Stockwinners Market Radar for November 08, 2018 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

17:51 EDT First Midwest to acquire Northern Oak Wealth Management, terms not disclosed - First Midwest Bancorp announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Northern Oak Wealth Management, Inc., a Milwaukee-based registered investment adviser with approximately $800M of wealth assets under management. This acquisition further strengthens First Midwest's position as one of the Midwest's largest independent wealth management providers, with more than $11B in assets under management and clients across 30 states, the company said. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.

17:42 EDT Rayonier Advanced Materials enters into accelerated share repurchases - Rayonier Advanced Materials has entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, to repurchase an aggregate of $25M of the company's common stock. The ASR is being implemented under the company's share repurchase authorization of up to $100M, which was announced in February. Approximately 1.5 million shares of the Company's common stock to be repurchased under the transaction will be received by the company on November 13, 2018. At settlement, under certain circumstances, JPMorgan may be required to deliver additional shares of common stock to the company, or, under certain circumstances, the company may be required to deliver shares of its common stock or may elect to make a cash payment to JPMorgan.

17:27 EDT Air Lease raises quarterly dividend to 13c from 10c per share - The dividend will be paid on January 9, 2019 to holders of record of our Class A common stock as of December 13, 2018.

17:22 EDT Kimball Electronics extends share repurchase plan by $20M - Kimball Electronics announced that the board authorized an extension of the current stock repurchase plan that was originally authorized in October 2015, and extended in September 2016 and August 2017, allowing a repurchase of up to an additional $20M of common stock of the company. This extension brings the total amount of authorized share repurchases under the plan to $80M, with no expiration date. The plan may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

17:11 EDT Cavco Industries names Daniel Urness president, acting CEO - Cavco Industries announced executive leadership changes. The company's board of directors has appointed Daniel Urness as president and acting CEO, effective immediately. In his new role, Urness will be responsible for day-to-day leadership of the company. The company also announced that Joshua Barsetti, the company's chief accounting officer, will assume the duties of principal financial officer for purposes of financial filings and certifications.

17:08 EDT Seaboard reaches settlement agreement paying $1M - Seaboard and two of its subsidiaries, Seaboard Foods and Seaboard Foods Services have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State of Oklahoma's Office of the Attorney General. The civil settlement concludes an investigation by ICE relating to alleged I-9 paperwork errors and hiring and employment practices by the company's pork production plant in Guymon, Okla., between 2007 and 2012. The civil settlement also concludes an investigation as to whether the Oklahoma Medicaid Program covered certain healthcare claims for individuals enrolled in a private health insurance plan provided by Seaboard. There were no criminal charges or court rulings against the company. Seaboard cooperated fully with the government and agreed to pay $1,006,000 to resolve the matter. The settlement acknowledges that Seaboard denies each and every allegation of wrongdoing and explicitly reflects that the settlement is not an admission of liability by Seaboard.

17:04 EDT Activision Blizzard says people will 'love' mobile 'Diablo' game - Says it's clear that there are a lot of players who are eager for more "Diablo" PC and console content. Says "fortunate" to have a community that cares so much about "Diablo." Says "Diablo" is an important tentpole franchise for Activision Blizzard. Says multiple teams working on multiple "Diablo" projects. Says won't compromise on "Diablo Immortal" mission. Says there will be ongoing support for "Diablo Immortal." Says people are going to "love" "Diablo Immortal."

17:01 EDT Ascendis Pharma forms Visen Pharmaceuticals JV with investor syndicate - Ascendis Pharma announced the formation of Visen Pharmaceuticals, a joint venture, or JV, with an investor syndicate led by Vivo Capital, to develop, manufacture and commercialize the company's endocrinology rare disease therapies in Greater China, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Ascendis has granted Visen exclusive rights to develop and commercialize TransCon hGH, TransCon PTH and TransCon CNP in Greater China, and has received 50% ownership of Visen. An investor syndicate led by Vivo, along with participation by Sofinnova Ventures, has invested $40M and has received 50% ownership of Visen. Visen will be responsible for all development, manufacturing and commercialization costs for TransCon hGH, TransCon PTH, and TransCon CNP in Greater China. Ascendis will be reimbursed for clinical trial material and technical support by Visen. Commercial supply will be negotiated for each product by Ascendis and Visen. Ascendis will collaborate with Visen to evaluate integration of Greater China into Ascendis Pharma's global rare disease clinical development programs. Ascendis and Vivo have an option to participate in certain future investment rounds to maintain their pro rata ownership of the joint venture. Visen has a right of first negotiation on certain future Ascendis products within the endocrinology disease area limited to Greater China. Ascendis retains full rights to its TransCon technology products outside of Greater China.

16:59 EDT CoStar Group acquires Cozy Services Ltd. for $68M - CoStar Group announced its acquisition of Cozy Services, Ltd., a leading provider of online rental solutions, for $68M. Cozy is considered an industry leader in the online rental property market, with more than 50,000 landlords using the Cozy platform. Extending this capability to multifamily properties, CoStar expects to fully integrate the Cozy technology into the Apartments.com platform in the first half of 2019. This integrated online rental solution is expected to create significant value and efficiency in the rental process for independent rental owners. These owners operate over 22M rental units in properties that contain five units or less - representing a significant "long tail" opportunity for CoStar. Based on what property owners are currently willing to pay to fill their properties with a qualified renter, CoStar believes the total addressable market is well over $8B. In addition, once integrated with Apartments.com, renters will be able to use the platform to save time and money by leveraging a single rental application and credit check across multiple properties. This, in turn, creates a large population of quality renters for landlords to access for future vacancies.

16:55 EDT Procter & Gamble simplifies organization structure - The Procter & Gamble Company updated shareowners and analysts on significant progress toward its goals of delivering stronger, balanced growth and value creation. The company affirmed its focus on its core growth strategy of delivering noticeable brand superiority; driving productivity improvement and cost savings to fuel investments and margin; and transforming P&G's organization and culture. This growth strategy is driving improved results, including faster top-line growth, increased consumption, and market share growth. Under the theme of "leading constructive disruption," P&G highlighted a broad range of initiatives across innovation, brand building, supply chain, information technology and citizenship that are creating new levels of competitive advantage for the Company and its brands. The Company also announced several organization changes, effective July 1, 2019, that will simplify the management structure and further increase focus, agility and accountability. Building on a series of improvements already in place, the Company announced a new, simpler management structure to provide greater clarity on responsibilities. New reporting lines will strengthen leadership accountability and enable P&G people to accelerate growth and value creation. Beginning July 1, 2019, the Company will operate though six industry-based Sector Business Units for the largest geographic markets, led by Sector Business Unit CEOs who will report to Taylor. These SBUs will have direct sales, profit, cash and value creation responsibility for its largest markets - U.S., Canada, China, Japan, U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia and smaller adjacent countries - accounting for about 80% of Company sales and 90% of after-tax profit. The SBUs will have responsibility for all facets of the business in these markets: consumer understanding, product and package innovation, brand communications, selling and retail execution, and supply chain. In these markets, the Company will continue to provide scaled market services to help the SBUs operate efficiently and with high quality. Responsibility for the remaining markets will be organized into a separate unit with sales, profit, and value creation responsibility. The SBUs will provide innovation plans and operating frameworks to drive growth and value creation in these markets. The intent is to give these markets executional freedom, with just enough framework, to ensure their success. The Company will continue to reduce the level of corporate resources, with about 60% of corporate work shifting to the business units and markets and will retain a core set of corporate resources needed to sustain the ongoing health, viability and sustainability of the Corporation. This includes back-office operations, governance and stewardship, and some areas requiring deep mastery. In particular, P&G will retain its Corporate Research & Development group that invents upstream platform technologies to benefit multiple businesses and opens opportunities for P&G to get into entirely new businesses. Chief Financial Officer Jon Moeller will expand his responsibilities to include the operations side of the Company and will be appointed Vice Chairman, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, continuing to report to Taylor. In this capacity, Moeller will assume responsibility for markets beyond those managed directly by the SBUs, Market Operations providing scaled market services, and functions that support operations. The Company reiterated this structure supports continued focus on the streamlined portfolio of 10 product categories; ongoing efforts to move resources closer to the consumers and customers it serves; supplementing internal talent with skilled, experienced external hiring; improving category dedication and mastery; strengthening of compensation and incentive programs; and ongoing improvements in productivity.

