Stockwinners Market Radar for February 19, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:41 EDT technical testing - technical testing

20:03 EDT On The Fly: Top five weekend stock stories - Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. AnaptysBio (ANAB) presented final data from its Phase IIa trial of ANB020 in 12 mod-to-severe adult atopic dermatitis patients. Jefferies analyst Biren Amin raised his price target on the shares to $145 from $101, noting that sustained efficacy on a single dose of '020 was seen up to day 78 at EASI-50 in 75% of patients, comparable to Phase II data from Sanofi (SNY) and Regeneron (REGN) competitor Dupixent. ANB020 beats if you account for single dose versus Q2 weeks of Dupi, the analyst contended. 2. Snap (SNAP) CEO Evan Spiegel sold about 2.7M shares of stock last week, worth over $50M, which is his first personal stock sale since the company went public, according to Recode. The sale was a small amount of the executive's over holdings, a little more than 1%, the report added. 3. General Electric (GE) lost $6B in 2017 after a series of charges and impairments, cut its dividend by 50%, and its accounting is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but lately it has been attracting fresh attention from value-oriented investors, Andrew Bary wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. Nonetheless, the stock is not a bargain and could drop another 10% or more, he contended. 4. Disney (DIS) and Marvel Studios' "Black Panther" won the President's Day box office with a record-breaking estimate of $201.8M for the three days and $235M for the four-day holiday frame. Featuring a virtually all-black cast, the movie secured the fifth-biggest domestic opening of all time, surpassing all expectations. The superhero film scored 97% from Rotten Tomatoes and got an A+ CinemaScore from movie audiences. 5. Alphabet (GOOG; GOOGL), Lam Research (LRCX), Citigroup (C), Cummins (CMI), JPMorgan (JPM), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Walmart (WMT), Pfizer (PFE), Cisco (CSCO), AbbVie (ABBV), PepsiCo (PEP), 3M (MMM), Bristol-Myers (BMY), United Technologies (UTX), Texas Instruments (TXN), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), and Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV) saw positive mentions in Barron's.

19:04 EDT Federal Signal declares dividend of 7c per share - The Board of Directors of Federal Signal declared a quarterly cash dividend of 7c per share on its common stock. The dividend is payable on March 19, 2018 to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 5, 2018.

18:38 EDT PRGX Global announces appointment of new Chief Product Officer - PRGX Global announced that Mark Morel has been named Chief Product Officer, responsible for overseeing all aspects of product management and ultimately ensuring PRGX's market leadership in Recovery Audit, Supplier Information Management and Source-to-Pay Analytics.

18:29 EDT Shaun York to be Chief Operating Officer for Liberty Tax Service - Liberty Tax, the parent company of Liberty Tax Service, announced today that Shaun York will become the company's Chief Operating Officer effective immediately.

18:17 EDT Emerge Energy Services responds to industry-wide railroad service issues - Emerge Energy Services (EMES) announced that its subsidiary Superior Silica Sands has issued a response to the recent announcements made by leading oilfield service companies regarding railroad service issues. As noted by these leading oilfield service companies, harsh weather conditions and the continued surge in frac sand demand are straining railroad networks across the country, particularly the Canadian National Railway (CNI). Superior Silica Sands say: "We want to provide an update regarding the Canadian National Railway system-wide service outage that has affected some outbound shipments and to make you aware of some measures Superior Silica Sands has already implemented to maximize our shipping flexibility in the rare event of a rail outage. Please note that our latest communications from the Canadian National Railway indicate that operations have begun to resume and we currently have activity on a portion of outbound Canadian National Railway shipments; our Northern White infrastructure utilizes a triangle of three closely located dry plants in Wisconsin. This strategic layout allows for rail shipment flexibility that is unique to Superior Silica Sands in that it gives us access to multiple railways, including the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern and Santa Fe rail lines; Superior Silica Sands proactively arranged a delivery option on BNSF that now gives us access to ship direct via three Class 1 rail carriers; we are currently increasing unit train shipments on the BNSF; Superior Silica Sands has a strong trucking network in Wisconsin to transport loads reliably and at short notice to our various loadouts. We have no shortage of trucks or drivers."

