Stockwinners Market Radar for September 25, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

21:11 EDT Agilent acquires ACEA Bioscience for $250M in cash - Agilent Technologie announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-owned ACEA Biosciences Inc. , a developer of cutting-edge cell analysis instruments for life science research and clinical diagnostics, for $250M in cash. Since its inception in 2002, ACEA has launched two ground-breaking, highly differentiated platforms. ACEA is revolutionizing the field of flow cytometry with its high-performance, customizable line of NovoCyte benchtop flow cytometers. ACEA's xCELLigence instruments enable label-free, real-time monitoring of cell growth, cell function, and cellular responses to a variety of treatments, providing scientists information-rich cellular assays. ACEA also has a CFDA approved and CE-IVD labelled cytometer configuration. ACEA's clinical flow cytometer, currently commercialized primarily in China, brings a unique opportunity with Agilent's Reagent Partnership business within Agilent's Diagnostics and Genomics Group which provides reagents for flow cytometry. ACEA instruments are used worldwide in both academia and industry across a wide range of life science applications from basic research to clinical diagnostics including preclinical drug discovery and development, toxicology & safety pharmacology, and various disease studies.

20:01 EDT Stifel Financial and Everbright Sun Hung Kai establish strategic partnership - Stifel Financial and Hong Kong's Everbright Sun Hung Kai Company Limited announced a strategic partnership designed to help U.S. and Chinese clients with advisory and capital markets needs across global markets. The arrangement, which extends to all Stifel-owned companies, will focus on cross-border cooperation on everything from private capital raising, to new issue listings, and mergers and acquisitions.

19:49 EDT Centerbridge Capital Partners lowers stake in Skyline to 11.7% from 18.6%

19:19 EDT CBS names Richard Parsons interim chairman - Richard Parsons has been named CBS Corporation's interim chairman of the board of directors, the company announced. The board unanimously approved the appointment, which was recommended by the Board's Nominating and Governance Committee. The company also announced that Bruce Gordon and William Cohen, who have served on the board of directors since CBS became a stand-alone public company in 2006, have decided to step down from their posts to focus on other personal and professional priorities.

18:30 EDT S&P announces changes to S&P 400, 500, 600 indices - S&P Dow Jones Indices will make the following changes to the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600: S&P MidCap 400 constituent Rollins (ROL) will replace Andeavor (ANDV) in the S&P 500, S&P SmallCap 600 constituent Inogen (INGN) will replace Rollins in the S&P MidCap 400, and Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA) will replace Inogen in the S&P SmallCap 600 prior to the open of trading on Monday, October 1. S&P 500 constituent Marathon Petroleum (MPC) is acquiring Andeavor in a deal expected to close on or about that date pending final conditions. Garrett Motion (GTX) will replace Aceto (ACET) in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the open of trading on Tuesday, October 2. S&P 100 & 500 constituent Honeywell International (HON) is spinning-off Garrett Motion to shareholders in a deal expected to be completed on October 1 pending final conditions. Post spin-off, Honeywell will remain in the S&P 100 and 500. Aceto is ranked near the bottom of the S&P SmallCap 600 and is no longer representative of the small-cap market space.

18:12 EDT Tutor Perini awarded $82M aircraft maintenance contract - Tutor Perin announced that its subsidiary, Black Construction Corp., has been awarded a fixed-price contract valued at approximately $82M by the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command for the design and construction of an aircraft maintenance facility and a corrosion control hangar with supporting facilities at Joint Region Marianas, Andersen Air Force Base. The scope of work includes the design and construction of a low-rise airframes shop facility with slab-on-grade shallow foundation, reinforced concrete walls and roof, including windows, mechanical, and electrical systems appropriate to Guam earthquake and environmental conditions; and a high-bay corrosion control hangar consisting of two bays: a planned maintenance interval bay and a corrosion control bay. Work will be performed in Yigo, Guam, and is expected to be completed by January 2021. The contract value will be included in the Company's third quarter 2018 backlog.

17:48 EDT Nike says Jordan brand 'incredibly strong' in China - Says relationship with consumers is "strong" in China.

17:43 EDT Community Health reaches settlement pact with DOJ over HMA probe - Community Health Systems announced that it has reached a global resolution and settlement agreements ending the U.S. Department of Justice investigation into conduct by Health Management Associates, Inc. and its affiliated entities reflected in qui tam lawsuits that were initiated and pending, and known to the Company, before HMA was acquired by merger in January 2014. The settlement concludes the government's investigations into whether HMA and its affiliated hospitals billed Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE for certain inpatient admissions following emergency room visits between January 2008 and December 2012 that should have been billed as outpatient or observation cases. The settlement also resolves allegations of Stark and Anti-Kickback Act violations at certain HMA affiliated hospitals. In reaching the settlement, the government noted that all conduct reviewed in its investigation pre-dated the HMA acquisition, and that following the acquisition, Community Health Systems engaged in remedial measures, including removing the HMA Board of Directors and senior executives and integrating the HMA affiliated hospitals into Community Health System's existing compliance program. The settlement includes a Non-Prosecution Agreement with HMA in which the government agreed not to bring criminal charges against HMA, as long as HMA and the Company abide by the provisions of the global settlement, and also includes a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud by Carlisle HMA, LLC, the HMA affiliated entity that formerly operated Carlisle Regional Medical Center. The global settlement includes a total payment of $262M, which is expected to be paid in October 2018. As part of the accounting for the HMA acquisition by merger, the Company established a liability related to the legal claims underlying the contingent value right that was issued to HMA shareholders as part of the merger consideration. This liability represented the Company's best estimate of fair value of the potential future payments associated with the legal matters assumed in the HMA merger. This estimate has accordingly been updated over time as additional facts and circumstances have become known. Based on the settlement terms and calculation of any payment as defined in the CVR agreement, the Company anticipates that no distribution will be owed to CVR holders. Under the terms of the global settlement, the Company's existing corporate integrity agreement has been amended and extended. The extension begins immediately and effectively adds two years to the existing CIA, with the amended CIA now running through 2021.

17:38 EDT KB Home CEO sees slower sales in higher priced homes - Comments from Q3 earnings call Q/A.

17:32 EDT Garrett Motion to replace Aceto in S&P 600 at open on October 2 - Honeywell (HON) is spinning-off Garrett Motion (GTX) to shareholders in a deal expected to be completed on October 1 pending final conditions. Post spin-off, Honeywell will remain in the S&P 100 and 500. Aceto is ranked near the bottom of the S&P SmallCap 600 and is no longer representative of the small-cap market space.

17:25 EDT Inogen to replace Rollins in S&P 400 at open on October 1

17:25 EDT Vanda Pharmaceuticals to replace Inogen in S&P 600 at open on October 1

17:20 EDT KB Home sees FY18 housing revenue of $4.6B, low end of prior $4.6B-$4.8B view - Sees FY18 gross margin of about 18%, high end of prior range.

17:20 EDT Rollins to replace Andeavor in S&P 500 at open on October 1 - S&P 500 constituent Marathon Petroleum (MPC) is acquiring Andeavor (ANDV) in a deal expected to close on or about that date pending final conditions.

17:15 EDT Nike says apparel saw 11% growth in Q1 - Says apparel saw 11% growth in Q1. Says "excited" about LeBron James' move to the Los Angeles Lakers. Says sees growth opportunities in women's apparel. Says will continue to grow shoe segment in Mexico, Brazil, and other parts of South America next quarter. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

17:12 EDT Raytheon awarded $1.53B U.S. Army contract modification - Raytheon was awarded a $1,528,780,740 modification to Foreign Military Sales (Poland) contract W31P4Q-15-C-0022 for Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target (PATRIOT). Work will be performed in Andover, Massachusetts; White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; and Merrimack, New Hampshire, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2022.

17:06 EDT KB Home says absorption rate of over 4 per month was first in many years for Q3

17:03 EDT Tenaris to acquire 47.79% stake in Saudi Steel Pipe Company - Tenaris S.A. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire from a private group 47.79% of the shares of Saudi Steel Pipe Company, a welded steel pipes producer listed on the Saudi stock market, for an aggregate price of $144M. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including approval by the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia, and other customary conditions and is expected to close in Q1 of 2019.

16:52 EDT AbbVie approved for VENCLEXTAR/Rituximab leukemia treatment in Canada - AbbVie announced Health Canada has issued a Notice of Compliance for VENCLEXTA in combination with rituximab for the treatment of adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least one prior therapy. The approval is based on the MURANO Phase 3 clinical trial data which demonstrated a significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS, the time on treatment without disease progression or death) for relapsed/refractory (R/R) CLL patients, reducing the risk of disease progression or death by 81 percent when compared to bendamustine in combination with rituximab, a standard of care chemoimmunotherapy regimen. Clinical trial patients who received VENCLEXTA plus rituximab achieved an overall response rate of 92% and those who received the bendamustine plus rituximab regimen achieved an ORR of 72%. The most common adverse reactions, greater than or equal to 20%, with a 5% higher frequency reported with VENCLEXTA in combination with rituximab were neutropenia, diarrhea and upper respiratory tract infection.

16:47 EDT VAALCO Energy announces 10-year extension of Etame exploration area - VAALCO Energ through its wholly owned subsidiary, VAALCO Gabon S.A. and the other Etame Participating Interest owners announced the receipt of the Presidential Decree approving the successful execution of an Amendment to the Etame Marin Production Sharing Contract in Gabon between the Government of Gabon and the Etame Participating Interest owners. The Amendment provides for a 10-year extension of the three Exclusive Exploitation Areas under the PSC. VAALCO is the Operator with a 33.575% Participating Interest under the terms of the applicable Joint Operating Agreement. The remaining owners of Participating Interests under the Joint Operating Agreement are Addax Petroleum Etame, Inc. (33.900%), Sasol Gabon S.A. (30.000%), and PetroEnergy Resources Corp. (2.525%).