16:50 EDT Activision Blizzard says 'Destiny' not performing as well as company wants - Sees Q4 benefiting from strong in-game revenue and major new launches. Says yearly results strongly weighted to Q4. Says "Destiny" not performing as well as company would like.

16:49 EDT Kraton provides update on Panama City operational status - Kraton provided an update on the operational status of its Panama City, Florida, plant. "Our Panama City team has done a remarkable job, working tirelessly despite significant personal challenges, to restore operations following the outage caused by Hurricane Michael. I would personally like to thank all of our employees for their efforts, and I want to also thank our contractors, vendors, insurance partners and the local community in Panama City for their rapid response and strong support over these past few weeks," said Kevin M. Fogarty, Kraton's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Based upon the progress we have made to date, we currently expect the Crude Tall Oil refinery to resume operations at full capacity by the end of November, at which time we would begin orderly ramp up to pre-hurricane supply rates on a product line basis. In addition, we currently expect that our Crude Sulfate Turpentine refinery should be operating at approximately 60% of capacity by the end of December, with a target of full operational capacity by the middle of the first quarter of 2019, during which time we expect the CST refinery will also ramp up to pre-hurricane supply rates," Fogarty said. "We will continue our efforts to minimize the impact of the Panama City outage on our customers, and we thank them for their patience and understanding as we work to resume full operations in Panama City," added Fogarty. At this time Kraton does not have a monetary estimate of damages resulting from Hurricane Michael, but it anticipates that insurance proceeds will cover the costs to repair the Panama City manufacturing assets, provide reimbursement for any damage to inventory and pay for any lost profits, subject to insurance policy deductibles, which the company currently expects will not exceed $14M in total.

16:46 EDT Franklin Resources reports preliminary AUM $682.7B as of October 31 - Franklin Resources reported preliminary month-end assets under management of $682.7B at October 31, compared to $717.1B at September 30. The decrease in assets under management was attributable to market declines and net outflows. Preliminary average assets under management for the quarter, through October 31, were $699.9B.

16:45 EDT Activision says MAUs rose 'significantly' in October after 'Black Ops 4' launch - Says will celebrate 15th anniversary of "World of Warcraft" next year. Says "Destiny 2: Forsaken" did not achieve company's expectations. Says Activision MAUs increased 'significantly' in October following launch of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4." Says Overwatch League continues to "build on success" of inaugural season.

16:42 EDT Nelnet raises quarterly dividend to 18c from 16c per share - The dividend will be paid on December 14, 2018, to shareholders of record at the close of business on November 30, 2018.

16:40 EDT Morgan Stanley reports 6.7% passive stake in Meritor

16:38 EDT United Community Banks increases share repurchase program - The board of United Community Banks authorized an increase in the company's repurchase program to $50M of its outstanding common shares that may be acquired through December 31, 2019. The shares may be repurchased periodically in open market transactions at prevailing market prices, in privately negotiated transactions, or by other means in accordance with federal securities laws, and the program may be suspended or discontinued at any time without notice.

16:37 EDT United Community Banks increases quarterly cash dividend - United Community Banks reported that its board approved an increase of its regular quarterly cash dividend to 16c per common share. The dividend is payable January 7, 2019 to shareholders of record on December 15, 2018. This represents the 5th such increase in the dividend over the past eight quarters and a 60% increase over the quarterly dividend a year ago.

16:35 EDT Southside Bancshares declares 2c per share special cash dividend - The board of Southside Bancshares, parent company of Southside Bank, declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 30c per common share. In a separate action, the board declared a special cash dividend of 2c per common share. The combined cash dividend of 32c is payable to common stock shareholders of record November 22. The cash dividend is scheduled for payment on December 6.

16:34 EDT Mirati Therapeutics: First patient dosed in Phase 1b trial of sitravatinib - Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX) announced dosing of the first patient under its collaboration agreement with BeiGene, Ltd. (BGNE) in a Phase 1b clinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability, pharmacokinetics and preliminary anti-tumor activity of Mirati's sitravatinib in combination with BeiGene's investigational anti-PD1 antibody, tislelizumab, in patients with advanced solid tumors. The clinical trial is currently enrolling patients in China and Australia. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, upon initiation of the clinical trial by BeiGene, Mirati will receive a $3M milestone payment.

16:32 EDT Hertz up 12% to $18.24 after Q3 results beat estimates

16:31 EDT Farfetch sees Q4 GMV $435M-$445M

16:29 EDT Activision Blizzard reports 345M MAUs in Q3 - King had 262 million MAUs in the quarter. Candy Crush Saga MAUs grew year-over-year. In October, the newly launched Candy Crush Friends Saga reached the top of the iPhone download charts in 93 countries within three weeks. Blizzard had 37 million MAUs in the quarter. World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth set a new day-one franchise record with more than 3.4 million units sold-through. World of Warcraft engagement grew strongly quarter-over-quarter. Hearthstone recently surpassed the 100 million life-to-date registered player milestone. Activision had 46 million MAUs in the quarter. Destiny MAUs grew quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, driven by the launch of Forsaken and reach initiatives for the base game. Activision MAUs increased significantly in October following the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. In the first three weeks after launch, Black Ops 4 sold-through more units than Black Ops III, with PC sell-through more than three times higher. Additionally for the first three weeks after launch, total active users and hours played were 16% and over 20% higher respectively, versus Black Ops III.

16:28 EDT Eldorado Resorts authorizes $150M share repurchase program - Eldorado Resorts announced that its board of directors has authorized a $150M common stock repurchase program. The company anticipates funding any share repurchases from its cash flow from operations. Eldorado has approximately 77.5M shares of common stock outstanding.

16:26 EDT Choice Hotels names Rent the Runway's Maureen Sullivan to board - Choice Hotels says it has elected Maureen Sullivan to its board of directors. Sullivan is Chief Operating Officer of Rent the Runway, and a former AOL and Google executive. Patrick Pacious, CEO of Choice Hotels, noted, "Maureen brings expertise in a high growth, operationally complex business that is engaging with consumers through both established and emerging channels. At Choice Hotels, we value the creativity and innovation driven by a culture built on diversity of thought, background and experience at all levels. Maureen's unique perspective and skillset is a valuable addition to our company."