18:07 EDT JM announces Eric Cremer as New Chief Human Resources Officer - Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, announced that Eric Cremer is the company's new Chief Human Resources Officer, effective immediately.

17:40 EDT Qualcomm, Samsung achieve multi-vendor 5G NR interoperability on path to trials - KT Corporation, Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm (QCOM), and Samsung Electronics (SSNLF), announce the successful completion of multi-vendor 5G NR interoperable testing compliant with the recently completed 3GPP Release-15 Non-Standalone 5G NR global standard. Following the guidelines of KT Corporation, the live, over-the-air interoperable testing demonstrated data connections operating in 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands, utilizing pre-commercial 5G NR base stations from Samsung and 5G NR UE prototypes from Qualcomm Technologies. The achievement is a significant milestone on the path to standard-compliant mobile 5G NR trials starting in 2018, leading to commercial 5G NR network deployments and multimode smartphone launches anticipated in 2019.

16:02 EDT Sun Hydraulics announces acquisition of Faster Group - Sun Hydraulics announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the shares of Faster Group from Capvis Equity IV LP, a fund advised by the Swiss private equity firm Capvis Equity Partners AG, and other co-investors for approximately $531M in cash. The acquisition will be funded with approximately $161M of cash on hand and $370M drawn against the company's revolving credit facility, including exercise of the revolver's accordion. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018 and is subject to typical closing conditions.

15:58 EDT Southwest Cargo team to begin shipping internationally in spring 2018 - Southwest Airlines announced its intention to begin shipping cargo to select international destinations beginning in May 2018, subject to requisite government approvals. The first international destinations Southwest Airlines Cargo expects to serve are Mexico City, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas/Los Cabos, and Puerto Vallarta with more international destinations planned for 2018.

15:51 EDT Cubic announces semiannual dividend - Cubic announced that its Board of Directors approved a regular semiannual dividend of $0.135 cents per share, payable on March 12, 2018, to shareholders of record on March 1, 2018. Cubic has consistently paid cash dividends to its shareholders since 1971.

13:48 EDT Chicago Rivet & Machine announces increase in quarterly cash dividend - On February 19, 2018 the Board of Directors of Chicago Rivet & Machine approved a 5% increase in the quarterly cash dividend to 21c per share. The next dividend will be payable March 20, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 5, 2018. At the same meeting, the Board of Directors also declared an extra dividend of 30c per share, payable March 20, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 5, 2018.

13:43 EDT Total signs definitive agreements with Borealis, NOVA Chemicals to form JV - Total, Borealis and NOVA Chemicals announced that affiliates of the three companies have signed definitive agreements to form a joint venture in petrochemicals on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The joint venture - in which Total will own 50% and Novealis Holdings, a joint venture between Borealis and NOVA Chemicals, will own the remaining 50% - will commence subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals. The joint venture will include the under-construction 1 Mt/y ethane steam cracker in Port Arthur, Texas; Total's existing polyethylene 400 kt/y facility in Bayport, Texas; a new 625 kt/y Borstar polyethylene unit at Total's Bayport, Texas, site, following a decision on the outcome of an acceptable EPC contract. As announced in March 2017, the new $1.7B ethane steam cracker is being built alongside Total's Port Arthur refinery and Total/BASF existing steam cracker. The project, which is scheduled to start up in 2020, will create around 1,500 jobs during peak engineering and construction activity.

