Stockwinners Market Radar for October 14, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:15 EDT Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories - Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Harris (HRS) and L3 Technologies (LLL) have agreed to combine in an all stock merger of equals. Under the terms of the merger agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, L3 shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 1.30 shares of Harris common stock for each share of L3 common stock, consistent with the 60-trading day average exchange ratio of the two companies. Upon completion of the merger, Harris shareholders will own approximately 54% and L3 shareholders will own approximately 46% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. For calendar year 2018, the combined company, L3 Harris Technologies, is expected to generate net revenue of approximately $16B, EBIT of $2.4B and free cash flow of $1.9B. 2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has set a new launch day record as the biggest day one digital release in Activision (ATVI) history. Digital sales for the first day of release broke the franchise record set in 2017 by Call of Duty: WWII. Released Friday, Black Ops 4 also set a new PlayStation (SNE) record for day one digital full game sales on PlayStation Store, globally. The title also quickly became the best-selling Activision Xbox One (MSFT) digital game on day one, globally. The first Call of Duty release ever on Blizzard's Battle.net, the PC version of Black Ops 4 also delivered a new franchise high in which launch day PC digital sales more than doubled year on year. In its first day of availability, the total number of people who connected online to play Black Ops 4 increased from last year's release. 3. Elon Musk has obsessed about shorts as Tesla (TSLA) shares bounced down from last year's peak of $384 to a Friday close of $259, and one should expect an entrepreneur to hate short sellers as they want his stock to drop, Bill Alpert wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. The bet against Tesla is sizable but still one cannot blame the shorts for the slide in the stock, the publication argued. There are always way more longs than shorts, and while some shorts make bogus statements, so do many longs and none more prominently than Musk himself, the report added. 4. Sony's "Venom" debuted to $80M from 4,250 theaters in the U.S., easily the best showing ever for an October title. Overseas, the comic book movie soared to $125.2M from 58 markets for a global bow of $205.2M. "Venom" earned a B+ and sports 32% Rotten Tomatoes score. 5. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Bank of America (BAC) saw positive mentions in Barron's, while Charles Schwab (SCHW) was mentioned cautiously.

16:41 EDT Box Office Battle: 'Venom' wins domestic box office again with $35.7M - Sony's (SNE) "Venom" remained at number one, earning another $35.7M domestically in its second weekend. The pic has grossed $142.8M in North America and $235.3M offshore for a $378.1M total. The movie starring Tom Hardy as the Marvel antihero earned a B+ and sports 32% Rotten Tomatoes score. BOX OFFICE RUNNERS-UP: AT&T (T) subsidiary Warner Bros' "A Start Is Born" also stayed at number two, with $28M domestically from 3,708 cinemas. Behind was Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary Universal's "First Man," finishing its debut weekend with $16.5M. Sony's "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween" placed number four in its debut weekend with $16.23M from 3,521 locations. Rounding out the top five, Warner Bros' "Smallfoot" grossed $9.3M for a domestic cume of $57.6M and $110.2M globally. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include 21st Century Fox's (FOX, FOXA), Viacom (VIAB), Lionsgate's (LGF.A, LGF.B) and Disney's (DIS).

16:16 EDT New Call of Duty delivers biggest launch day one digital sales for Activision - Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has set a new launch day record as the biggest day one digital release in Activision (ATVI) history. Digital sales for the first day of release broke the franchise record set in 2017 by Call of Duty: WWII. Released Friday, Black Ops 4 also set a new PlayStation (SNE) record for day one digital full game sales on PlayStation Store, globally. The title also quickly became the best-selling Activision Xbox One (MSFT) digital game on day one, globally. The first Call of Duty release ever on Blizzard's Battle.net, the PC version of Black Ops 4 also delivered a new franchise high in which launch day PC digital sales more than doubled year on year. In its first day of availability, the total number of people who connected online to play Black Ops 4 increased from last year's release.

16:06 EDT Honeywell engines to power Embraer's latest executive aircraft models - Honeywell (HON) engines will power two Embraer (ERJ) aircraft models revealed at the National Business Aviation Association 2018 event. Embraer is also equipping these models with Honeywell's auxiliary power units, cabin-related management systems, pressure and control systems, and environmental controls, along with optional inertial reference units. The HTF7500E engine was designed from the beginning with "built-in" thrust potential to accommodate growth. By taking advantage of the HTF7500E's full power capability and excellent fuel efficiency, and through the addition of advanced winglets and fuel capacity, Embraer achieved a 3,900-nautical-mile range for its super midsize aircraft, the Praetor 600. Its midsize sibling, the Praetor 500, achieved a range of 3,250 nautical miles. The HTF7500E is part of Honeywell's growing HTF7000 family of engines. Designed for on-condition maintenance, the HTF7500E's periodic inspections and standard maintenance are easily performed on-wing, reducing costly downtime. Line replaceable components can be removed and replaced using common hand tools. The engine is designed to be environmentally friendly, with emissions well below the International Civil Aviation Organization's environmental protection standards. The HTF7500E is backed by Honeywell's global support network, and with Honeywell's maintenance service plan, Praetor 600 and Praetor 500 operators will enjoy predictable costs and improved dispatch reliability versus non-MSP operators.

12:18 EDT Harris, L3 Technologies to combine in merger of equals - Harris Corporation (HRS) and L3 Technologies (LLL) have agreed to combine in an all stock merger of equals. Under the terms of the merger agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, L3 shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 1.30 shares of Harris common stock for each share of L3 common stock, consistent with the 60-trading day average exchange ratio of the two companies. Upon completion of the merger, Harris shareholders will own approximately 54% and L3 shareholders will own approximately 46% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. The combined company, L3 Harris Technologies, will be the 6th largest defense company in the U.S. and a top 10 defense company globally, with approximately 48,000 employees and customers in over 100 countries. For calendar year 2018, the combined company is expected to generate net revenue of approximately $16B, EBIT of $2.4B and free cash flow of $1.9B. The combination is expected to generate approximately $500M of annual gross pre-tax cost synergies, or $300M net of savings returned to customers, in year 3. The savings will come from reducing direct and indirect spend, rationalizing footprint, consolidating corporate and segment headquarters, establishing a common shared services platform for IT and finance and reducing other overhead costs. The company is expected to invest approximately $450M cash to achieve the synergies over the next 3 years. The combined company will target $3B in free cash flow by year 3, driven by organic growth, cost synergies, working capital improvements and capital expenditure efficiencies. L3 Harris Technologies will be well capitalized with a strong balance sheet and a leverage ratio of 2.2 times net debt to trailing twelve months EBITDA. The combined company will remain committed to maintaining an investment grade credit rating and a dividend payout consistent with each company's current practice and deploying excess cash toward share repurchases, including up to $2B in share repurchases in the 12 months post-closing. L3 Harris Technologies will be headquartered in Melbourne, Florida. The combined company's Board of Directors will have 12 members, consisting of six directors from each company. William Brown will serve as chairman and CEO, and Christopher Kubasik will serve as vice chairman, president and COO for the first two years following the closing of the transaction. For the third year, Brown will transition to executive chairman and Kubasik to CEO, after which Kubasik will become chairman and CEO. The merger is expected to close in mid-calendar year 2019, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals and approval by the shareholders of each company.