16:24 EDT ForeScout acquires SecurityMatters for $113M in cash - ForeScout Technologies announced it has acquired SecurityMatters for approximately $113M in cash, subject to customary adjustments. The acquisition will bolster ForeScout's global leadership position in agentless device visibility and control across the extended enterprise with expanded capabilities and advanced features to secure OT and industrial environments.

16:24 EDT U.S. Navy awards SAIC $597M contract - The U.S. Navy awarded Science Applications International Corp. an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract for the production and delivery of integrated Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance systems, networks, and support equipment in support of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic. The single-award contract has a five-year period of performance worth approximately $597M.

16:23 EDT Trinseo sees FY19 adjusted EBITDA $600M-$630M

16:22 EDT Funko down 4.76% after reporting Q3 results, raising FY18 guidance

16:21 EDT Disney up 1.5% in afterhours trading following Q4 earnings report

16:19 EDT United Continental reports October traffic up 7.5%, capacity up 5.9% - United Continental reported operating performance for October 2018. Consolidated traffic, measured by revenue passenger miles, increased 7.5% and consolidated capacity, measured by available seat miles, increased 5.9% versus October 2017. October 2018 consolidated load factor increased 1.2 points compared to October 2017.

16:18 EDT Bojangles reports Q3 system-wide comparable restaurant sales increase of 0.4%

16:17 EDT CenturyLink backs FY18 adjusted EBITDA view $9B-$9.15B

16:14 EDT Jagged Peak Energy raises 2018 average daily equivalent production view - Now sees 2018 average daily equivalent production view of 33.6-34.1 MBoe/d from 32.0-34.0 MBoe/d. Raises 2018 average daily oil production view to 26.1-26.6 MBbls/d from 25-27 MBbls/d. Still sees 2018 CapEx of $668M-$702M.

16:12 EDT Yelp sinks 26%, or $11.51, to $31.99 after sales miss, lowered outlook

16:12 EDT Oasis Petroleum sells select midstream interests to Oasis Midstream Partners - Oasis Petroleum (OAS) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell additional interests in Bobcat DevCo and Beartooth DevCo to Oasis Midstream Partners (OMP) for $250M, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. The divested assets include a 15% interest in Bobcat DevCo and 30% interest in Beartooth DevCo. The consideration is expected to consist of $125M in cash from borrowings under OMP's credit facility, with the remainder to come from, depending on market conditions, proceeds from any capital market transactions and/or the issuance of common units representing limited partner interests in OMP to Oasis. Bobcat DevCo's assets are focused in the Wild Basin operating area and include gas gathering, compression and gas lift, crude oil gathering and produced water gathering and disposal. Bobcat DevCo is a particularly strategic midstream asset, as it has been a key contributor to the early success of connecting third-party volumes to OMP's gas plants. Oasis and OMP have invested heavily in Bobcat DevCo in 2018, positioning the DevCo for over 50% EBITDA growth in 2019. These investments have been to support both Oasis' volume growth as well as third-party opportunities at attractive build multiples. The Beartooth DevCo owns significant water infrastructure assets across most of Oasis' core operating areas. These assets, which gather and dispose of produced water, deliver freshwater for well completions and deliver freshwater for production optimization services, are predominately located in Oasis' Alger, Cottonwood, Hebron, Indian Hills and Red Bank operating areas. Substantially all of the area around the Beartooth DevCo's acreage dedication can be serviced by these assets, with minimal additional expansion capital expenditures given the reach of our widely dispersed infrastructure systems currently in place. Beartooth DevCo's infrastructure can easily service additional wells through low-cost connections. Beartooth DevCo's extensive footprint has allowed OMP to secure agreements with third-parties related to water sourcing and disposal.

16:10 EDT Disney reports Q4 Consumer Products & Interactive revenue $1.1B - Consumer Products & Interactive Media revenues for the quarter decreased 8% to $1.1B, and segment operating income decreased 10% to $337M due to asset impairments and lower income from licensing activities, partially offset by lower general and administrative costs at our games business. The asset impairments reflected write-offs of leasehold improvements at certain retail stores.

16:10 EDT Disney reports Q4 Studio Entertainment revenue $2.15B - Studio Entertainment revenues for the quarter increased 50% to $2.15B and segment operating income increased $378M to $596M. The increase in operating income was due to growth in theatrical distribution, lower film cost impairments and higher TV/SVOD and home entertainment distribution results. The increase in theatrical distribution results was due to the success of Incredibles 2 and Ant-Man and the Wasp in the current quarter compared to Cars 3 and no Marvel release in the prior-year quarter. The decrease in film cost impairments reflected a write-off in the prior-year quarter of an animated title that was in development.

16:09 EDT InnerWorkings announces $30M expansion with existing client - InnerWorkings announced the signing of a major contractual expansion with a long-term client. InnerWorkings has supported this client, a Fortune 100 global food and beverage company, in Latin America since 2011. The successful results of this partnership led the client to expand its relationship with InnerWorkings geographically and into additional product categories. Under the terms of the new multi-year agreement, the relationship will expand from about $10 million a year in annual revenue to nearly $40 million. In addition to the sales and marketing collateral that InnerWorkings has delivered for the past seven years, the new scope includes both temporary and permanent retail marketing displays, and expands the scope into the large United States market for the first time.

16:08 EDT Lionsgate reports Starz increases subscribers by 1.3M in Q2 - Starz reported record growth in the quarter driven by a sequential increase of 1.3M subscribers to a total of 25.1M domestic subscribers with strong gains in both over-the-top and traditional MVPD subscribers.

16:07 EDT Redfin down 5.6% after reporting Q3 earnings, giving Q4 guidance

16:06 EDT Adtalem Global Education announces $350M stock buyback - Adtalem Global Education announced that its board of directors has approved its eleventh share repurchase program for $300 million which expires December 31, 2021. The new program will commence when the repurchases from the current program are complete, which is expected to occur in early calendar year 2019.

16:01 EDT Kona Grill appoints Marcus Jundt, Steven Schussler co-CEOs - Kona Grill announced that its board appointed Marcus Jundt and Steven Schussler as co-CEOs of the company. Marcus Jundt is one of the founders of the Kona Grill concept and previously served as the company's CEO from 2006 to 2009. Steven Schussler is the founder of several successful concepts, among the most noticeable are Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex Cafe, Yak & Yeti, The Boathouse, and others. Both Messrs. Jundt and Schussler are currently directors of the Company.

15:14 EDT AnaptysBio dips after tweet from short-seller questions disclosures - Shares of AnaptysBio have dipped in afternoon trading after short-seller Muddy Waters Research tweeted out a comparison of 10-Q filings that showed that on 5/8/2018 a statement was made that Hamza Suria certified that the "financial statements and other financial information...fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, result of operations and cash flows of the registrant" and that in a 10-Q filing on 9/14/2018 the same part of the document read "" In afternoon trading, AnaptysBio shares are down $4.41, or 5.1%, to $81.84. Reference Link

15:04 EDT Plantronics trading resumes

14:59 EDT Plantronics trading halted, volatility trading pause

12:57 EDT Herc Holdings mentioned as stock pick by Mario Gabelli on CNBC

12:40 EDT Mario Gabelli recommends buying Tribune Company 'aggressively' - Mario Gabelli, while speaking on CNBC, recommended investors buy shares of Tribune Company "aggressively." The CEO of Gabelli Asset Management expects Tribune Company to get acquired.