13:36 EDT Sinclair announces renewals of NBC affiliation agreements - Sinclair Broadcast (SBGI) announced that the company and NBC (CMCSA; CMCSK) have entered into a multi-year renewal of the NBC affiliations in three Sinclair markets, KSNV in Las Vegas NV, WJAC in Johnstown PA, and WTOV in Wheeling WV. The NBC affiliation was also renewed by Cunningham Broadcasting Group, the licensee of KRNV, a station in Reno, NV that Sinclair provides sales and other services to under a joint sales agreement. The four renewed markets serve approximately 1.4M households. The companies have previously agreed to TV Everywhere digital rights and a framework for Sinclair's NBC affiliated stations to opt into OTT deals.

13:24 EDT Tony Fassino appointed vice president of Caterpillar's BCP division - Caterpillar announced that its board of directors has appointed Tony Fassino a company vice president. Fassino will have responsibility for leading Caterpillar's Building Construction Products Division. BCP is a global organization responsible for designing, manufacturing and supporting Caterpillar's line of small, versatile construction equipment and work tools. Fassino replaces Ken Hoefling, who recently departed Caterpillar to pursue other opportunities. Tony Fassino has been named vice president of Caterpillar's Building Construction Products Division effective March 1, 2018.

13:18 EDT Worthington extends existing $500M revolving credit facility - Worthington Industries (WOR) announced that it has extended its existing five-year, revolving credit facility. The existing $500M facility, which was set to mature on April 23, 2020, has been amended and extended until February 16, 2023. Borrowings under the amended credit facility bear interest based on a credit ratings grid and currently equals the applicable LIBOR rate plus 1.25%. The amended credit facility also contains an accordion feature that would allow it to expand by an additional $300M from new and existing lenders on the same terms and conditions as the existing commitments. Following the amendment, the company currently has $536.8M in combined availability under the credit facility and the company's $50M accounts receivable securitization program. The revolving credit facility is with a consortium of banks led by JPMorgan (JPM) and PNC (PNC).

13:11 EDT Treatment with Eli Lilly Taltz resulted in improvement in genital psoriasis - Eli Lilly announced that patients with moderate-to-severe genital psoriasis treated with Taltz reported a greater decrease in the impact of their condition on sexual activity compared to placebo after 12 weeks of treatment. In the study, 149 patients with moderate-to-severe genital psoriasis were randomized to receive Taltz or placebo. The impact of genital psoriasis on sexual activity was measured at 12 weeks by pre-specified patient-reported outcomes, including the Genital Psoriasis Sexual Impact Scale, which is composed of the Sexual Activity Avoidance and Impact of Sexual Activity on Genital Psoriasis Symptoms subscales. Patient-reported outcomes were also measured by the Sexual Frequency Questionnaire item 2, evaluating the impact of genital psoriasis on the frequency of sexual activity, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index item 9, evaluating the impact of skin symptoms on sexual difficulties. The most common adverse events observed in patients treated with Taltz in this study were upper respiratory tract infections, injection-site reactions, headache, oropharyngeal pain and pruritus. The safety outcomes were consistent with the overall safety profile of Taltz.

13:04 EDT Tuberculosis vaccine trial results offer potential for new BCG strategies - Aeras announced results from an innovative clinical trial that provides encouraging new evidence that Tuberculosis vaccines could prevent sustained infections in high-risk adolescents. In a prevention-of-infection Phase 2 trial conducted in South Africa, revaccination with the Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccine significantly reduced sustained TB infections in adolescents. An experimental vaccine candidate, H4:IC31, also reduced sustained infections, although not at statistically significant levels. However, the trend observed for H4:IC31 is the first time a subunit vaccine has shown any indication of ability to protect against TB infection or disease in humans. TB infections that developed during the study were determined using a QuantiFERON-TB Gold in Tube test, a commercially available blood test that helps diagnose TB infections. In the trial, individuals who tested negative for QFT-GIT were considered to not have a TB infection. The trial measured the rate by which individuals converted to QFT-GIT positive, implying evidence of TB infection. Those individuals who tested QFT-GIT positive consecutively over 6 months were considered to have a sustained infection. The study evaluated H4:IC31 vaccination and BCG revaccination for safety, immunogenicity and the ability to prevent initial and sustained TB infections among healthy adolescents in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. H4:IC31 is an investigative subunit vaccine candidate being developed jointly by Aeras and Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines business of Sanofi, and the Statens Serum Institut. BCG is the only licensed tuberculosis vaccine available globally.

