's measured, indicated and inferred zinc equivalent resources. Solitario goes from a company with just over 361 million pounds of attributable zinc-equivalent in the measured and indicated resource category to one with over 2.76 billion pounds of attributable zinc-equivalent. The inferred resource category increases from approximately 970 million pounds of attributable zinc-equivalent to 1.7 billion pounds of attributable zinc-equivalent. Important upcoming news for Solitario will be the completion of the Bongara Zinc Project Preliminary Economic Assessment. The company engaged SRK Consulting in January to complete the PEA, which is being jointly funded by Solitario and its joint-venture partner Minera Milpo. Completion of the PEA remains on-track for the end of July 2017. Solitario welcomes Gil Atzmon and Joshua Crumb, to the Board of Directors of Solitario. Atzmon and Crumb are former members of Zazu's Board of Directors.

08:35 EDT Upland Software acquires Waterfall International - Upland Software has acquired Waterfall International, a cloud-based mobile messaging offering. Waterfall will be combined with Upland's Mobile Commons mobile messaging solution. The combined products are now called Upland Mobile Messaging. The purchase price paid for Waterfall was $24.4M in cash at closing, net of cash acquired, and a $1.5M cash holdback payable in 18 months. The foregoing excludes any potential future earn-out payments tied to additional performance-based goals. Upland expects the acquisition to generate annual revenue of approximately $9.0M, , subject to reductions for a deferred revenue discount as a result of GAAP purchase accounting. The acquisition will be immediately accretive to Upland's Adjusted EBITDA per share.

08:32 EDT Halozyme initiates multi-arm clinical trial evaluating PEGPH20 - Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO) announced the initiation of a multi-arm clinical trial evaluating PEGPH20, Halozyme's investigational new drug, in combination with atezolizumab, an anti-PDL1 cancer immunotherapy from Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (RHHBY). The combination will be tested in patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The study is sponsored by and funded by Genentech. The study is part of a clinical collaboration agreement announced by the companies last year to evaluate PEGPH20 and atezolizumab in up to eight tumor types, including pancreatic and gastric cancers. The Phase 1b/2, open-label, multicenter, randomized clinical trial is designed to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and preliminary anti-tumor activity of immunotherapy-based treatment combinations compared with the standard chemotherapy regimens. Patients will be enrolled regardless of their hyaluronan level, with analysis conducted retrospectively on a subset population of HA-high patients identified using the Ventana HA companion diagnostic assay. The study will be conducted in the U.S., as well as countries outside the U.S.

08:11 EDT Depomed intends to refinance existing $375M debt - Depomed announced that it is seeking to refinance its existing $375M principal amount of privately placed secured Senior Notes. The existing notes are due in 2022 and have a coupon of 9.75% over three-month LIBOR. The existing note financing was provided by Deerfield and Pharmakon Advisors, LP.

08:07 EDT REV Group, Meritor announce new standard supplier agreement - REV Group (REVG) and Meritor (MTOR) announced a new standard supplier agreement. Under the terms of the three-year agreement, REV Group will equip its bus, fire and specialty vehicles with Meritor's fully dressed axle assemblies. Training and support for end customers is available from DriveForce, Meritor's North America sales and service organization that offers solutions before, during and after the sale.

08:06 EDT Williams-Sonoma launches product collaboration with Giada De Laurentiis - Williams Sonoma is announcing a new product collaboration with Chef Giada De Laurentiis. Launching online today on williams-sonoma.com, in catalogs on July 18th and at Williams Sonoma stores nationwide on July 21st, the exclusive assortment of pasta sauces, seasonings and chef's tools "created by Giada were inspired by her Italian heritage and approachable cooking style. The new collection enables customers to experience the modern Italian cuisine of the beloved Food Network star and best-selling cookbook author."