12:26 EDT CVI Investments reports 9.9% passive stake in LM Funding

12:18 EDT Praxair to expand nitrogen capacity at South Korea facility - Praxair, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Linde plc, announced it will increase nitrogen capacity at its facility under construction in Pyeongtaek, South Korea to meet growing demand at Samsung's semiconductor manufacturing complex. The overall project, first announced in early 2018, is Praxair's largest investment ever. Praxair is undertaking a multi-phase project to build several hydrogen and high-purity air separation plants, as well as multiple purifiers and an extensive pipeline system to supply atmospheric, process and various specialty gases to Samsung. With this expansion, Praxair's total investment in Pyeongtaek will be approximately $600M.

12:16 EDT B Communications Ltd. trading halted, volatility trading pause

12:10 EDT CFTC settles swap valuation case against former Deutsche Bank managing director - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that it filed and settled charges against Jacob Bourne, a former managing director of Deutsche Bank Securities, for fraudulently mismarking swap valuations to conceal significant trading losses. The CFTC Order requires Bourne to pay a $350,000 civil penalty and permanently bans Bourne from trading on exchange and seeking registration with the CFTC, among other prohibitions. In connection with this action, the Division of Enforcement also issued its first public declination letter to Deutsche Bank AG and Deutsche Bank Securities stating it is closing the related investigation into Deutsche Bank based, in part, on the Bank's actions to identify the fraudulent activity, self-report the activity to the CFTC, fully cooperate, and proactively remediate. Reference Link

12:00 EDT Zayo Group falls -23.1% - Zayo Group is down -23.1%, or -$7.01 to $23.37.

12:00 EDT Rubicon Project rises 13.2% - Rubicon Project is up 13.2%, or 46c to $3.94.

12:00 EDT Sally Beauty rises 20.5% - Sally Beauty is up 20.5%, or $3.85 to $22.64.

11:32 EDT Google to make arbitration optional for sexual harassment, assault claims

11:22 EDT IAC beats quarterly estimates amid plans to make Vimeo standalone segment - Shares of IAC are higher on Thursday after the company reported quarterly results and said it would change the way its businesses are organized. Q3 RESULTS: IAC on Wednesday afternoon beat analysts' estimates, with earnings per share of $1.49 on revenue of $1.1B. Analysts had been expected EPS of 93c and revenue of $1.07B. For the quarter, IAC said ANGI Homeservices (ANGI) revenue increased 67% to $303.1M, whle Match Group (MTCH) total average subscribers increased 23% to 8.1M, Vimeo subscribers increased 10% to 932,000 and SaaS revenue, excluding acquisitions, increased 29%. VIMEO, DOTDASH TO BECOME OWN SEGMENTS: IAC will make Vimeo its own segment Vimeo so shareholders can see progress more granularly through revenue and investment each quarter. Vimeo "has the scale and potential to now stand on its own, and we want to begin to put a spotlight on it," Joey Levin, IAC's chief executive officer, said in a letter to shareholders. "Vimeo always has, and always will, obsessively and relentlessly cater to the needs of creators -- not advertisers, not eyeballs, not our own platform, nor anything else. We've focused entirely on the creators and they have rewarded Vimeo with their loyalty. The numbers bear this out -- Vimeo enjoys incredible retention, an average customer lifetime of nearly 5 years, customers that upgrade over time, and new subscribers that are attracted to fresh, premium offerings at increasingly higher price points," Levin added. Additionally, Levin said IAC is making Dotdash its own segment next quarter, saying that the unit performs like a business "more than worthy of its own segment." After the changes to business segments in Q4, the remaining businesses in Publishing and Video will aggregate into a catch-all segment, named "Emerging & Other" which will include both early stage and mature businesses like BlueCrew, Ask Media Group and The Daily Beast. The group may "intermittently generate cash or consume cash," but is more focused on the "next decade than the next quarter," it added. ROBOKILLER ACQUISITION: Additionally, Levin said in his letter that the company has acquired RoboKiller, an app that kills "robo calls," for its Mobile Applications segment. PRICE ACTION: Shares of IAC are up nearly 5% to $193.99 in late morning trading. OTHERS TO WATCH: Angi Homeservices and Match Group, which both reported earinngs earlier this week, are up 7.2% and 3.4%, respectively.

10:09 EDT Choice Hotels expects RevPAR to 'bounce back' in Q4 - Choice Hotel CEO Patrick Pacious said on the Q3 earnings call that he expects domestic systemwide revenue per available room, or RevPAR, to "bounce back" in Q4. Pacious said systemwide RevPAR is up 2% for the month of October. In the third quarter it declined 1.4%, which Choice attributed to "weather-related events, hotel renovations within the Comfort brand, and the timing of holidays."

10:00 EDT Horizon Global falls -25.2% - Horizon Global is down -25.2%, or -$1.42 to $4.22.

10:00 EDT Herc Holdings rises 13.5% - Herc Holdings is up 13.5%, or $4.64 to $39.00.

10:00 EDT Rubicon Project rises 20.7% - Rubicon Project is up 20.7%, or 72c to $4.20.

09:47 EDT Amphastar announces FDA approves reintroduction of Primatene MIST - Amphastar Pharmaceuticals announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval of its New Drug Application for Primatene MIST, which is delivered by a metered dose inhaler with a non-chlorofluorocarbon propellant. Primatene MIST is the only FDA-approved asthma inhaler available without a prescription in the United States, the company noted. Amphastar CEO Jack Zhang stated: "We are very happy to have received FDA approval for Primatene MIST and are proud to bring this important product back to the over-the-counter market in the United States. We are grateful to the FDA team for working closely with us to make this approval possible, recognizing the important role of OTC bronchodilator drugs such as Primatene MIST. Amphastar's mission is to develop and bring to market innovative pharmaceutical products and delivery systems that will meaningfully improve peoples' lives and we believe Primatene MIST will do just that."

09:47 EDT BlueLinx falls -19.6% - BlueLinx is down -19.6%, or -$5.17 to $21.23.

09:47 EDT Manulife Financial rises 5.6% - Manulife Financial is up 5.6%, or 91c to $17.27.

09:47 EDT Rubicon Project rises 19.3% - Rubicon Project is up 19.3%, or 67c to $4.15.

09:43 EDT ECS awarded prime spot on $3B ProTech Fisheries Domain IDIQ - ECS, a segment of ASGN, has been named a prime awardee of the ProTech Fisheries Domain contract, a $3B multiple-award indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract serving the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service. ECS will lead a diverse team of professional scientists, technical experts, and consultants to provide environmental, professional, and technical support services to NOAA Fisheries programs. ECS will oversee and deliver a broad range of services including applied research, development, engineering, consulting, and operation services; conducting field sampling, data collection and surveys; and providing project management services, communications support, financial management, and scientific support. The team will support and strengthen the NOAA Fisheries mission: stewardship of the nation's ocean resources and their habitat.