16:37 EDT International Game partners with William Hill on U.S. lotteries - IGT Global Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Game Technology and William Hill U.S., a subsidiary of William Hill PLC announced that they have entered into a multi-year agreement to offer U.S. lotteries a full service solution for sports betting. Together, the companies are able to offer U.S. lotteries a fully-managed solution to meet all their current and future needs in sports betting, both maximizing revenues to each state and ensuring a reliable, attractive, and innovative service for players. This new partnership seeks to build upon the already successful pairing between the companies which resulted in IGT being awarded the contract to run sports betting for the Rhode Island Lottery together with William Hill. Under the terms of the partnership, the companies will jointly consider all future sports betting opportunities and bid requests from U.S. lotteries on a mutually exclusive basis. Commercial terms between the partners were not disclosed. The combined offer to U.S. lotteries under the new agreement will comprise IGT's PlayShot end-to-end sports betting platform for land-based, retail, online, and mobile with William Hill's operational, trading, player management, and strategic expertise in U.S. sports books. IGT's PlayShot sports betting platform is already live in four U.S. states as a dedicated B2B solution for sportsbook operators. William Hill operates sports books under its own or partner brands or provides risk management services in all five states where sports betting is active today.

16:33 EDT Ryder CFO Art Garcia to retire in April 2019 - Ryder announced that Art Garcia, executive VP and CFO, will retire from the company on April 30, 2019. Garcia has had a 20-year career with Ryder and has been in the role of CFO since 2010. Ryder will immediately launch a search for a new CFO. Garcia will continue in his role until a successor is named, and thereafter, he will serve as a special advisor to the CEO until his retirement.

16:31 EDT Moody's appoints Mona Breed as CIO - Moody's announced that Mona Breed will join the company as CIO effective October 15. As CIO, Ms. Breed will lead Moody's global technology infrastructure and programs. She will report to Raymond McDaniel, President and CEO of Moody's. Prior to joining Moody's, Breed led IT infrastructure for Oppenheimer Funds, where she drove innovation and transformation, including the firm's cloud computing, unified communication and collaboration, data center operations and workplace technologies. She has also held senior technology roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Apollo.

16:31 EDT Oneok to construct additional NGL fractionation, pipeline capacity - Oneok announced plans to construct additional natural gas liquids and natural gas infrastructure, including: A new 125,000-barrel per day NGL fractionator - MB-5 - in Mont Belvieu, Texas, and related infrastructure; a new 200-million cubic feet per day natural gas processing facility - the Demicks Lake II plant and related infrastructure - in the Williston Basin; an extension of ONEOK's Arbuckle II NGL pipeline further north and additional NGL gathering infrastructure to increase capacity between the Mid-Continent market hub and Arbuckle II; an expansion of the Arbuckle II NGL pipeline by approximately 100,000 bpd to increase total capacity up to 500,000 bpd by adding pump stations. These projects are expected to generate adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization multiples of four to six times. Oneok still does not expect any equity issuances in 2018 or well into 2019.

16:23 EDT Verastem rises over 5% following COPIKTRA China commercialization announcement

16:22 EDT Immucell receives fourth complete letter of NADA for Nisin treatment for cows - Immucell announced a milestone in the development of its purified Nisin product. Immucell learned that the FDA has issued a technical section complete letter for the human food safety technical section of Immucell's new animal drug application, or NADA, for its Nisin-based intramammary treatment of subclinical mastitis in lactating dairy cows. There are five major technical sections to a NADA with the FDA. Immucell previously received three of the five technical section complete letters required for NADA approval. This fourth complete letter leaves just the manufacturing technical section remaining for product approval and market launch. A first submission of the CMC technical section is anticipated in the coming weeks. At least two sequential submissions will be required. Each submission is subject to a six-month review period by the FDA.

16:21 EDT Loxo Oncology announces LOXO-292 durability update - Loxo Oncology announced updated interim clinical data for LOXO-292 from the global Phase 1/2 LIBRETTO-001 trial in patients with RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer who were initially included in the LOXO-292 presentation at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. In these 38 patients, approximately 3.5 months of additional patient follow-up were available, as were first follow-up scans for the eight patients most recently enrolled. Twenty-five of 26 (96%) responding patients remained on therapy, with median follow-up of 9.5 months. Inclusion of new restaging data for the most recently enrolled patients resulted in a 68% confirmed overall response rate in the presented subset. These data are being presented today at the 2018 IASLC 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Toronto.

16:19 EDT KB Home rises over 4% afterhours following Q3 earnings

16:18 EDT Meta Financial anounces Brent Turner will step down as EVP - Meta Financial Group announced that Brent Turner will step down as EVP and Head of Consumer Lending of Meta Financial Group and MetaBank, effective September 28. The company and Mr. Turner entered into a Separation and Consulting Agreement, the terms of which include Mr. Turner's providing of consulting and other services to the company for a period of up to two years. Mr. Turner's responsibilities have been assumed by other members of Meta's senior management.

16:17 EDT Mercury Systems receives $5.5M order - Mercury Systems announced it received a $5M order from a leading defense prime contractor for rugged, embedded processing subsystems to perform advanced, shipboard radar processing. The order was booked in the company's Q4 and is expected to be shipped over the next several quarters.

16:16 EDT Cintas reports Q1 organic growth rate up 5.4% from last year - The company states: "The organic growth rate, which adjusts for the impacts of acquisitions and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, was 5.2%. The organic growth rate for the Uniform Rental and Facility Services operating segment was 4.9%. We expect the Uniform Rental and Facility Services operating segment organic growth rate to increase during the remainder of fiscal 2019. The First Aid and Safety Services operating segment organic growth rate remained strong at 9.0%."

16:16 EDT Nike reports Q1 gross margin up 60 bps to 44.2% - Gross margin increased 50 basis points to 44.2% primarily due to higher average selling prices, favorable full-price sales mix and margin expansion in NIKE Direct, partially offset by higher product costs.

16:13 EDT EnSync to move towards multi-family residential market in FY19 - EnSync commented, "In FY19, we anticipate making a hard push towards our multi-family residential market opportunity, where our technology enables us to disrupt the traditional utility model that others in the industry simply cannot match. We believe the market window is wide open, and our EnSync Home Energy System is ideal for self-generation, while our True Peer-to-Peer energy exchange is creating a solution for installing solar generation on multi-family properties that were previously unsolvable. Our recent announcement and execution on our Keahumoa Place multi-family residential contract, the first peer-to-peer installation of its kind in the United States, has showcased our capabilities and has become a key driver to building out our pipeline. Our IP protected True Peer-to-PeerTM energy exchange capability will become vital for states like California to implement Zero Net Energy properties. We're also heavily focused on signing up developer channels, especially in the Hawaii, California and Arizona markets where we anticipate shipping approximately 20 channel partner qualification systems at the end of this calendar year. The US residential systems market will be worth at least $7.0B through 2023 and we're excited to go after a significant share of it."

16:12 EDT Purple names Joe Megibow as CEO, effective October 1 - Purple Innovation (PRPL) announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Joseph Megibow to serve as CEO, effective October 1. During his career, Megibow served as Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) where he oversaw the transformation and growth of American Eagle's $550+ million direct-to-consumer business between 2012 and 2015.

16:09 EDT Sol-Gel expects top-line results for Epsolay in 2019 - Sol-Gel Technologies announced that it has completed enrollment of half of the patients in its pivotal Phase III clinical trials of Epsolay in subjects with papulopustular rosacea, a chronic, inflammatory skin condition that most often affects the face. Epsolay is a once-daily topical cream containing encapsulated benzoyl peroxide, 5%, using Sol-Gel's proprietary microencapsulation technology. The pivotal Phase III clinical program is being conducted in accordance with Special Protocol Assessmentagreements with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and consists of two randomized, multi-center, double-blind, vehicle-controlled clinical trials at 50 sites in the United States. Each pivotal trial is planned to enroll 350 subjects in a 2:1 ratio of Epsolay in comparison to its vehicle, with a power of greater than 99%. The primary efficacy endpoints for both trials are success in Investigator Global Assessment, defined as a two-grade reduction in IGA on a scale of 0 to 4 with "clear" or "almost clear"at week 12, and a reduction in mean inflammatory lesion count at week 12. "The progress we have made with patient enrollment in these trials and the high interest expressed by both the patients and physicians highlights the unmet medical need for a new safe and efficacious rosacea treatment," said Dr. Alon Seri-Levy, Chief Executive Officer of Sol-Gel. "Our goal is to advance Epsolay as a potential treatment option for papulopustular

16:03 EDT Cancer Genetics in supply pact with Agilent - Cancer Genetics (CGIX) announced that it has signed a non-exclusive supply agreement with Agilent Technologies (A) through which Agilent will manufacture Cancer Genetics' proprietary FISH probe reagents. Under the terms of the agreement, Agilent will manufacture and supply Cancer Genetics with the custom probe for use in the Company's FISH-based HPV-Associated Cancer Test. Additionally, Cancer Genetics' plans to outlicense the probes through domestic and international distribution channels, with such licensors having the ability to purchase probes manufactured by Agilent. John A. Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Genetics, commented, "We are pleased to finalize our agreement with Agilent, who has established itself as a leader in delivering solutions for scientific research, especially in manufacturing of FISH probes. This agreement marks an important milestone for Cancer Genetics and the company's FHACT test as it allows for expansion of our international business opportunities by outlicensing our probes, which is an integral part of the company's new strategy for revenue generation and path to profitability."

16:03 EDT AAR Corp. CEO says 'Our year is off to a great start' - "Our year is off to a great start with double-digit sales growth driven by the continued strength in our commercial and government programs, as well as our parts supply businesses. We are successfully executing on our recent contract awards and remain focused on delivering world class solutions to both our commercial and government customers," said John Holmes, President and CEO of AAR CORP. Sales to government and defense customers were 32.4% of consolidated sales compared to 23.3% in the prior year's quarter reflecting growth from the WASS program and other government sales. First quarter sales to commercial customers, which also increased during the period, represented 67.6% of consolidated sales compared to 76.7% of consolidated sales in the first quarter of last year. Holmes continued, "We are pleased with the sales growth in our government activities. We are also excited about our continued success in the commercial markets as evidenced by our recent wins with Air New Zealand and Air Malta. These multi-year agreements include the newest generation aircraft demonstrating the breadth of our capabilities."