08:05 EDT Pfizer says FDA aaccepts sNDA for Xeljaz for treatment of adult patients with UC - Pfizer announced that the supplemental New Drug Application for XELJANZ, an investigational oral treatment for adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, has been accepted for filing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has provided an anticipated Prescription Drug User Fee Act action date in March 2018 for the sNDA. The sNDA submission package included data from three pivotal Phase 3 studies from the Oral Clinical Trials for tofAcitinib in ulceratiVE colitis global clinical development program evaluating the safety and efficacy of tofacitinib in patients with moderately to severely active UC, and OCTAVE Open, the open label long-term extension study of tofacitinib in patients who completed or who had treatment failure in OCTAVE Sustain, or who were non-responders in OCTAVE Induction 1 or 2. Full results from OCTAVE Induction 1, OCTAVE Induction 2 and OCTAVE Sustain were published in The New England Journal of Medicine in May 2017.

08:03 EDT eBay, Shopify extend merchant reach with new sales channel - eBay Inc. (EBAY) and Shopify (SHOP) announced that Shopify merchants will soon be able to list and sell their products on eBay directly from their Shopify account. With the new integration, Shopify merchants will have the opportunity to surface their brand and products to a massive new audience of more than 169 million active eBay buyers. eBay shoppers will benefit from added selection and choice from potentially hundreds of thousands of Shopify merchants. The eBay sales channel is expected to be available in Fall 2017 for Shopify merchants selling in USD in the United States.

08:02 EDT JetBlue sees Q2 RASM up approximately 7% y/y - Second quarter revenue per available seat mile is expected to increase approximately 7% compared to the second quarter of 2016. Second quarter RASM was positively impacted by 1.25 points due to lower completion factor and incentive payments related to the JetBlue co-branded credit card.

08:02 EDT JetBlue reports preliminary June traffic up 3.2% y/y, capacity up 4% - JetBlue Airways reported its preliminary traffic results for June 2017. Traffic in June increased 3.2% from June 2016, on a capacity increase of 4.0%. Load factor for June 2017 was 85.5%, a decrease of 0.7 points from June 2016. JetBlue's preliminary completion factor was 97.5% and its on-time performance was 60.6%

08:00 EDT Justice Department closes tronc, Chicago Sun-Times probe - The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division issued the following statement yesterday after announcing the closing of its investigation into the possible acquisition of the Chicago Sun-Times by tronc Inc., the owner of the Chicago Tribune: "On May 15, 2017, the Antitrust Division announced that it was investigating the possible acquisition of the Chicago Sun-Times by tronc because the merger of the two daily newspapers in Chicago would raise significant antitrust concerns. The Division's investigation focused on whether the Chicago Sun-Times was a failing company under the Department of Justice/Federal Trade Commission Horizontal Merger Guidelines, which provide that a transaction is not likely to be anticompetitive if the assets of one of the firms would otherwise exit the market. One of the conditions required to be met in order to establish the "failing firm" defense is that the failing firm "has made unsuccessful good-faith efforts to elicit reasonable alternative offers that would keep its tangible and intangible assets in the relevant market and pose a less severe danger to competition than does the proposed merger." Horizontal Merger Guidelines at Section 11. Because this condition may not be satisfied by a confidential sale effort, a seller may choose to undertake a public sale process to augment its effort to elicit reasonable alternative offers. In this case, Wrapports LLC, the owner of the Chicago Sun-Times, launched a public sale process on May 16, 2017, which the Division monitored closely. This process resulted in Wrapports selling the Chicago Sun-Times to an alternative buyer, ST Acquisition Holdings LLC, which does not currently own an interest in any other newspaper. As a result, the Division will be closing its investigation of the possible acquisition of the Chicago Sun-Times by tronc."

07:47 EDT Paychex raises quarterly dividend 9% to 50c per share - Paychex announced that its board of directors approved a 4c increase in the company's regular quarterly dividend, an increase of 9%. The dividend will go from 40c per share to 50c per share and is payable on August 24 to shareholders of record on August 1. During the fiscal year ended May 31, Paychex returned more than $662M in dividends, or 81% of net income, to shareholders.