09:34 EDT Medtronic begins renal denervation study for high blood pressure patients - Medtronic announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to begin a clinical trial to evaluate the Symplicity Spyral renal denervation system in patients with high blood pressure who are already prescribed anti-hypertension medications. The SPYRAL HTN-ON MED Trial is the latest prospectively powered, randomized, sham-controlled study within the broader Medtronic SPYRAL HTN Global Clinical Program, and will evaluate a patient population comparable to what physicians typically encounter in daily practice - patients with uncontrolled blood pressure taking multiple anti-hypertensive medications. The design of the ON MED Trial announced today builds on the randomized sham- controlled SPYRAL HTN-ON MED pilot study that was published in The Lancet last May, showing renal denervation with the Symplicity Spyral renal denervation system - a minimally invasive, radio frequency-based procedure intended to regulate the activity of nerves that lead to and from the kidney - can play an important role in managing blood pressure for patients taking anti-hypertensive medications. The 80-patient pilot study demonstrated statistically significant and clinically relevant reductions in both office and 24-hour systolic blood pressure. Notably, those blood pressure lowering effects were observed not only throughout the daytime, but also during the nighttime and early morning periods when heart attack and stroke risk due to hypertension are highest, resulting in the observation that RDN is "always on." The ON MED Trial is a 2:1 randomized, sham-controlled study and will randomize up to 340 patients at 55 centers in the U.S., Japan, Europe, Australia and Canada. Patients will be followed out to three years. Primary safety endpoints will include major adverse events at one month and new renal artery stenosis at six months. The primary efficacy endpoint is 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure at six months. Subjects will be prescribed a stable regimen of up to three anti- hypertensive medications, including diuretics, calcium channel blockers, ACE/ARB inhibitors or beta blockers.

09:30 EDT Cardinal Health says from expense standpoint, 'everything is on the table' - Says looking at automation, streamlining, contracts. Says needs to do category management in much more aggressive manner. Says putting a lens on every business.

09:23 EDT Entasis: Zoliflodacin successful in treating uncomplicated gonorrhea cases - Entasis Therapeutics announced yesterday that The New England journal of Medicine published results from a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of zoliflodacin in patients with uncomplicated gonorrhea. Zoliflodacin represents a new type of oral antibiotic that inhibits DNA synthesis in a manner different from currently approved classes of antibiotic drugs. The clinical trial was sponsored by The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The study took place from November 2014 through December 2015 and was a multi-center, randomized, open-label study that enrolled 179 participants between the ages of 18 to 55 with either symptoms of uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea, untreated urogenital gonorrhea or sexual contact with someone with gonorrhea within 14 days before enrollment. Participants were randomly selected to receive either a single 2- or 3-gram dose of oral zoliflodacin or a 500 milligram dose of injectable ceftriaxone. Among the 117 per-protocol participants who were evaluated six days after treatment, 98 percent of those who received the 2-gram zoliflodacin dose, 100 percent of those who received the 3-gram dose, and all of the participants in the ceftriaxone group were considered cured of their urogenital gonorrhea based on culture results. Zoliflodacin cured all rectal gonorrheal infections as did ceftriaxone. In treating patients with gonorrhea infections of the throat, 50 percent of volunteers who received the 2-gram dose and 82 percent of those who received the 3-gram dose were cured. All of the participants in the ceftriaxone group achieved a cure. Zoliflodacin was generally well-tolerated with transient gastrointestinal upset the most commonly reported adverse effect. Microbiological evaluation of post-treatment clinical isolates did not show any resistance to zoliflodacin.Zoliflodacin has received Fast Track designation and qualified infectious disease product designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for development solely as oral treatment for gonococcal infections. Entasis, in partnership with GARDP, will begin Phase 3 testing of zoliflodacin in the Netherlands, South Africa, Thailand and the United States next year.

09:17 EDT Ulta Beauty issues three year sales growth, EPS targets - Ulta Beauty is issuing comparable sales and diluted earnings per share targets for fiscal 2019, 2020 and 2021. The Company expects to achieve comparable sales growth in the range of 5% to 7%, and grow diluted earnings per share in the mid to high teens percentage range. The Company expects to achieve modest operating margin expansion each year, balancing new investments in supply chain, digital innovation, and the guest experience with savings from a comprehensive cost optimization program, Efficiencies for Growth. The Company is announcing a multi-year $150M to $200M cost savings target to fund investments in future growth initiatives.

09:14 EDT Discovery says 'skinny' TV bundles still have too many channels

09:11 EDT Tribune Publishing expand strategic partnership with Taboola - Taboola announced an exclusive three-year partnership with Tribune Publishing Company, advancing the user experience by bringing the Taboola Feed to its digital audiences. The deal builds on an existing partnership between Taboola and Tribune Publishing with the goal of increasing user engagement and generating revenue across its digital portfolio. Under the partnership, Tribune Publishing will launch Taboola Feed on all digital properties, which include the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun and the Orlando Sentinel. Tribune Publishing's New York Daily News was the first publisher partner to test and implement Taboola Feed on mobile and desktop in May 2017; since then, the New York Daily News has seen an uplift in rpm of 63 percent on desktop and average rpm uplift of 37 percent on mobile and tablet.

09:09 EDT Cardinal Health says sees Q2 'operating performance' similar to Q1

09:06 EDT Saddlehorn Pipeline and ARB Midstream launch open season for joint tariff - Saddlehorn Pipeline, which is jointly owned by affiliates of Magellan Midstream Partners, (MMP), Plains All American (PAA) and Anadarko (APC), and ARB Midstream have launched an open season to seek transportation commitments for a joint tariff from the future Matador pipeline through the Saddlehorn pipeline to Cushing, Oklahoma. The Saddlehorn pipeline is currently capable of transporting 190,000 bpd of crude oil from the DJ Basin to storage facilities in Cushing owned by Magellan and Plains. The Matador pipeline is currently under development in Adams and Weld Counties, Colorado by DJ South Gathering, LLC, a subsidiary of ARB. The Matador pipeline is expected to be in-service by late 2019 with an initial capacity of 220,000 bpd and connectivity to Saddlehorn's Platteville, Colorado origin for ultimate delivery to the strategic Cushing storage hub.

09:05 EDT MSCI appoints Diana Tidd as Chief Responsibility Officer - MSCI announced that Diana Tidd has been appointed Chief Responsibility Officer, effective immediately. As Chief Responsibility Officer, Ms. Tidd will work closely with MSCI's senior leadership team to guide and communicate Environmental, Social and Governance policies for the firm, as well as oversee the governance structure for the company's ESG practices. This will include how MSCI can further reduce its environmental impact and carbon footprint through its business strategy. In this newly created position, Ms. Tidd will continue to serve in her current role as Head of Index and member of the MSCI Executive Committee, reporting to Baer Pettit, President of MSCI.