15:08 EDT Comtech awarded over $4M in additional funding from U.S. Army - Comtech announced that, during its fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, its Command & Control Technologies group, which is part of Comtech's Government Solutions segment, received additional funding in excess of $4M on the previously announced three-year $123.6M contract to provide ongoing sustainment services for the AN/TSC-198A SNAP and Very Small Aperture Terminals. SNAP terminals provide quick and mobile satellite communications capability to personnel in the field. The contract has been funded $33.5M to-date.

14:54 EDT NY DFS expresses concerns about proposed Aetna, CVS Health deal - In a letter dated September 17 that was made public on September 24, New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo told Connecticut Insurance Department Commissioner Katharine Wade that NYDFS has "identified several key issues" with the proposed acquisition of Aetna (AET) by CVS Health (CVS) "that may be harmful to both New York and Connecticut consumers and markets." The proposed acquisition of health insurer by a PBM "raises significant market competition concerns" regarding Aetna having an unfair competitive advantage, Vullo's letter states. In afternoon trading, shares of Aetna are down 1.3% to $200.69. Shares of Express Scripts (ESRX), which is waiting for regulatory approval of its agreement to be acquired by Cigna (CI), is down about 1% as well. Reference Link

14:36 EDT Intel slides as analyst says sell with semis seen in cyclical downturn - Shares of Intel (INTC) are slipping after Raymond James analyst Chris Caso downgraded the stock to Underperform, a sell-equivalent rating, based on cyclical concerns regarding the semiconductor sector following checks in Asia. The analyst sees a number of headwinds mounting against the company, set to impact longer-term growth expectations and profitability. Caso also downgraded chipmaking peers Analog Devices (ADI), Microchip (MCHP) and ON Semiconductor (ON) to neutral-equivalent ratings, and Monolithic Power (MPWR) to Outperform. SELL INTEL: In a research note to investors this morning, Raymond James' Caso downgraded Intel to Underperform from Market Perform based on sector cyclical concerns following checks in Asia. He believes there are a number of headwinds mounting against the company, set to impact longer-term growth expectations and profitability. Caso pointed out Intel's CPU shortages are well-know, but recent checks suggest shortages on some new high margin SKUs, which will limit near-term upside. Additionally, the company's delay in 10nm production is its biggest strategic problem as it creates a window for competitors to gain share which it may never overtake, he contended. PEERS ALSO DOWNGRADED: Citing his checks in Asia, Raymond James' Caso downgraded Analog Devices to Market Perform from Outperform as he believes there has been a negative sentiment shift during the month of September among suppliers, with several trends clearly worsening. The analyst has concluded that the semiconductor sector has entered a cyclical downturn and has made a broad call to downgrade nearly all of his stocks under coverage. Caso does not believe Analog can escape the effects of industry trends and prefers to move to the sidelines. The analyst also downgraded Microchip to Market Perform from Outperform on worse trends since the August earnings call, and ON Semiconductor to Market Perform as well, as he believes the company cannot escape the effects of industry trends. Not as bearish on Monolithic Power, Caso cut the stock's rating to Outperform from Strong Buy and maintained a $160 price target. The analyst argued that Monolithic's design success should allow it to continue to grow, and views a 20% long-term growth rate as reasonable. 'SOFTENING' CYCLE METRICS: Meanwhile, KeyBanc analyst Weston Twigg launched coverage of 10 semiconductor names, including Intel with a Sector Weight rating. While the analyst forecasts good growth in Intel's non-PC divisions, he views the slowdown of the company's node transitions as an erosion of competitive advantage, and expects headlines of share loss to AMD (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) to be a chronic headwind for the stock. Still, Twigg expects Intel to remain dominant in its markets, and the company should remain highly competitive and profitable as cloud, AI, and machine learning drive the next wave of compute. Alongside Intel, the analyst also started coverage of Analog Devices, AMD, Microchip, Maxim (MXIM), Nvidia, On Semiconductor, Qualcomm (QCOM), Silicon Motion (SIMO), and Texas Instruments (TXN), all with Sector Weight ratings. Twigg cites "softening" cycle metrics, near-term demand dynamics, and trade war risks that will likely present near-term headwinds for the stocks. Nonetheless, the analyst noted that he is constructive on the long-term trajectory of the industry as new demand drivers emerge, and views consolidation and scale as strategic competitive advantages for larger-cap stocks. PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, shares of Intel have dropped about 2% to $46.10.

14:19 EDT Salesforce Co-CEO Benioff says 'economy is still ripping' - Marc Benioff is being interviewed on CNBC from the Salesforce "Dreamforce" conference.

13:40 EDT Coherus Biosciences receives European Commission approval for UDENYCA - Coherus BioSciences announced the European Commission has granted marketing authorization to UDENYCA, a pegfilgrastim biosimilar. UDENYCA is one of the first pegfilgrastim biosimilars to gain marketing authorization in Europe. UDENYCA is currently under evaluation by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration with an action date of November 3, 2018.

13:35 EDT Jabil falls after CEO commentary on margin and expansion, peers also fall - Shares of companies involved in electronics contract manufacturing services are faltering after peer Jabil (JBL) reported fourth quarter results on Monday evening. JABIL BEATS, BUT STOCK FALLS: Contract manufacturer Jabil reported Q4 results that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines, due to the strong performance of its core businesses. Q4 earnings per share came in at 70c, beating the expected 68c and the year-ago result of 64c. Jabil reported Q4 revenue of $5.77B, up from $5.02B in Q4 of 2017. The company projected first quarter revenue in the range of $5.8B-$6.4B, compared with consensus estimates of $5.9B. NO MARGIN IMPROVEMENT SEEN FOR A WHILE: "We assume that from FY19 to FY21, we'll get no expansion, no leverage of margin," CEO Mark Mondello said on the company's Q4 earnings conference call. PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, shares of Jabil are down almost 9% to $27.38. PEERS: Shares of other electronic contract manufacturers are also down, including Celestica (CLS), Sanmina (SANM), Flex(FLEX), and Xilinx (XLNX).

13:01 EDT Elanco expands commitment to fight antimicrobial resistance - Elanco Animal Health updated its commitment to fighting antimicrobial resistance, which includes promoting responsible antibiotic use practices and policies while developing alternatives to medically important antibiotics. This latest move further refines Elanco's aggressive, multifaceted 8-point plan announced in 2015 at the White House Stewardship Forum. Today's commitments focus on three key areas of stewardship, including combating antimicrobial resistance through responsible antibiotic use, reducing the need for medically important antibiotics in livestock, and significantly investing in researching new alternatives. New commitments include: Investing at least half of Elanco's food animal research and development budget in projects dedicated to developing alternatives to shared-class antibiotics; Increasing veterinary and professional oversight access in countries with limited resources through new partnerships; Expanding data collection and analytics to inform animal health professionals on best practices; Encouraging vaccination and nutrition programs that reduce the need for medically important antibiotics by preventing disease.

12:44 EDT ADP, Paychex slip after Square introduces new payroll app - Shares of traditional payroll services providers ADP (ADP) and Paychex (PAYX) are moving lower in afternoon trading after Square (SQ) stated that it is introducing the Square Payroll App. The app "empowers sellers with fast access to an elegant and self-serve tool for running their business," making it "easy for employers to manage payroll, one of the most important yet complicated aspects of running a business, from anywhere," according to Square's launch announcement. PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading following Square's announcement, ADP shares are down 1% to $147.50 while Paychex is down 1.6% to $73.35 per share.

12:38 EDT McDermott awarded contract by Bayport Polymers for new polyethylene plant - McDermott International announced today a contract award from Bayport Polymers, a joint venture of Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, and Novealis Holdings for its new High-Density Polyethylene plant, the Borstar Bay3 Project, in Bayport, Texas. McDermott's scope of work on the Borstar Bay3 Project includes the engineering, procurement, fabrication, and construction of a 625,000 tons/year HDPE plant. Project execution will be led out of McDermott's Houston offices. The Project will be based on a modular approach that will utilize the Company's world-class facility in Altamira, Mexico, to efficiently fabricate and assemble process and pipe rack modules. The construction phase will leverage the strength of McDermott's Gulf Coast direct hire construction capabilities and will include the use of specialty sub-contracts. Mechanical completion and construction of the facility are expected to be complete in 2021. The new plant will also be ready for hydrocarbon introduction in 2021.

12:34 EDT Square introduces new payroll app for employers - Square said in a statement on its website, "Today we are excited to introduce the Square Payroll App, empowering sellers with fast access to an elegant and self-serve tool for running their business. The Payroll App makes it easy for employers to manage payroll, one of the most important yet complicated aspects of running a business, from anywhere. As part of Square's ecosystem of mobile tools the Payroll App is a cohesive, integrated solution that enables sellers to manage all aspects of their business no matter where they are. With the Square Payroll App employers can get up and running quickly, going from signup to sending a payrun in minutes." Reference Link

12:03 EDT Banco Santander appoints Andrea Orcel as new CEO - Banco Santander (SAN) informs that this morning its board of directors, at the proposal of the appointments committee and taking into account Rodrigo Echenique Gordillo's decision to resign from his executive positions, effective January 1, 2019, has resolved to appoint Jose Antonio Alvarez executive chairman of Santander Spain and vice chairman of Banco Santander, replacing Echenique, who will cease to be vice chairman and remain as a non-executive director of Banco Santander. At the time Alvarez takes up these new functions, he will cease being CEO. Banco Santander appoints Andrea Orcel as new CEO of Banco Santander, replacing Alvarez and filling the vacancy of Juan Miguel Villar Mir, who has resigned to his position in view of the end of his term. At present, Orcel is a member of the Executive Board of UBS Group (UBS). Moreover, he previously held executive positions at Bank of America and Merrill Lynch., Santander noted. These appointments will be effective once the relevant approvals, including those resulting from Orcel's current employment, are obtained and in no event earlier than January 1, 2019.