07:37 EDT Calgon Carbon responds to amendment to ballast water implementation schedule - Calgon Carbon Corporation announced its disappointment with an amendment made to the implementation schedule for ships to comply with the International Maritime Organization 2004 International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments that was agreed to at the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee. In summary, the amendment to the Convention implementation schedule generally calls for ships currently in service to comply with the D-2 standard of the Convention at their next International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate renewal following September 8, 2019, rather than immediately after Entry Into Force of the Convention on September 8 per the previously agreed to schedule. Newly built ships whose keels are laid after the Convention's September 8 Entry Into Force date are still required to be compliant with the D-2 standard upon their delivery. The D-2 standard requires ballast water management to restrict to a specified minimum the amount of viable, and potentially invasive organisms, allowed to be discharged. This approved amendment to the Convention implementation schedule is expected to be finally adopted at the next meeting of the IMO MEPC in April 2018. "We are disappointed that full compliance with regulations to protect the world's marine ecosystems have yet again been delayed. Every day, millions of gallons of untreated and potentially harmful ballast water are discharged into ports around the world - even though effective treatment solutions are ready and available," said Randy Dearth, chairman, president and CEO. "After the significant investments we've made over the last 7 years to develop innovative and cost-effective product solutions for eliminating the spread of invasive species, we remain well-positioned to immediately provide customers - including those who choose to install ahead of the D-2 standard regulatory mandate - with a range of products that deliver superior performance, at what we believe will be the lowest impact to vessel operation." The amendment to the Convention is not expected to impact the implementation schedule of the U.S. Coast Guard ballast water regulations. The company expects the amendment to the Convention implementation schedule to dampen the pace of near-term market development and demand growth for ballast water treatment systems.

07:36 EDT Kura Oncology enters collaboration agreement with Foundation Medicine - Kura Oncology (KURA) announced it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Foundation Medicine (FMI) to support patient enrollment for Kura's clinical program for tipifarnib in patients with relapsed and/or refractory HRAS mutant squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, or SCCHN. Through this collaboration, Foundation Medicine's SmartTrials Precision Enrollment program will contact physicians treating individuals across the U.S. diagnosed with SCCHN whose tumors harbor HRAS mutations as detected in the course of routine clinical care. The treating physicians will be contacted and informed of Kura's ongoing Phase 2 study of tipifarnib, including relevant details about the trial, including trial patient characteristics and investigational centers, to assist the physician in evaluating tipifarnib as a potential treatment option.

07:33 EDT Abbott and Bigfoot Biomedical partner in diabetes technology development - Abbott and Bigfoot Biomedical have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize diabetes management systems, integrating Abbott's FreeStyle Libre glucose sensing technologyi with Bigfoot's insulin delivery solutions in the U.S. Abbott will provide Bigfoot with the next generation of its FreeStyle Libre glucose sensing technology. Bigfoot will utilize this technology in the development of personalized systems intended to optimize insulin delivery without the need for fingerstick calibration of a glucose sensor. Bigfoot anticipates initiating a pivotal trial incorporating FreeStyle Libre technology in 2018 at clinical research sites across the U.S. In the U.S., the FreeStyle Libre system is currently pending approval by the FDA.

07:31 EDT Immune Pharmaceuticals files worldwide patent protecting use of Ceplene in AML - Cytovia, the oncology subsidiary of Immune Pharmaceuticals, announced the filing of a patent protecting the use of Ceplene in hematologic cancers. The new patent is based on favorable clinical results in patients with acute myeloid leukemia who had persistent cancer cells in their bone marrow. The patent aims to protect the use of Ceplene in forms of cancer where malignant cells may harbor a mutated oncogene, NPM1mut. These forms of cancer include AML, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, acute promyelocytic leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. In Cytovia's proprietary Re:Mission phase IV trial in AML, adult patients in complete remission received Ceplene and low-dose IL-2 to prevent relapse. At onset of treatment with Ceplene/IL-2, nine patients had persistent NPM1mut cancer cells in bone marrow. Five of these 9 patients remained relapse-free, and 6/9 patients survived for more than 2 years.