09:01 EDT Discovery: FX still a tailwind, but impact on y/y results has come down

09:00 EDT Discovery raises FY adjusted OIBDA growth to at least 7% from mid-single digits - Says leaning into "real-life entertainment" on all screens and surfaces. Says confident in ability to grow affiliate growth rate in FY19, sees affiliate revenue up "comfortably" in mid-single digit range. Says expanded Hulu deal "mutually beneficial." Says "confident" in plan to achieve $600M in cost synergies from Scripps integration by 2020. Now sees FY adjusted OIBDA growth at least 7% vs. 2017 and prior view of mid-single digit growth. Still sees FY18 free cash flow approximately $2.3B. Comments taken from the Q3 earnings conference call.

08:53 EDT Koppers Holdings sees adjusted EBITDA growth continuing in 2019 - Koppers expects to deliver its fifth consecutive year of adjusted EBITDA growth in 2019. Additionally, it is anticipated that there will be a meaningful shift in the mix of earnings to be more consistent with the company's stated strategy of focusing on wood-based technologies. In addition to at least $10M of strategic initiative benefits, the overall results should also improve from the ongoing cyclical recovery in the Railroad and Utility Products and Services business, several new commercial opportunities in the Performance Chemicals business, an entire year of contribution from acquisitions, and projected savings of approximately $15M related to the completed naphthalene unit at the Stickney facility, which will more than offset the headwinds associated with lower expected earnings out of China and higher raw material costs.

08:47 EDT Ultra Petroleum sees FY production 274-278 Bcfe - The Company is adjusting its capital plan for the remainder of 2018. The Company is maintaining a three-rig program in the fourth quarter with all rigs currently focused on vertical development while we continue to refine and optimize the horizontal program. The Company is narrowing annual production guidance to a range of 274 - 278 Bcfe. In the fourth quarter, the average daily production rate is expected to range between 690-730 MMcfe/d. The Company is refining its 2018 total capital budget to a range of $400-415 million.

08:42 EDT Tabula Rasa HealthCare acquires Cognify - Tabula Rasa HealthCareaanounced the acquisition of healthcare technology company, Cognify. Cognify is focused on enabling patient-centered, multidisciplinary, coordinated and integrated care along with financial management for the federal Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, as well as managed long-term care, or MLTC, and medical home providers. Cognify's expertise enables clients to seamlessly integrate turnkey software solutions for optimal business performance and participant outcomes.

08:38 EDT Urovant Sciences completes patient enrollment in vibegron Phase 3 pivotal trial - Urovant Sciences announced it completed enrollment in its international Phase 3 clinical trial, EMPOWUR, evaluating the safety and efficacy of vibegron as a treatment for adults with symptoms of overactive bladder. Vibegron is an investigational oral beta-3 adrenergic agonist. EMPOWUR is a randomized, double-blind placebo- and active comparator controlled clinical trial in men and women with symptoms of overactive bladder, including frequent urination, sudden urge to urinate, and urge incontinence or leakage. Top-line efficacy and safety data are anticipated by the end of March 2019. A total of 1,530 patients who met the enrollment criteria were randomized across 216 study sites into one of three groups for a 12-week treatment period with a four-week safety follow up period: vibegron 75 mg administered orally once daily; placebo administered orally once daily; or tolterodine ER 4 mg administered orally once daily. Additionally, the first 507 patients who completed the EMPOWUR trial have been enrolled in a 40-week double-blind extension study to evaluate the safety of longer-term treatment.

08:35 EDT MagneGas submits EUR2.5M grant through EC Horizon 2020 grant program - MagneGas announced the submission of a EUR2.5M grant through the European Commission's, or EC, Horizon 2020 grant program. The specific call for emerging renewable energy projects can be found under the Horizon 2020 research themes described in the work program. MagneGas' fourth-generation gasification unit significantly improves upon the company's current unit in multiple ways. The next-generation unit's comprehensive system reconfiguration increases the length of the plasma arc by up to 10.0x and the surface area for gasification by 5 times or more. These increases yield significantly increased production efficiency with production rates estimated to increase by three to five times the current levels. Potential factors leading to increased overall efficiency include more than 90% first-pass efficiency, elimination of 80-85% of processing time to fully gasify feedstock, and a reduction in labor and power consumption costs by 70-80%.

08:32 EDT Align Technology announces $50M accelerated stock repurchase program - Align Technology announced that it has entered into an accelerated stock repurchase agreement with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, to repurchase $50M of Align's common stock as part of Align's $600M stock repurchase program announced on May 23, 2018. Under the terms of the ASR, Align has agreed to repurchase $50M of its common stock through Morgan Stanley, with an initial delivery of approximately 142,677 shares. The final number of shares to be repurchased will be based on Align's volume-weighted average stock price during the term of the ASR transaction, less an agreed upon discount. The ASR transaction is expected to be completed approximately three months from November 7, 2018 and will be funded with the Company's cash on hand. As of September 30, 2018, the company had approximately 80.0 million shares outstanding and $613.2 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term and long-term investments.

08:22 EDT Entera Bio announces results from its PTH drug study - Entera Bio announced that it has received "positive" results from the first part of its pharmacokinetic, or PK, and pharmacodynamic, or PD, study in patients with hypoparathyroidism treated with its oral parathyroid hormone, or PTH, drug. Part 1 of this Phase 2 trial in patients with hypoparathyroidism was designed to evaluate the PK and PD profiles of Oral PTH and injectable PTH, Natpara.In this partial crossover study, ten patients completed two three-day in-patient visits. Throughout each of these three-day visits, patients remained on their current standard medications. On the first day of each visit patients received no additional treatments. On day two, patients were randomized to receive one of three treatments: Oral PTH twice a day, Oral PTH four time a day, or injectable PTH once a day. On day three, patients did not receive any additional treatments. In the second three-day visit, patients were again randomized on day two to receive one of the treatment regimens they had not received previously. Throughout the three-day visits, patients were continuously monitored clinically. Blood samples were taken to measure PTH, calcium, phosphate, and active vitamin D. Twenty-four-hour urine samples were collected to measure urinary calcium. An initial analysis of the Part 1 data suggests that the QID regimen provided a greater effect on all of the parameters measured as compared to the BID regimen. The concentration of PTH in blood after administration of Oral PTH in the current study was sufficient to produce the observed pharmacodynamic effects and did not induce hypercalcemia. No serious adverse events were reported in the study. The second and final part of this PK/PD study will evaluate a three times per day treatment regimen with a high and low dose of Oral PTH, as well as Natpara. The results from the completed Phase 2 PK/PD trial will provide input for the design of our anticipated pivotal clinical trials. Details of the complete data set of this PK/PD study will be presented at scientific meetings and in publications in 2019.

08:17 EDT Tabula Rasa HealthCare expands MedWise risk mitigation study - Tabula Rasa HealthCare announced an expansion of a pilot program using MedWise, a proprietary software designed to identify medication risk and prevent drug-related adverse outcomes. A phase I pilot study was designed to compare healthcare resource utilization and costs between a control group and a MedWise intervention group. The study also assessed the association between different disease groups and the response to a MedWise-driven intervention. The interim results appeared promising in both utilization and cost savings resulting in a phase II pilot expansion across additional Landmark patient populations. In the phase I study, Landmark licensed MedWise from TRHC for its staff pharmacists. Landmark pharmacists then trained with TRHC, learning how best to use the technology in clinical practice and understanding the science underlying the technology. Landmark pharmacists reviewed the medication regimens of intervention cohort patients in advance of patient visits by Landmark providers. Collaborating with Landmark pharmacists, Landmark providers used MedWise-generated output to optimize the safety and efficacy of medication profiles leading to the positive trends observed in the study.