11:53 EDT Sage depression drug to get FDA panel review on Nov. 2 - The FDA earlier today announced a forthcoming public advisory committee meeting of the Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee. The committees will discuss the efficacy, safety, and benefit-risk profile of Sage Therapeutics' new drug application for brexanolone for the proposed indication of postpartum depression on November 2. Reference Link

11:49 EDT UBS appoints Novelli and Karofsky as co-Presidents Investment Bank - Following the decision of Andrea Orcel to accept the role of CEO of Santander Group (SAN), and effective October 1, 2018, Piero Novelli and Robert Karofsky will jointly become co-Presidents of the Investment Bank and members of the Group Executive Board of UBS Group (UBS), the bank announced. "Day to day, Novelli will primarily focus on Corporate Client Solutions and Karofsky on Investor Client Services. Both bring a proven track record in the business and move into their new roles from within UBS," the bank stated.

11:37 EDT Square rises as analyst ups target to Street-high $125 - Shares of Square (SQ) are on the rise after Nomura Instinet analyst Dan Dolev raised his price target on the stock to $125, a Street-high according to Bloomberg. Dolev believes Square should be the newest member of the FANG complex of Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX) and Google (GOOGL; GOOG), as he believes it is "en route to disrupt the global payments ecosystem." SIMILAR TO FANG DISRUPTORS: In a research note this morning, Nomura Instinet's Dolev raised his price target for Square to $125 from $86, while reiterating a Buy rating on the stock. The analyst pointed out that his analysis of Square's fundamentals highlights buoyant GPV, revenue and marketing efficacy trends. Among the key positives are the rapid growth in GPV from large sellers, a "dramatic" acceleration in GPV growth derivatives, improving marketing efficacy, and Cash App downloads already exceeding PayPal's (PYPL) Venmo by over 1M, he contended. Furthermore, Dolev argued that similar to FANG stocks that have disrupted traditional markets with massive global TAMs, Square's fully cohesive solutions and rapid rate of innovation suggest that it is "en route to disrupt the global payments ecosystem." The analyst noted that he does not believe Square is too expensive, given its "stellar" 45% expected three-year revenue CAGR, which makes it screen more attractively than many payment peers and FANG stocks. PEERS ALSO RAISE TARGET: Meanwhile, Jefferies analyst John Hechlt also raised his price target for Square to $88 from $63 this morning after taking a detailed look at the company's non-payments businesses. The analyst, however, kept a Hold rating on the shares. Various sum-of-the-parts analyses point to current premium valuations for each segment, suggesting "strong growth and successful execution is likely priced-in," Hecht contended. While Square's Subscription & Services products are "no doubt well positioned," the stock's valuation remains full, he added. Last week, two other Wall Street analysts had increased their price targets on Square. Citing the findings of her analysis of Square Cash App monetization, Evercore ISI analyst Rayna Kumar raised her price target on the stock to $101 from $76 and reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares. Kumar believes the company's new product features over the last two years will likely become a "material driver to both revenue and earnings over time". The analyst expects the app to contribute up to 16c to Square's FY20 EPS, 30c to FY21 EPS, and 40c in FY22 EPS, stating that the company's monetization strategy is in the "early innings." Also bullish on the company's momentum, Stifel analyst Scott Devitt raised his price target for Square to $100 from $76. The analyst said he expects continued momentum from larger sellers as Square's retail ecosystem keeps evolving and sees the company's partnership efforts expanding its reach and potential for cross- and up-selling. Devitt reiterated a Buy rating on the shares. PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of Square have gained over 6% to $91.55.

11:24 EDT Google reverses ban on cryptocurrency-related advertising - In a post on its support website, the company said, "The Google Ads policy on Financial products and services will be updated in October 2018 to allow regulated cryptocurrency exchanges to advertise in the U.S. and Japan. Advertisers will need to be certified with Google for the specific country in which their ads will serve. Advertisers will be able to apply for certification once the policy launches in October. This policy will apply globally to all accounts that advertise these financial products. For more details, see About restricted financial products certification. The Financial products and services page will be updated once the policy goes into effect." Reference Link

10:39 EDT Twitter releases new policy to ban dehumanizing speech - In a blog post, the company said, "The Twitter Rules apply to everyone who uses Twitter. In the past, we've created our rules with a rigorous policy development process; it involves in-depth research and partnership with the members of our Trust and Safety Council and other experts to ensure these policies best serve every person on the service. Now, we're trying something new by asking everyone for feedback on a policy before it's part of the Twitter Rules.For the last three months, we have been developing a new policy to address dehumanizing language on Twitter. Language that makes someone less than human can have repercussions off the service, including normalizing serious violence. Some of this content falls within our hateful conduct policy...but there are still Tweets many people consider to be abusive, even when they do not break our rules. Better addressing this gap is part of our work to serve a healthy public conversation...We want your feedback to ensure we consider global perspectives and how this policy may impact different communities and cultures. For languages not represented here, our policy team is working closely with local non-governmental organizations and policy makers to ensure their perspectives are captured...Twitter's Dehumanization Policy:You may not dehumanize anyone based on membership in an identifiable group, as this speech can lead to offline harm." Reference Link

10:06 EDT Vuzix, 1Minuut partner to bring AR innovation through smart glasses - Vuzix is pleased to announce that the company's partner 1Minuut Innovation is rolling out Genzo, a mobile platform available on Android and iOS devices that was developed specifically around the Vuzix M300 Smart Glasses across the healthcare industry. 1Minuut is bringing real-life experiences virtually to patients that can't enjoy them in person by allowing patients to view real-time POV video streamed remotely by the Vuzix M300 Smart Glasses. Genzo through their unique social communication platform which was designed to make POV video sharing mobile easy and safe to implement for customers. 1Minuut's Genzo's mobile platform is unique and provides a new innovative and reliable method to connect patients, bring positive experiences and enable patients to watch through the eyes of others from anywhere. The combination of the Vuzix M300 Smart Glasses and the Genzo mobile platform enables real-time audio, first person Point of View video streaming and file sharing that is easy, mobile and safe. Through collaboration with Deloitte Assuring Medical Apps Netherlands, the Genzo mobile platform is also an extremely safe and GDPR ready application.

10:00 EDT Pampa Energia falls -8.5% - Pampa Energia is down -8.5%, or -$3.04 to $32.76.

10:00 EDT Donnelley Financial Solutions falls -9.9% - Donnelley Financial Solutions is down -9.9%, or -$2.06 to $18.74.

10:00 EDT Basic Energy rises 11.5% - Basic Energy is up 11.5%, or $1.08 to $10.51.

09:56 EDT Winmark trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:47 EDT Pampa Energia falls -6.7% - Pampa Energia is down -6.7%, or -$2.41 to $33.39.

09:47 EDT Jabil falls -8.0% - Jabil is down -8.0%, or -$2.42 to $27.66.

09:47 EDT XO Group rises 25.9% - XO Group is up 25.9%, or $7.15 to $34.79.

09:32 EDT Technovative Group, CLPS announce strategic partnership agreement - Technovative Group has entered into a strategic partnership with CLPS Incorporation. Pursuant to the strategic partnership with CLPS Incorporation, Technovative is expected to supply and maintain, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Distributed Ledger Services and Cloud Computing solutions and technologies, to the many global clients of CLPS Incorporation in the United States, European Union, Australia, Hong Kong, and the PRC.

09:22 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA), up 4% after positive topline results from its Phase 2a trial of olorinab, an investigational, full agonist of the cannabinoid receptor 2 in development for the treatment of gastrointestinal pain... Tenaris (TS), up 4% after BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Joao Vicor Lorenzi double upgraded the stock to Buy from Underperform and raised its price target to $40 from $30. Lorenzi expects Tenaris to benefit from a sustained, broad-based recovery in its end markets that should result in a muli-year period of strong earnings momentum... Tilray (TLRY) and Cronos (CRON), up 18% and 4% respectively after New York's Governor yesterday afternoon announced his signing of a bill adding pain management as a condition for medical marijuana. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: FactSet (FDS), down 5%. LOWER: Opiant Therapeutics (OPNT), down 19% after announcing a common stock offering... TG Therapeutics (TGTX), down 28% after a safety review board said the company's UNITY-CLL trial ORR analysis can not be conducted... CenturyLink (CTL), down 4% after CFO departure... Digital Realty (DLR), down 3% after its 8.5M share secondary offering priced at $113.00... Facebook (FB), down 2% after reports that Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger left the company amid frustrations with Facebook.

09:22 EDT PlayAGS announces partnership with Vegas Golden Knights National Hockey League - PlayAGS became the first gaming equipment supplier to enter into a multi-year corporate partnership with the Vegas Golden Knights National Hockey League franchise. AGS will leverage this monumental corporate partnership, which allows AGS to sponsor the all-new "Play of the Game" feature at every Vegas Golden Knights home game on the videoboard, as part of its community outreach and employee engagement programs.

09:20 EDT Sonic to be acquired by Inspire Brands in $2.3B deal

09:17 EDT Capitala Finance leads $45M investment in Sunset Digital Holding - Capitala Finance announced that it recently led a $45M investment to support ITC Capital Partners in its acquisition of the BVU OptiNet fiber optic network by Sunset Digital Holding.

09:15 EDT Diffusion Pharmaceuticals appoints William Hornung CFO - Diffusion Pharmaceuticals announced that it has appointed William Hornung to the position of CFO. Hornung previously served as CBO at the company, in which capacity he had overseen the company's business development and investor relations strategies. During his tenure as CBO, Diffusion raised $12M in an underwritten public offering, began enrolling patients in a Phase 3 study for GBM brain cancer; and, most recently, received FDA approval to enroll patients in an ambulance-based Phase 2 clinical trial testing its lead drug, trans sodium crocetinate, for the treatment of acute stroke.