07:06 EDT CytoSorbents awarded $1M contract for universal plasma development - CytoSorbents has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer Phase II contract, valued at a total of $999,070 over two years, to continue development of blood purification technologies designed to enable "universal" plasma. CytoSorbents will collaborate with researchers at Penn State University on this project.

07:05 EDT JA Solar provides details of fire accident at Yangzhou facility - JA Solar provided details of a fire accident that occurred at the company's cell facility in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China. The fire broke out at around 1:32 AM Beijing time on July 13, 2017 at Fab 7 of JA Solar's cell facility in Yangzhou. The fire was completely put out by firefighters at around 6:00 AM and there were no casualties or injuries in the incident. The equipment being affected were the old production lines installed in 2009 and had been scheduled for replacement within one year. The company expects the interruption of the cell production to be minimum. Based on the company's estimates, the incident impacted approximately 6% of the company's total cell production capacity. JA Solar maintains insurance coverage for all its production equipment and has started the process to make insurance claims associated with the incident. The cause of the fire at the Yangzhou facility remains under investigation.

07:03 EDT Enservco appoints Tucker Franciscus as CFO - Enservco announced the appointment of Tucker Franciscus as CFO. Franciscus replaces Bob Devers, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. He was most recently CFO of Tracker Resource Development III, a domestic oil and gas exploration and development company.

07:01 EDT Gilead's marketing application for HIV infection treatment validated by EMA - Gilead Sciences' Marketing Authorization Application for an investigational, once-daily single tablet regimen containing bictegravir, a novel investigational integrase strand transfer inhibitor, and emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults has been fully validated and is now under evaluation by the European Medicines Agency. BIC/FTC/TAF has demonstrated high rates of virologic suppression and no treatment-emergent resistance through 48 weeks in Phase 3 clinical trials among treatment-naive adult patients and among virologically suppressed adult patients who switched regimens. The MAA for BIC/FTC/TAF is supported by data from four Phase 3 studies in which the regimen met its primary objective of non-inferiority at 48 weeks. The BIC/FTC/TAF filing will be reviewed by the EMA under the centralized licensing procedure for all 28 member states of the European Union. Gilead submitted a New Drug Application for BIC/FTC/TAF in the U.S. on June 12. Bictegravir in combination with FTC/TAF as a single tablet regimen is an investigational treatment that has not been determined to be safe or efficacious and is not approved anywhere globally.

06:51 EDT Rexford Industrial acquires three properties for $71.5M, sells 1 for $18.7M - Rexford Industrial announced the acquisition of three industrial properties in three separate transactions for a total of approximately $71.5M. Additionally, the company announced the disposition of an industrial property for approximately $18.7M. Proceeds from the disposition were reinvested into a new acquisition, with the balance of the purchases funded utilizing cash on hand and the company's line of credit.

06:44 EDT Target up 5% after updating Q2 guidance - In pre-market trading, shares are up 5.17% to $53.50.

06:36 EDT Target CEO says has seen 'broad-based improvement in traffic' - "Target's recent progress reinforces our confidence and commitment to our strategy as we build an even better Target for tomorrow. Following better-than-expected results in the first quarter, we've seen additional, broad-based improvement in traffic and category sales trends in the second quarter, despite continued challenges in the competitive environment" said Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target. "Our team is energized and focused on enhancing and modernizing the Target shopping experience, and our guests are responding. The launch of Cloud Island in May was a success, and our team will be rolling out four more exclusive brands across Home and Apparel in the next few months, in support of our plan to launch 12 new brands by the end of 2018. We are also pleased with initial results of the Twin Cities rollout of Target Restock, providing next-day delivery of a shopping-cart-sized shipment from an assortment of more than 10,000 essential items."