08:12 EDT Melco Resorts & Entertainment approves new $500M share repurchase program - The company's Board has also approved a new $500M share repurchase program. The program is effective immediately and is in addition to the program that was announced in March 2018, which has nearly been exhausted. The new program permits the company to purchase up to $500M of its ordinary shares and/or American depositary shares over a three-year period commencing from November 8, 2018.

08:11 EDT Cheniere Energy Partners sees FY19 distribution per unit $2.35-$2.55

08:10 EDT Canadian Solar subsidiary signs build-transfer agreement on 100 MWac project - Canadian Solar's wholly owned subsidiary Recurrent Energy has signed a build-transfer agreement for a base purchase price of approximately $138.4M with Entergy Mississippi on a 100 MWac solar photovoltaic project. One of the first solar BTAs to be signed in the U.S., this agreement is expected to provide Entergy with the largest utility-owned solar facility in the state of Mississippi, pending approval by the Mississippi Public Service Commission. The 100 MWac Sunflower solar project, located on approximately 1,000 acres in Sunflower County, Mississippi, is being developed by Recurrent Energy. Once the facility is operational, which is expected by mid-2022, Entergy Mississippi will own the Sunflower project. The Sunflower project is expected to create approximately 360 jobs during construction.

08:05 EDT Cheniere Energy sees 2019 consolidated adjusted EBITDA $2.9B-$3.2B - Sees distributable cash flow $0.6B-$0.8B.

08:05 EDT Cheniere Energy sees 2018 consolidated adjusted EBITDA $2.45B-$2.55B - Sees distributable cash flow $0.5B-$0.6B.

07:57 EDT ITG reports October U.S. trading volume 3.7B shares - ITG announced October 2018 U.S. trading volume of 3.7B shares and average daily volume or ADV was 160M shares, vs. 2.7B shares and ADV of 144M shares in September 2018 and 2.8B shares and ADV of 126M shares in October 2017. There were 23 trading days in October 2018, 19 trading days in September 2018 and 22 trading days in October 2017.

07:48 EDT Volt Information Sciences appoints Linda Perneau as president, CEO - Thee company announced that the Board appointed Linda Perneau to serve as a member of the Board, and as the company's president and CEO effective November 7, 2018. Perneau has been serving as the company's interim president and CEO since June 6, 2018.

07:45 EDT BeyondSpring reports new data from Plinabulin program - BeyondSpring reported new data from its clinical program for Plinabulin, which demonstrated a superior immune profile compared to Neulasta based on promyelocytes and immature neutrophil data from clinical study. The data will be presented at Stanford University Medical Center at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's, or SITC. The data showed that, Neulasta induced a peripheral blood immune profile that is known to potentially increase immune suppression. In contrast, Plinabulin did not generate this predominant immunosuppressive phenotype. Neulasta, a long-acting G-CSF and the current standard of care for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, or CIN, is believed to activate the bone marrow, resulting in an overproduction of neutrophils. Clinical data suggest that a large proportion of these neutrophils appear to represent immature neutrophils, which typically make their way to the tumor tissue, and tip the immune balance in the tumor into an immune-suppressive microenvironment. High neutrophil counts, in particular if of an immature nature, are associated with poor prognosis in cancer patients. Similarly, high monocyte counts are also associated with poor cancer prognosis. BeyondSpring derived the data from the Phase 2 portion of Study 105, which evaluated Plinabulin's potential to prevent CIN in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, following docetaxel chemotherapy. BeyondSpring evaluated the immune profile of Neulasta and Plinabulin, by analyzing the immune markers NLR and LMR, as well as the appearance of immature neutrophils in the peripheral blood of NSCLC patients, who were treated with either Plinabulin at 20 mg/m2 or Neulasta at 6 mg. NLR values of greater than and LMR values of less than 3.2, as well as immature neutrophils, are associated with immune suppression and poor cancer prognosis. The data demonstrated that, in contrast to Neulasta, Plinabulin did not show NLRgreater than 5 or LMR less than 3.2 values. Promyelocytes or myelocytes were observed in 77% of patients given Neulasta, compared to 14% of patients given Plinabulin and neutrophil bands were observed in more than 25% of patients given Neulasta, compared to 0% of patients given Plinabulin.

07:37 EDT Epsilon signs multiyear agreement with Dunkin' Brands - Epsilon, an Alliance Data (ADS) company, has signed a new multiyear agreement with Dunkin' Brands (DNKN), the parent company of Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins. Epsilon will continue to provide loyalty marketing technology and related services in support of Dunkin's popular DD Perks customer loyalty program. Additionally, in 2019 Epsilon will also provide email marketing technology and services to Dunkin' for communication with its customers.

07:35 EDT Moleculin Biotech announces new study expands potential use of WP1122 - Moleculin Biotech announced that a new mechanism of action may have been uncovered expanding the potential use of its inhibitor of glycolysis, WP1122. A study recently published in the American Cancer Journal of Cancer Research involving researchers at MD Anderson and the Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute has found that 2-deoxyglucose, or 2-DG, has the potential to decrease resistance to immune checkpoint blockade therapy in triple-negative breast cancer, or TNBC, in a process known as "glycosylation."

07:28 EDT Connecticut Water: Glass Lewis recommends holders vote 'for' SJW Group deal - Connecticut Water Service (CTWS) announced that leading independent proxy advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co. ) has joined Institutional Shareholder Services in recommending that Connecticut Water shareholders vote "FOR" the transaction with SJW Group (SJW) on the GREEN proxy card. Glass Lewis is now the second leading independent proxy advisory firm to recommend that Connecticut Water shareholders vote "FOR" the transaction.

07:26 EDT L Brands reports October SSS up 4% - Reports October net sales $860.5M.

07:22 EDT Kratos Defense receives $15.2M in unmanned drone system contract awards - Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced that it has recently received approximately $15.2M in contract awards for High Performance Unmanned Aerial Drone, Unmanned Ground and related Unmanned System products and services. Kratos Unmanned Systems Division is a provider of high performance, jet powered unmanned aerial target drone systems for the test and exercise of combat and weapon systems, and tactical drone systems for force multiplication and amplification. Work under these recent contract awards will be performed at secure Kratos production facilities and at customer locations. Due to customer related and other considerations, no additional information will be provided related to these recent contract awards.

07:17 EDT Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield adds Quest Diagnostics as preferred provider - Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey announced that it is expanding its laboratory network by adding Quest Diagnostics as an in-network provider of diagnostic information services for 2.8M members of Horizon BCBSNJ. Quest has more than 300 patient access points in New Jersey for Horizon BCBSNJ members and will be in network beginning January 1, 2019. Quest will serve all Horizon members with the exception of Horizon BCBSNJ's managed Medicaid and Dual Eligible Special Needs plan beneficiaries.