09:14 EDT Verint announces customer engagement collaboration with Microsoft - Verint (VRNT) announced that it is entering Microsoft's (MSFT) One Commercial Partner, or OCP, program with co-sell ready status for its entire customer engagement portfolio. This aligns Microsoft's large, global salesforce behind partners such as Verint to drive top-notch solutions for customers. A global leader in cloud and on-premises customer engagement solutions-with a focus on workforce engagement, voice of the customer, intelligent self-service, fraud and compliance-Verint now joins an elite group of global independent software vendors partnering with Microsoft for collaborative joint sales, support and go-to-market initiatives. Verint will work directly with Microsoft's global salesforce to accelerate the adoption of customer engagement software. Verint solutions help customers who are trying to simplify, modernize and automate customer engagement, while establishing best-in-class operational initiatives that reduce cost, complexity and resource requirements. Verint's proven success with implementing customer engagement solutions natively in the cloud has accelerated the company's co-sell ready relationship with Microsoft.

09:11 EDT Genentech Tecentriq announces 'positive' results from IMpower133 study - Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, announced positive results from the Phase III IMpower133 study of Tecentriq plus carboplatin and etoposide for the initial treatment of people with previously-untreated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer. The analysis showed that Tecentriq and chemotherapy helped people live significantly longer compared with chemotherapy alone in the intention-to-treat, or ITT, population. The Tecentriq-based combination also significantly reduced the risk of disease worsening or death compared with chemotherapy alone. Safety for the Tecentriq and chemotherapy combination appeared consistent with the known safety profile of the individual medicines, and no new safety signals were identified with the combination. "The results with this TECENTRIQ combination in the initial treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer represent the first clinically meaningful advance in the disease in over 20 years," said Sandra Horning, M.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. "Our goal is to find treatment options for all types of lung cancer, and we are eager to work with global health authorities to bring this TECENTRIQ regimen to people living with this particularly difficult-to-treat form of lung cancer as soon as possible."

09:09 EDT VMware NSX SD-WAN to integrate with Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN - VMware (VMW) announced VMware NSX SD-WAN by VeloCloud will be integrated with Microsoft (MSFT) Azure Virtual WAN, enabling customers across all industries that have business resources in Azure to gain connectivity to the branch. This new solution will extend customers' current ability to connect workloads running in Azure using VMware NSX SD-WAN and VMware NSX data center, and enable customers to deliver pervasive connectivity and intrinsic security from branch locations to Azure.

09:05 EDT ADP and Infor expand partnership - Infor announced the expansion of its partnership with ADP to help provide access to payroll products and services to Infor's global HCM customers. This partnership is structured to allow Infor's HCM customers to access payroll services from ADP using certain standardized processes, including single sign-on, or SSO, which can help organizations manage their global workforce more efficiently.

09:04 EDT Inspired Entertainment changes fiscal year end to December 31 - Inspired Entertainment announced that its Board of Directors has approved a change in the Company's fiscal year end from September 30 to December 31. The Company's fiscal year will begin on January 1 and end on December 31 of each year, starting January 1, 2019.

09:04 EDT Cimpress to acquire BuildASign - Cimpress N.V. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire BuildASign, a fast-growing internet-based provider of canvas-print wall decor, business signage and other large-format printed products. Under the terms of the agreement, Cimpress will acquire approximately 99% of the outstanding equity interests of BuildASign from its current owners, including majority owner PWP Growth Equity, the middle market private equity group of Perella Weinberg Partners. The total valuation is approximately $280 million, subject to customary adjustments for the value of retained interest, net debt, working capital and transaction expenses. Consideration at closing for the transaction will be in cash, using Cimpress' existing credit facility. BuildASign's unaudited revenue for the trailing twelve-month period ended August 31, 2018 was approximately $129 million, reflecting year-over-year growth of greater than 20%. Total consideration reflects pro forma unlevered free cash flow and adjusted EBITDA multiples that are consistent with those Cimpress has paid for its past acquisitions of National Pen and Upload and Print businesses, after considering growth rates. Cimpress expects that its planned investment in BuildASign will drive value creation that is consistent with the company's previously articulated M&A investment hurdle rate of a 15% IRR through a combination of continued profitable growth and near-term procurement and other synergies.

09:02 EDT Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne purchases 43% of Medici Land Governance - Medici Land Governance, a blockchain portfolio company of Overstock.com subsidiary Medici Ventures that is focused on applying blockchain and other technologies to land and property rights management, has announced Overstock founder and CEO Patrick M. Byrne has purchased 43% of the company in a private transaction. "It's no secret that I believe using blockchain technology to bring proper land governance to the world is a major step towards reducing global poverty," said Dr. Byrne. "Six months ago, and again earlier this month, I informed Overstock shareholders that I would make this investment. From the time I first realized the world-changing potential of the blockchain, I have been working to develop a way to use it to provide a secure, immutable record of property to help entrepreneurs from any economic background join the global economy. Proper land governance is the crystallization of the rule of law, and the foundation of a successful, prosperous, and free society. It is also insecticide for the rent-seeking parasites who tax humanity at every level where rule of law is absent."

09:00 EDT Majesco trading resumes

08:57 EDT BG Staffing promotes Beth Garvey to CEO and President - BG Staffing announced that the Board of Directors promoted Beth A. Garvey to the offices of CEO and President, effective October 1. In conjunction with the appointment of Garvey, on October 1 L. Allen Baker, Jr. will resign as CEO and President and remain as Chairman of the Board. Garvey has served as the Company's Chief Operating Officer since August 2016 after joining the BG Staffing team through the 2013 acquisition of InStaff Personnel. As COO, Garvey has overseen day-to-day operations of the Company, and has led the team to streamline operations, build brand recognition and enhance collaboration within all the Company's operations.

08:49 EDT Atomera licenses MST Technology to AKM - Atomera announced that Asahi Kasei Microdevices,or AKM, a global leader in the design and manufacture of analog and digital integrated circuits, has signed an integration license with Atomera's MST technology for use in consumer, automotive, and industrial semiconductor applications. The phased license agreement provides rights for AKM to integrate Atomera's technology into their devices for development purposes as a first phase toward a full manufacturing and distribution license. Atomera's Mears Silicon Technology is a patented, quantum-engineered material which can enhance transistors to deliver significantly better performance in today's electronics. That means consumer electronics, such as mobile phones can have longer battery life, IOT devices can be made smaller.

08:46 EDT Cemtrex launches new virtual reality game 'Quazar' - Cemtrex (CETX) announced the release of an original content virtual reality game titled Quazar. The game was developed in-house by the Cemtrex VR team for Oculus Go (FB) and Cemtrex's flagship smart device, the SmartDesk. Cemtrex says, "Designed and developed as a truly unique VR experience from the ground up, Quazar blends a classic favorite with Oculus Go's 3DoF mechanisms to bring an immersive ping pong experience. Players are transported to an intergalactic void to put their reflexes to the test. The game is now available in the Oculus app store. Cemtrex SmartDesk owners will also be able to play Quazar using the workstation's gesture system."

08:41 EDT Inpixon appoints Adam Benson CTO - Inpixon announced that Adam Benson is joining the company as CTO to lead Inpixon's engineering teams. Benson most recently led digital transformation initiatives at an Inpixon customer, one of the largest owners, operators and developers of retail and mixed-use properties in North America.

08:37 EDT BioHiTech Global announces award - BioHiTech Global announced that the recent installation of its Revolution Series Seed Digester at Miller Park, home of Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers, enabled the venue to win the Best Sustainability Initiative Award for the 2018 VenuesNow Excellence in Concessions Awards. BioHiTech has partnered with Delaware North, one of the largest privately-held hospitality and food service companies in the world with over $3B in annual revenue, to provide solutions tailored to meet the needs of its food service and hospitality customers, like Miller Park.

08:36 EDT Inpixon appoints Adam Bneson as CTO - Inpixon announced that Adam Benson is joining the company as CTO to lead Inpixon's engineering teams. Benson most recently led digital transformation initiatives at an Inpixon customer, one of the largest owners, operators and developers of retail and mixed-use properties in North America.

08:34 EDT HomeTrust names C. Hunter Westbrook COO - The board of HomeTrust announced that C. Hunter Westbrook will assume the position of senior executive VP and COO of both the company and the bank effective October 1. Westbrook joined HTB in 2012 as CBO and in his new role will also be responsible for credit administration and information technology departments.

08:32 EDT Camtek announces order and sees FY18 revenue over $120M - Camtek announced that it received an order from a tier-one OSAT, or Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test. The order received is for Camtek's latest high-throughput 2D inspection system. The tools are expected to be installed in the Q4. Rafi Amit, CEO, added, "We are seeing continued order strength and based on this momentum as well as our strong backlog, we expect FY18 revenues to exceed $120M, representing a year-over-year increase of over 30%."

08:31 EDT Audible, Ryerson University announce collaboration - Audible and FCAD, Ryerson University's Faculty of Communication and Design, announced the establishment of a multifaceted initiative dedicated to audio entertainment at FCAD's renowned school of performance. Audible's investment will provide Ryerson students in the performance acting program with a state-of-the-art performance training facility, companion sound studio and an annual scholarship fund. When Audible.ca launched in September 2017, Audible committed C$12M over a three-year period to invest in resources and programs to develop, amplify, and celebrate Canadian writers and voices in both English and French. Audible is committed to supporting the growth of Canada's creative economy and promoting Canadian stories both within and beyond its borders. Audible and Ryerson are working together to evolve the performance acting curriculum to allow students to develop their skills in the fast-growing medium of spoken-word performance and production. The course work will include skills-based and academic training in the performance and production aspects of spoken-word entertainment, with a goal of inspiring and training future generations of Canadian creative talent.

08:28 EDT Talend partners with Snowflake Computing, Datalynx on self-service data analysis - Talend, Snowflake Computing and Datalytyx unveiled a new platform as a service designed to provide business users, including sales and marketing, with direct access to relevant data analytics and data science capabilities, without relying on IT. It allows any business user to manipulate data to spot business opportunities without a background in statistics or technology and with no additional IT costs and dedicated resources. Available from Datalytyx, the new self-service data platform includes Talend cloud for data governance and management to allow business users to integrate, clean and master data coming from a range of sources. The data is then centralized in a smart data lake powered by Snowflake offering infinite scale and zero administration requirements. Datalytyx provides the cloud data platform on a monthly subscription fee with no setup costs. Included in the offering is 24/7 service & support and up to three trained staff to build and manage data pipelines. Customers can connect to popular data science and visualization tools including Tableau, Power BI and Zoomdata. Within a day, customers can examine their data, and within 20 to 60 days, depending on the complexity, customers can generate new insights.