06:32 EDT Magellan Health to acquire Senior Whole Health for about $400M in cash - Magellan Health announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Senior Whole Health, a healthcare company focused on serving complex, high-risk populations, providing both Medicare and Medicaid dual-eligible benefits to more than 22,000 members in Massachusetts and New York. The acquisition will provide Magellan with an opportunity to expand into the Massachusetts Senior Care Options program, as well as further presence in New York City's managed long-term care market. Magellan Health plans to leverage SWH's sound, culturally competent clinical model and expertise as it seeks continued expansion in managed long-term services and supports. As of August 1, Magellan will operate specialized managed care plans focused on complex populations in three states, including Florida, New York and Virginia. Under the terms of the agreement, Magellan will acquire SWH for approximately $400M cash, inclusive of a $10M contingent payment. Magellan anticipates paying the purchase price from the proceeds of new debt offerings. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2018 and is subject to certain state and federal regulatory approvals, as well as standard closing conditions and customary approvals required under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Magellan expects full year 2017 revenue for SWH of approximately $1B and segment profit of approximately $60M. Management will provide additional details about this acquisition during its second quarter earnings call, scheduled for July 28.

06:31 EDT Performant Financial CFO takes medical leave of absence - Performant Financial CFO Hakan Orvell has taken a leave of absence, effective immediately, due to a health condition. During the leave of absence, CEO Lisa Im and Chief Accounting Officer Ian Johnston will assume Orvell's management duties while remaining in their current positions.

06:09 EDT GDS Holdings to develop new data center campus in Shanghai - GDS Holdings has commenced development of a new data center campus in Shanghai. The new campus, located at a greenfield site 5 kilometers from the company's flagship data center campus in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, will have a total IT capacity of 14,142 sqm. The first of two data centers will enter service in 2H18. China's leading online travel company, a new customer for GDS, has pre-committed to 45.3% of the capacity of SH6. A fourth and final data center on the existing campus, SH4, will enter service at the end of 2017.

06:06 EDT Yandex and Uber to combine businesses in Russia and neighboring countries - Yandex and Uber are combining their ridesharing businesses in Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus and Georgia into a new company. Uber will also contribute its UberEATS business in the region to NewCo. In addition, Uber has agreed to invest $225M and Yandex has agreed to invest $100M into NewCo, valuing it at $3.725B on a post-money basis. After these investments, and subject to certain adjustments at closing, NewCo will be owned approximately 59.3% by Yandex, 36.6% by Uber, and 4.1% by employees of the company, on a fully diluted basis. Tigran Khudaverdyan, currently the CEO of Yandex.Taxi, will become the CEO of the combined business. After the closing of the transaction, consumers will be able to use both Yandex and Uber apps while the driver-side apps will be integrated. The transaction is expected to close in Q4.

06:04 EDT Radware and Nokia partnering for DDoS attack detection and mitigation - Radware's (RDWR) OEM agreement with Nokia (NOK) now includes Radware's Attack Mitigation products. Through this partnership, Nokia resells Radware's full suite of products and solutions to create DDoS attack mitigation offerings to carriers and telco cloud providers. Nokia will leverage Radware products to identify and mitigate complex, application-layer DDoS attacks that require comprehensive analysis to detect and mitigate.

05:51 EDT Vertex announces reimbursement agrement in Italy for Orkambi - Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced that the Italian Medicines Agency has agreed to reimburse Orkambi, the first medicine to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, or CF, in people ages 12 and older who have two copies of the F508del mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, or CFTR, gene. The agreement is published online in the Italian Official Gazette. Regional authorities will now begin implementation to provide the hundreds of eligible patients in Italy access to this important medicine. Recent European pricing and reimbursement agreements have enabled broad access to Orkambi for thousands of eligible patients in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Luxembourg. Negotiations continue in a number of other countries where CF is prevalent, including France and the United Kingdom.

05:48 EDT Biohaven Pharmaceutical receives notice of allowance from USPTO - Biohaven Pharmaceutical announced that the company has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its patent application number 14/385551, which covers certain prodrugs of the glutamate modulating agent riluzole. The patent application also covers pharmaceutical compositions containing the prodrugs and methods of treating cancer, including melanoma. Biohaven's glutamate modulating prodrugs are being studied in clinical trials and preclinical studies for the treatment of patients with a number of severe diseases, including forms of ataxia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, and other neurologic diseases.