10:43 EDT Evolus announces presentation of prabotulinumtoxinA 900 kilodalton Phase 3 data - Evolus announced the presentation of data from the Phase III comparative clinical trial of its investigational prabotulinumtoxinA 900 kilodalton neuromodulator at the American Academy of Dermatology meeting. EVB-003 was a 150-day, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, active- and placebo-controlled, single-dose Phase III non-inferiority study. Adults aged 18 or older with moderate to severe glabellar lines at maximum frown, as assessed by the investigator on the 4-point Glabellar Line Scale, were enrolled provided that they also felt their glabellar lines had an important psychological impact. Randomization was 5:5:1 to receive a single treatment of 20 U prabotulinumtoxinA, 20 U onabotulinumtoxinA or placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint was measured on Day 30 and a responder was defined as a GLS score of 0 or 1 at maximum frown as assessed by the investigator. A total of 540 were enrolled: 245 received prabotulinumtoxinA; 246 received onabotulinumtoxinA; and 49 received placebo. The study met the primary endpoint of non-inferiority at Day 30 with responder rates of 87.2% in the prabotulinumtoxinA group, 82.8% in the onabotulinumtoxinA group, and 4.2% in the placebo group. The adverse event assessed as study-drug related was 15.5%, 14.6% and 4.1% in the prabotulinumtoxinA, onabotulinumtoxinA and placebo groups, respectively. There were no serious adverse events that were assessed as study-drug related.

08:26 EDT AnaptysBio presents updated Phase 2 data for ANB020 in atopic dermatitis - AnaptysBio announced updated data from the company's Phase 2a trial of ANB020, its wholly-owned anti-IL-33 antibody program, in adult patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. The Phase 2a proof-of-concept trial assessed ANB020 efficacy and safety in 12 moderate-to-severe adult atopic dermatitis patients. The primary efficacy objective of this study was to determine the percentage of patients achieving 50% improvement in their Eczema Area Severity Index score relative to enrollment baseline on day 29 post-ANB020 administration. Each patient was dosed with placebo 14 days following enrollment, and subsequently administered a single 300mg intravenous dose of ANB020 one week after placebo.Key observations included: ANB020 was efficacious in all 12 patients enrolled in this trial with each patient achieving at least EASI-50 on or before day 57 post-ANB020 administration; Rapid clinical response was observed by day 15 post-ANB020 administration with nine of 12 patients achieving EASI-50, of which three patients also achieved EASI score improvement of 75 percent relative to baseline; Day 29 results exceeded the primary efficacy objective of the trial with 10 of 12 patients achieving EASI-50, of which four patients also achieved EASI-75; Efficacy was sustained through day 140 following single dose administration of ANB020 with five of 12 patients (42 percent) achieving EASI-50, of which three patients (25%) also achieved EASI-75; ANB020 efficacy was not limited by disease severity as ANB020 was similarly efficacious in the seven of 12 enrolled patients treated with systemic immuno-modulators pre-study, which exhibited an average EASI baseline score of 36 upon enrollment, relative to the remaining five of 12 enrolled patients that did not require systemic immuno-modulators pre-study and exhibited an average EASI baseline score of 27; ANB020 was generally well-tolerated by all patients and no drug-related safety signals were observed. The most frequent adverse events reported were dizziness in 17% of patients post-placebo and headache in 25% of patients post-ANB020 administration. A single serious adverse event of depression was reported on Day 140 post-ANB020 administration, which was consistent with the patient's pre-trial history of depression and was deemed not drug-related. During the first half of 2018, AnaptysBio plans to initiate a Phase 2b randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 200-300 adult patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis to evaluate various dose levels and dosing frequencies of subcutaneously-administered ANB020, with data expected in 2019.