08:28 EDT British American Tobacco: Jack Bowles to succeed Nicandro Durante as CEO - The Board of British American Tobacco announced that Jack Bowles, currently COO of BAT's international business, will succeed Nicandro Durante as CEO of BAT following Nicandro's retirement on April 1, 2019. In anticipation of this appointment, Jack will become Chief Executive Designate on November 1, 2018 and will join the Board on January 1, 2019. Jack joined BAT in 2004 as CEO of BAT France and thereafter became Managing Director of the BAT listed subsidiary in Malaysia. He was appointed to the Management Board of BAT in 2009 as Regional Director for Western Europe and subsequently served as Regional Director in both the Americas Region and the Asia-Pacific Region before assuming his current role as COO in 2017.

08:24 EDT Nemaura Medical's sugarBEAT could be used without finger stick according to data - Nemaura Medical announced data indicating sugarBEAT could potentially be used as an adjunctive CGM without the need for finger-stick calibration. Nemaura retrospectively evaluated a portion of previously completed clinical data for 75 patients, using a refined factory calibration constant, based upon newly developed algorithms. 66% of patches worn by 92% of the patients generating 9,863 paired data points were evaluated, with 58% of these paired data points giving a MARD of 13.61%. Nemaura further noted 73% of these paired data points gave a MARD of 17.83%. Nemaura is currently undertaking additional data analysis, to potentially allow sugarBEAT to be used with zero or reduced frequency finger-stick calibration. SugarBEAT is anticipated to launch in the UK in the coming months, and is intended to be marketed to all categories of diabetics, including Type 1, Type 2 and pre-diabetics.

08:16 EDT Fibrocell Science receives $1.4M grant for FCX-007 from FDA's OOPD - Fibrocell Science announced that the FDA office of orphan products development, or OOPD has awarded a $1.4M clinical trial research grant for Fibrocell's continued clinical development of FCX-007, the company's gene therapy candidate for the treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, or RDEB, a rare skin blistering disease with high mortality. FCX-007 is currently being evaluated in the Phase 2 portion of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of RDEB. Six patients ages seven and older are targeted to be treated with FCX-007 in the Phase 2 portion of the clinical trial. Fibrocell expects to report an interim data analysis for FCX-007 and provide a clinical trial update from Phase 1 patients and available data from Phase 2 patients in Q1 of 2019.

08:12 EDT Aeterna Zentaris CFO James Clavijo departs, Leslie Auld to succeed - Aeterna Zentaris announced the appointment of Leslie Auld as senior VP, CFO. Auld has over twenty-five years of accounting, finance and pharmaceutical industry experience, with increasingly senior roles. Auld is replacing James Clavijo, who is leaving Aeterna Zentaris to pursue other interests.

08:11 EDT Amazon Web Services, Salesforce expand global strategic alliance - Amazon Web Services (AMZN) and Salesforce (CRM) expanded their global strategic alliance announcing new product integrations that will dramatically simplify how customers can securely share and synchronize data across AWS and Salesforce services.The new capabilities will demonstrate the companies' continued investment in delivering deeper levels of integration between AWS and the Salesforce Lightning Platform.

08:11 EDT Catabasis Pharmaceuticals initiates Phase 3 PolarisDMD clinical trial - Catabasis Pharmaceuticals announced the initiation of PolarisDMD, the company's Phase 3 trial for edasalonexent in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, or DMD. Edasalonexent inhibits NF-kB, which is the key link between loss of dystrophin and disease pathology and plays a fundamental role in the initiation and progression of skeletal and cardiac muscle disease in DMD. The PolarisDMD trial will evaluate the efficacy and safety of edasalonexent in patients with DMD and is intended to support an application for commercial registration of edasalonexent. Top-line results from the Phase 3 PolarisDMD trial are expected in the second quarter of 2020. PolarisDMD clinical trial sites across the United States will open in the coming days for enrollment of the Phase 3 PolarisDMD trial, with enrollment expected to run through this year and into next year. Additional sites in Australia, Canada, Europe and Israel are also expected to open early next year. In total, the PolarisDMD trial is expected to include approximately 40 clinical trial sites globally. The trial design was informed by discussions with the FDA as well as input from treating physicians, patient organizations and families of boys affected by Duchenne.

08:10 EDT Cidara Therapeutics: Cidara granted FDA QIDP, Fast Track Designations - Cidara Therapeutics announced that the FDA has granted both Qualified Infectious Disease Product, or QIDP, and Fast Track designations for the company's prophylaxis development program for lead antifungal product candidate, rezafungin for injection. Specifically, the QIDP designation is for the development of rezafungin for the prevention of invasive fungal infections in adults undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Cidara previously announced QIDP designation for rezafungin for the treatment of invasive fungal infections caused by Candida.

08:09 EDT OpenGate Capital signs exclusivity agreement to sell NAKAN to Westlake Chemical - OpenGate Capital announced that it has signed an exclusivity agreement with Westlake Chemical Corporation pursuant to which Westlake has made a binding offer to acquire NAKAN, a global PVC compounding solutions business headquartered in Reims, France. The transaction is valued at $265M and is anticipated to be completed by early 2019. NAKAN has eight production facilities located in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain and Vietnam, as well as a world-class research facility in France and application laboratory in the United States. NAKAN products are used in a wide-variety of applications by customers in the automotive, building and construction, and medical industries. Under the terms of the offer, which is subject to exclusivity protection, Westlake will pay approximately $265M in cash, subject to adjustment. The binding offer will permit NAKAN to comply with its consultation obligations with French works councils prior to entering into a negotiated, mutually binding purchase agreement. The transaction is expected to close by early 2019, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, completion of required employee consultation procedures and other customary closing conditions.

08:08 EDT VBI Vaccines initiates enrollment in high-dose arm of VBI-1901 study - VBI Vaccines announced that the independent data and safety monitoring board, or DSMB, completed its second safety assessment of the ongoing Phase 1/2a clinical study of VBI-1901 in recurrent GBM. The DSMB reviewed the complete safety data from the fully enrolled, intermediate-dose patient cohort, and unanimously recommended the continuation of the study without modification. Following this recommendation, VBI has initiated enrollment in the high-dose arm of the study. One final, pre-specified DSMB review is expected to occur after completion of enrollment in the high-dose cohort, concluding the dose-escalation phase of the study.

08:08 EDT Citius announces issuance of patent related to antimicrobial solutions - Citius Pharmaceuticals received notice from MD Anderson Cancer Center, or MDACC, that the US Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, will issue United States Patent Number 10/086,114 entitled "Antimicrobial Solutions with Enhanced Stability" on October 2, 2018. The new invention overcomes limitations in mixing antimicrobial solutions in which components have precipitated because of physical and/or chemical factors, thus limiting the stability of the post-mix solutions. Mino-Lok is currently being studied in phase 3 in over a dozen medical centers in the United States. There are currently no approved therapies to salvage infected CVCs.

08:07 EDT Westlake Chemical announces offer to acquire NAKAN for $265M in cash - Westlake Chemical Corporation announced that it has issued an exclusive, binding offer to acquire NAKAN, a global compounding solutions business, from Los Angeles-based private equity firm, OpenGate Capital. NAKAN, headquartered in Reims, France, has eight production facilities, located in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain and Vietnam, as well as a world-class research facility in France and application laboratory in the United States. NAKAN's products are used in a wide-variety of applications, including in the automotive, building and construction, and medical industries. NAKAN generated approximately $300M of revenue in the most recent twelve-month period. Under the terms of the offer, which is subject to exclusivity protection, Westlake will pay approximately $265M in cash, subject to adjustment. The binding offer was made in order to permit NAKAN to proceed with its consultation obligations with French works councils prior to entering into a negotiated, mutually binding purchase agreement. The transaction is expected to close by early 2019, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, completion of required employee consultation procedures and other customary closing conditions.

08:05 EDT Henry Schein announces investments in dental implant business - Henry Schein announced three investments that will advance the Company's dental implant business strategy. Henry Schein will acquire Intra-Lock, a provider of dental restoration solutions, including proprietary surface, connection, and biomaterial and small diameter implant technologies; expand into the lower-priced segment of the dental implant market through the planned acquisition of a majority interest in Medentis Medical, a dental implant manufacturer based in Germany; and strengthen its geographic footprint in Europe with the acquisition of a majority interest in Pro-Cam Implants, CAMLOG's exclusive distributor in the Netherlands. Together, these acquisitions represent annual sales of approximately $45M, will be neutral to the Company's 2018 EPS, and are expected to be accretive thereafter. Financial terms were not disclosed.

08:05 EDT Aldeyra announces 'positive' results from Phase 1/2 clinical trial of ADX-1612 - Aldeyra Therapeutics announced positive top-line results from the MESO-2 investigator-sponsored Phase 1/2 clinical trial of ADX-1612 in patients with pleural malignant mesothelioma. ADX-1612, when combined with standard pemetrexed and platinum therapy, resulted in partial response rates that exceeded historical standard of care. ADX-1612 is a selective inhibitor of heat shock protein 90, a molecular chaperone that controls the folding and activation of client proteins involved in DNA repair and cell division. Results will be announced at a presentation at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer on September 25, 2018. The MESO-2 investigator-sponsored dose escalation clinical trial was designed to assess the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of ADX-1612 in combination with standard pemetrexed and platinum therapy, using either cisplatin or carboplatin. Twenty-seven patients with pleural malignant mesothelioma were enrolled at a single site in the UK and divided into one of three cohorts receiving 100, 150, or 200mg/m2 of ADX-1612 on days 1 and 15 every 21 days. Of 23 evaluable patients, 22 patients (96%) manifested stable disease or clinical response, and one patient (4%) with non-epithelial histology progressed, as measured by via RECIST criteria. The overall response rate was 61%, relative to historical standard of care response rates of 20 to 40%. The response rate in patients with epithelial histology was 76%. In seven patients, reduction of tumor burden was greater than 50%. One patient remained progression-free after 37 months. ADX-1612 was observed to be well-tolerated, and dose-limiting toxicity was observed in three patients, all of whom were enrolled in the highest dose group.

08:04 EDT China Rapid Finance appoints Russsell Krauss as Co-CEO - China Rapid Finance (XRF) announced the expansion of its leadership team with the appointment of Russell Krauss, a former Hewlett-Packard (HPE) executive, as Co-CEO and Vice Chairman. The appointment is intended to help accelerate its strategic corporate transformation as it launches new initiatives and business lines. Krauss brings with him more than two decades of proven P&L leadership experience and an impressive track record of implementing innovative initiatives at major technology ventures and Fortune 500 companies, including technology giant Hewlett-Packard. Prior to taking on the current Co-CEO role, Mr. Krauss has served on the XRF Board since 2016 as an independent non-executive director.

08:00 EDT XO Group to merge with WeddingWire, to become private company

07:45 EDT Encompass Health to create new south central region - Encompass Health announced the intention to create, effective Jan. 1, 2019, a region for its inpatient rehabilitation segment to accommodate growth in the number of hospitals. The new south central region will include the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. This realignment will increase the number of regions from six to seven. Encompass Health has named Brad Kennedy as president of its south central region. Kennedy has served as a vice president in Encompass Health's central region since May 2016 and previously served as CEO of HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital - North in Memphis, Tennessee, and HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Cincinnati in Ohio. His new role goes into effect Jan. 1, 2019.

07:41 EDT BMW now sees FY Automotive segment EBIT margin 'at least' 7% vs. prior 8%-10%

07:40 EDT Fiserv to acquire third-party debit processing solutions of Elan Financial - Fiserv (FISV) announced it has agreed to acquire the debit card processing, ATM Managed Services and MoneyPass surcharge free network of Elan Financial Services, a unit of U.S. Bancorp (USB). The acquisition will further enhance the value proposition of Fiserv, deepen its presence in debit card processing, and expand its mobile and digital payments offerings for consumers and businesses. Through this transaction, Fiserv will build on the growth of its Card Services business by expanding its suite of solutions in key areas such as ATM Managed Services. The company will also add MoneyPass, the second largest surcharge-free network in the United States with access to more than 33,000 ATMs nationwide, to further enhance its market position. Fiserv will offer Elan clients additional services, including risk management solutions, Accel debit payments network and enhanced debit platform capabilities. This acquisition does not include the Elan credit card issuing and corporate payments businesses, which are also U.S. Bancorp units. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter. At closing, Fiserv will pay a purchase price of approximately $690 million. The acquired business has revenue of more than $170 million and Fiserv anticipates this transaction to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in 2019.

07:35 EDT Marinus Pharmaceuticals completes enrollment in Phase 2 Magnolia Study - Marinus Pharmaceuticals announced it has recently completed enrollment in its Magnolia Study, a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of ganaxolone in women with postpartum depression. The double-blind, placebo-controlled Magnolia Study is designed to test whether ganaxolone can be used to treat PPD by administering the drug intravenously for 60 hours in women diagnosed with the disorder. Patients will undergo a 30-day follow-up visit after treatment.

07:33 EDT Accuray publishes data from two studies on protocols using CyberKnife System - Accuray announced that published data from two prospective, multi-center studies using differing protocols provide consistent results and reinforce the use of the CyberKnife System for the effective management of low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer. These studies are the largest conducted to date evaluating stereotactic body radiation therapy, SBRT, in patients with localized prostate cancer. The studies were recently published online in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics and in the European Urology Oncology.

07:24 EDT BeyondSpring presents clinical data showing Plinabulin reduces thrombocytopenia - BeyondSpring presented clinical trial data on its novel lead asset, Plinabulin, during a poster presentation at theWorld Conference on Lung Cancer in Toronto, Canada. New data from the company's Phase 2 portion of the Phase 2/3 trial in Study 105 of Plinabulin was presented. Thrombocytopenia, a frequent side effect of chemotherapy, is a lowering of platelet counts that, when severe, leads to bleeding and anemia and can require transfusion with platelets, potentially resulting in a long ICU stay, as well as a high mortality rate. In a head-to-head Phase 2 trial comparing Plinabulin with Neulasta, a long-acting G-CSF, Plinabulin at 20 mg/m2 was shown to be effective in significantly reducing docetaxel-induced thrombocytopenia, while Neulasta did not show this benefit.

07:18 EDT Michael Kors sees opportunity to grow revenues to $8B in long-term - In slides being presented on the conference call discussing its acquisition of Versace, Michael Kors says it sees an opportunity to grow total company revenues to $8B in the long-term. The company has a $2B revenue goal for Versace, $1B revenue goal for Jimmy Choo and $5B revenue goal for the Michael Kors brand. In pre-market trading, shares of Michael Kors are down 1%.

07:17 EDT Michael Kors trading resumes, drops 1% after announcing Versace acquisition

07:15 EDT DSMB says TG Therapeutics UNITY-CLL trial ORR analysis can not be conducted - TG Therapeutics announced that the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board, or DSMB, for the UNITY-CLL Phase 3 trial met to review ongoing data from the study and advised the company that the interim analysis of overall response rate, or ORR, could not be conducted at this time as the data were not sufficiently mature to conduct the analysis. The DSMB did not provide any further guidance but plans to meet quarterly over the next year to continue to monitor the ongoing progress of the trial. Given the uncertainty surrounding the timing and the outcome of the ORR analysis, as well as the significant regulatory hurdles associated with accelerated approval for CLL, the company is now guiding that it will focus on the primary endpoint of progression free survival, or PFS, to support full approval of the ublituximab plus umbralisib, or U2, combination. At this time the company is not planning to seek accelerated approval based on ORR. The company remains blinded to all efficacy data. Additionally, the DSMB reviewed safety data from over 600 patients, including over 300 patients treated with umbralisib either alone or in combination with ublituximab, of which approximately 60% were treatment naive. While no evaluation of PFS was conducted, the DSMB had PFS information available to them solely for purposes of assessing the overall benefit-risk. After review of the data, the DSMB identified no safety concerns and recommended the trial continue without modification. The UNITY-CLL Phase 3 trial continues to be conducted under special protocol assessment agreement with the FDA.

07:11 EDT Motus GI Holdings appoints Timothy Moran as CEO - Motus GI Holdings announced that Timothy Moran will assume the role of CEO and member of the Board of Directors on October 1, 2018. Mr. Moran will join Motus GI from ConvaTec Group where he has served as president of the Americas since 2015. Mark Pomeranz, who has served as Motus GI's CEO since 2014, will assume the role of Motus GI's president and COO and will remain on the Board of Directors.

07:10 EDT Bilibili announces content partnership with Discovery for platform in China - Bilibili (BILI) announced that it has partnered with Discover (DISCA) to launch a new Discovery branded channel for its platform in China. The deal also includes a content co-production partnership between the two companies. The "bilibili x Discovery" branded channel delivers factual content from Discovery to a young and wide-ranging Chinese audience base. The partnership includes 145 documentaries and 200 hours of exclusive content, produced by Discovery, which will be published on the "bilibili x Discovery" channel by the end of 2018. The diverse range of content genres available will include adventure, technology, history and animals, all of which are synonymous with Discovery's storytelling capabilities. The partnership also leverages the content production of both companies. Bilibili was selected as a co-production partner of Discovery in the Greater China region, providing further opportunities for the collaboration to grow.

07:08 EDT Michael Kors to be renamed Capri Holdings - Capri Holdings (CPRI) is the new name to be adopted by Michael Kors (KORS) upon the closing of the acquisition. The company said, "Our name is inspired by the fabled island which has long been recognized as an iconic, glamorous and luxury destination. The island's spectacular three rock formation, formed over 200 million years ago, is symbolic of the timeless heritage and strong foundation that is at the core of each of the three founder-led brands in our global fashion luxury group."

07:06 EDT Michael Kors to acquire Gianni Versace S.p.A.for $2.12B - Michael Kors announced that a definitive agreement has been signed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Italian luxury fashion house Gianni Versace S.p.A. for a total enterprise value of approximately $2.12B. John Idol, Chairman and CEO of Michael Kors Holdings, said, "The acquisition of Versace is an important milestone for our group. Versace was founded in 1978. For over 40 years, Versace has represented the epitome of Italian fashion luxury, a testament to the brand's timeless heritage. We are excited to have Versace as part of our family of luxury brands, and we are committed to investing in its growth. With the full resources of our group, we believe that Versace will grow to over $2B in revenues. We believe that the strength of the Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo brands, and the acquisition of Versace, position us to deliver multiple years of revenue and earnings growth." As part of our strategic plan for the long-term growth of Versace, we intend to execute on the following key initiatives: Grow Versace to $2B in revenues globally; Build on Versace's luxury runway momentum; Enhance Versace's powerful and iconic marketing; Increase global retail footprint from approximately 200 to 300 stores; Accelerate e-commerce and omni-channel development; Expand men's and women's accessories and footwear from 35% to 60% of revenues; The acquisition of Versace is expected to deliver a number of benefits for our company, including: Opportunity to help grow our group's revenues to $8B in the long-term; Expand our global luxury group to include three iconic founder-led brands defined by fashion luxury products with a reputation for world-class design and innovation; Potential to create long-term operational synergies. The transaction is expected to close in the company's fourth fiscal quarter, subject to specified closing conditions, including the receipt of required regulatory approvals.

07:04 EDT Michael Kors to acquire Gianni Versace S.p.A.for $2.12B

07:03 EDT Nielsen: Qualified Ad Audience solution to be implemented by FreeWheel, Innovid - Nielsen announced that FreeWheel and Innovid will integrate the measurement leader's new Qualified Ad Audience solution in Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings to provide persons-level, deduplicated duration weighted audience measurement of digital campaigns. With this integration, both leading premium video ad servers will be able to provide marketers with greater confidence in their digital advertising and content investments.

07:02 EDT Cubic Transportation Systems awarded $22M contract by Los Angeles Metro - Cubic announced that its Cubic Transportation Systems, or CTS, business division has been awarded a $22M upgrade contract from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to enhance its automatic fare collection system. The system links 25 regional agencies through a common contactless smart card branded TAP. The upgrade program awarded to Cubic will support two new innovative service enhancements planned for a progressive launch over the next 18 months. These include an integrated mobile app and TAPforce, a cloud-based account.

07:02 EDT AstraZeneca reports positive CHMP opinion on EXSCEL cardiovascular outcomes data - AstraZeneca announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion on a Type-II variation update for Bydureon to include in the European label cardiovascular data from the EXSCEL trial in adults with type-2 diabetes at a wide range of CV risk. Elisabeth Bjork, Vice President, Head of Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic Diseases, Global Medicines Development at AstraZeneca said: "We are pleased with this positive recommendation for Bydureon and what it means for patients with type-2 diabetes with a wide range of cardiovascular risk. Our pursuit of this label is based on our strong belief in the clinical value the EXSCEL data brings to physicians and patients."

06:59 EDT Reata Pharmaceuticals trading halted, news pending

06:56 EDT EyeGate granted additional 180 days to comply with Nasdaq listing rules - EyeGate announced that the company has been granted an additional 180 days to comply with Nasdaq's continued listing rules. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) requires listed securities to maintain a minimum bid price of $1 per share. With the extension granted, EyeGate has until March 18, 2019 to meet this requirement by having a closing bid price of at least $1 per share for a minimum of ten consecutive business days during this additional time period.

06:53 EDT Iron Mountain operations achieve renewable energy sources milestone - Iron Mountain announced that its operations in Belgium, Ireland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom have achieved the company's stated goal of utilizing 100% of their electricity consumption from renewable energy sources. This milestone represents a significant achievement for the company following its joining of the RE100 initiative earlier this year in which Iron Mountain committed to using renewable energy sources for 100% of its worldwide electricity. In doing so, the company pledged to follow a rigorous standard for green power purchasing and achieving aggressive interim milestones on the way to a complete conversion by 2050. Like other global organizations, the primary source of electricity for Iron Mountain has been coal and natural gas, the biggest single factor driving the company's greenhouse gas, or GHG footprint. In 2016, electricity use alone made up almost half of Iron Mountain's GHG emissions. Data centers, like the Slough and Amsterdam locations acquired earlier this year, drive much of that as they require continuous power to maintain the operation of servers and other technology and support. The Slough location alone uses as much energy as all Iron Mountain's UK records management facilities combined, while the Amsterdam facility doubled the company's energy footprint in Europe. Removing that dependence on fossil fuel delivers both environmental benefits and better cost controls, as fossil fuel prices are often volatile, while the cost of using sustainable/renewable sources like wind and solar are predictable for organizations. Employing a combination of green power contracts, Iron Mountain was able to negotiate cost effective wind and other renewable resources to supply all of the company's electricity usage in these countries, including the data center operations in Slough and Amsterdam. These contracts in the UK and Europe further the company's RE100 goals and build on last year's achievement when wind and solar power totaled 30%of the company's global electricity supply.

06:45 EDT XO Group trading halted, news pending

06:33 EDT Nice Systems implements RPS solution for SBI Card - NICE announced that it has implemented NICE Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, solution for SBI Card to support its growth journey by streamlining operations and enhancing customer experience. NICE RPA is implemented to increase automation in the Indian card issuer's operations and backend processes to manage repetitive, error prone tasks, thus freeing up employees to engage in value added services.

06:31 EDT Cerecor to acquire Ichorion Therapeutics in $26.6M transaction - Cerecor announced that it has agreed to acquire Ichorion Therapeutics. Ichorion is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments and increasing awareness of inherited metabolic disorders known as Inborn Errors of Metabolism. The terms of the agreement include the issuance of approximately 5,800,000 shares of Cerecor common stock at closing, subject to an end of 2019 lock-up, and development milestones worth up to an additional $15M, payable either in Cerecor stock or in cash in certain circumstances. The transaction was unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of both Cerecor and Ichorion and is expected to close later today.

06:20 EDT Wayside Technology subsidiary signs distribution agreement with Circadence - Lifeboat Distribution, a subsidiary of Wayside Technology Group announced a distribution agreement with Circadence a leader in innovative, gamified cybersecurity training and assessment solutions that help to defeat evolving cyber threats. Lifeboat will promote Circadence's solutions to organizations looking to modernize cyber team training using gamification, artificial intelligence and machine learning, helping them augment and automate their cyber workforces. The partnership with Lifeboat will widen Circadence's reach to thousands more value-added sellers and partners

06:11 EDT Google pushing deeper into Stories, adding Lens to Google Images - Google is pushing deeper into Stories, it said in a blog post. Google, which has allowed some publishers to create Stories since February, is going to start using artificial intelligence to create its own Stories that will appear in Google search and image results. "We're starting today with stories about notable people-like celebrities and athletes-providing a glimpse into facts and important moments from their lives in a rich, visual format. This format lets you easily tap to the articles for more information and provides a new way to discover content from the web." The company also said, "We launched Google Lens last year to help you do more with what you see. People are already using it in their camera and on their photos-to find items in an outfit they like, learn more about landmarks, or identify that cute dog in the park. In the coming weeks, we'll bring Lens to Google Images to help you explore and learn more about visual content you find during your searches." Reference Link

06:05 EDT IHS Markit sees FY18 adjusted EBITDA $1.55B-$1.56B - Additionally, for the year ending November 30, 2018, IHS Markit expects: Depreciation expense to be approximately $180 million to $190 million; Amortization expense related to acquired intangible assets to be approximately $360 million to $370 million; Net interest expense to be approximately $215 million to $220 million; Stock-based compensation expense to be approximately $225 million to $235 million; An adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 18 percent to 20 percent; Weighted average diluted shares of approximately 405 million to 410 million; Capital expenditures to be approximately 6 percent to 7 percent of revenue; and Free cash flow as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA in the mid-60's.

06:02 EDT Petco appoints Tariq Hassan as Chief Marketing Officer - Petco (PETC) announced it has appointed Tariq Hassan as chief marketing officer. Prior to joining Petco, Hassan served as SVP, Global Brand Strategy and Head of Marketing for Wealth Management at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC).

05:59 EDT Instagram co-founders Systrom, Krieger confirm plans to step down - In a statement from Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom, the executive confirms that he and co-founder and CTO Mike Krieger will step down. "Mike and I are grateful for the last eight years at Instagram and six years with the Facebook team. We've grown from 13 people to over a thousand with offices around the world, all while building products used and loved by a community of over one billion. We're now ready for our next chapter. We're planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again. Building new things requires that we step back, understand what inspires us and match that with what the world needs; that's what we plan to do. We remain excited for the future of Instagram and Facebook in the coming years as we transition from leaders to two users in a billion. We look forward to watching what these innovative and extraordinary companies do next." Reference Link

05:53 EDT Pluristem PLX cell therapy granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation - Pluristem Therapeutics announced that the FDA has granted Orphan Drug Designation to the Company's PLX cell therapy for the treatment of graft failure and incomplete hematopoietic recovery following hematopoietic cell transplantation, or HCT. Pluristem's product PLX-R18 is currently being evaluated for the treatment of insufficient hematopoietic recovery following bone marrow transplantation in an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. and Israel. The trial is designed to evaluate the safety of intramuscular injections of PLX-R18 cells in 24 subjects with incomplete hematopoietic recovery persisting for at least 4 months after HCT, with a 12-month follow-up period. The primary endpoint is safety. Exploratory endpoints include changes in platelet and hemoglobin levels, changes in transfusion frequency, a shift from transfusion dependence to transfusion independence, changes in quality of life, and changes in the serum immunological parameters.

05:44 EDT Aegon US capital position to benefit significantly from merger of legal entities - Aegon expects a one-time benefit to capital generation of approximately $1B as a result of the merger of two legal entities. This follows changes to the existing U.S. capital framework for variable annuities proposed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, or NAIC. "Merging two of our US entities simplifies our legal structure, increases our capital buffer, and leads to the release of reserves and higher diversification benefits", said Alex Wynaendts, CEO of Aegon. "This enables us to further strengthen our capital position in the United States and enhance the robustness of our balance sheet." Effective October 1, 2018, Aegon will merge its Arizona-based variable annuity captive with Transamerica Life Insurance Company, or TLIC, subject to customary regulatory approval. The rationale behind setting up the variable annuity captive in 2015 was the need to manage the volatility of the U.S. RBC ratio as a consequence of misalignment between reserve movements and hedging within the existing variable annuity capital framework. The NAIC recently proposed improvements to the existing variable annuity capital framework. These reduce the non-economic volatility of the RBC ratio, and for this reason the use of a variable annuity captive is no longer required. In 2019, Aegon intends to early adopt the proposed changes in the variable annuity capital framework without any material effect on its capital position. The merger between the variable annuity captive and TLIC is expected to result in a 50%-points benefit to the U.S. RBC ratio or approximately $1B one-time capital generation as a result of the release of reserves and diversification benefits. The beneficial impact of this merger on Aegon's group Solvency II ratio is expected to largely offset the impact of U.S. tax reform in the second half of 2018. Aegon expects that the merger will have no material impact on its recurring capital generation in the coming 10 years given the long-dated nature of the variable annuity business.

05:26 EDT Amgen announces approval for Blincyto in Japan - Amgen announced that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has granted marketing approval for Blincyto for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blincyto was developed in Japan by Amgen Astellas BioPharma K.K., or AABP, a joint venture between Amgen and Astellas Pharma Inc., a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Tokyo. Blincyto is the first-and-only bispecific T cell engager immunotherapy construct approved globally. It is also the first approved immunotherapy from Amgen's BiTE platform, an innovative approach that helps the body's immune system target cancer cells.