07:16 EDT LabCorp, Horizon BCBSNJ renew long-standing strategic relationship - Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and LabCorp have renewed their long-standing strategic relationship to provide comprehensive clinical laboratory services for the more than 3.8M people enrolled in Horizon BCBSNJ health plans. LabCorp, which has been the exclusive in-network national clinical laboratory services provider for Horizon BCBSNJ managed care members for more than twenty years, will continue to serve as Horizon BCBSNJ's exclusive in-network clinical laboratory services provider for its nearly 900,000 Medicaid members. Until January 1, 2019, LabCorp will remain the sole national laboratory for all Horizon PPO and Traditional members, and after that, LabCorp will continue as a preferred provider for those members.

07:15 EDT Cardiovascular Systems says first patient in Hong Kong treated with Coronary OAS - Cardiovascular Systems announced that the first patient in Hong Kong has been treated with its Diamondback 360 Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System. This procedure marks the first international coronary procedure taking place as a result of the company's distribution agreement with OrbusNeich. In July 2018, CSI announced that it had signed an exclusive international distribution agreement with OrbusNeich to sell its coronary and peripheral OAS outside of the United States and Japan.

07:14 EDT Wabco signs long-term agreement with Hyundai Motor Company - WABCO Holdings (WBC) announced that it has entered a long-term agreement with Hyundai Motor Company (HYMTF). Under this latest supply agreement with Hyundai, WABCO will furnish the manufacturer with a broad portfolio of its advanced technologies to support series production of Hyundai's new medium-duty trucks. As part of the multi-year agreement, WABCO will equip Hyundai's range of medium-duty trucks with electronic braking systems, anti-lock braking systems, electronic stability control and electronically controlled air suspension systems as well as air processing units. WABCO will also become the first supplier to equip Hyundai with EBS and integrated pedal units for its medium-duty trucks. WABCO's light-weight and robust IPUs require less maintenance time and help reduce costs over conventional units.

07:13 EDT Seagate, IBM partner to help reduce global hard drive counterfeiting - Seagate Technology (STX) and IBM (IBM) announced they are working together to reduce product counterfeiting using blockchain and security technologies. The project, which is designed to help manufacturers, integrators, and business partners fight counterfeit hard drives, uses the IBM Blockchain Platform to authenticate the provenance of disk drive products, bringing a new level of multi-layered security protection to the data management industry. To verify product authenticity, Seagate will update the IBM Blockchain Platform on the IBM Cloud with product authentication data based on the Seagate Secure Electronic ID at the point of manufacture. Each unique identifier can be used to verify the identity of a hard drive at any time during its product life cycle. Seagate's Certified Erase employs cryptographic erasure technology to produce a digital certificate of data purge, which is electronically signed by the device under the Seagate Secure public key infrastructure and stored on the blockchain for compliance management with emerging global data privacy laws. Building upon IBM's blockchain expertise and powered by the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger Fabric distributed ledger framework, the IBM Blockchain Platform is designed to allow network participants to append and view blockchain data based on their level of permissioning. Throughout a product's life, technology vendors, service providers, and end users will be able to confirm the product's provenance on the blockchain, which provides an immutable record of events. This can help reduce data loss, fraudulent products and warranty costs, while improving product assurance for customers during deployment. As project development continues in this combined effort to fight global product counterfeiting, Seagate and IBM are anticipating that they will expand the business network to include participation from supply chain partners.

07:09 EDT Deciphera expects cash, cash equivalents to fund expenditures into 2H20 - As of September 30, 2018, cash and cash equivalents were $320.9M, compared to cash and cash equivalents of $196.8M as of December 31, 2017. This increase was primarily related to proceeds obtained through the Company's June 2018 underwritten public offering, offset by cash used in operating activities. The company said, "We expect our current cash and cash equivalents will enable us to fund our operating and capital expenditures and debt service payments into the second half of 2020. "

07:06 EDT Trevena says to reduce workforce by approximately one-third - Trevena announced a workforce restructuring to preserve capital while the Company continues development of oliceridine. As part of this plan, the Company is reducing its workforce by approximately one-third and is undertaking additional cost saving initiatives that in total are expected to save more than $3.5 million a year. The Company also expects to incur a cash charge in the fourth quarter of 2018 of approximately $1.3 million related to the restructuring. "Following receipt of the Complete Response Letter for oliceridine, we must act to reduce operating costs and conserve our capital resources," said Carrie L. Bourdow, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Today's action will allow us to extend our cash runway while retaining the capabilities needed to reach our goal of bringing oliceridine to clinicians and hospital patients. I would like to thank our dedicated employees affected by this plan for their commitment to patients and their many contributions to Trevena."

06:59 EDT Histogenics believes cash position sufficient into middle of 2019

06:51 EDT MGIC Investment issues October operating statistics - MGIC Investment issued an operational summary of its insurance subsidiaries for the month of October for their primary mortgage insurance. The beginning primary delinquent inventory was 33,398 in October with ending primary delinquent Inventory of 33,336. October insurance in force was $207.5B. The information concerning new delinquency notices and cures is compiled from reports received from loan servicers. The level of new notice and cure activity reported in a particular month can be influenced by, among other things, the date on which a servicer generates its report, the accuracy of the data provided by servicers, the number of business days in a month, transfers of servicing between loan servicers, and whether all servicers have provided the reports in a given month.

06:50 EDT Owens & Minor names Robert Sledd as interim President and CEO - Owens & Minor announced that Robert Sledd, a member of the company's board of directors, has been elected Chairman and Interim President and CEO. Sledd succeeds P. Cody Phipps, who served as Chairman, President and CEO. The company also announced that the Board has already formed a search committee to recruit a new CEO with the assistance of a leading executive search firm.

06:48 EDT Sally Beauty sees FY19 SSS approximately flat - For FY19: The Company expects full year consolidated same store sales to be approximately flat. Full year gross margin is expected to be approximately flat compared to the prior year. Full year selling, general and administrative expenses (including depreciation and amortization expense) are expected to be down slightly due to lower restructuring charges as compared to the prior year. Full year adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses (including depreciation and amortization expense) are expected to be up slightly versus the prior year, as a result of timing of investments being made in the business, partially offset as operating efficiencies start to reach full run rate status toward the second half of fiscal year 2019. Full year GAAP operating earnings and operating margin are expected to increase by mid-single digits, primarily due to an improvement in sales and lower restructuring costs as compared to the prior year. Full year adjusted operating earnings and operating margin are expected to decline slightly as compared to the prior year, driven primarily by an improvement in same store sales offset by the slightly higher adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses referred to above. The Company expects the consolidated effective tax rate for the year to be approximately 27%. Lower average share count and lower interest expense from reduced indebtedness should result in mid-single digit growth in both full year GAAP diluted earnings per share and full year adjusted diluted earnings per share. Capital expenditures for the full year are expected to be approximately $120 million. Cash flow from operations for the full year is expected to be approximately $340 million, reflecting an effort to speed payments to vendors to achieve cost of good savings. Free cash flow is expected to be approximately $220 million.

06:43 EDT ReneSola signs LOI to sell solar projects in Poland - ReneSola announced that it entered into a letter of intent, or LOI to sell its 55MW solar projects in Poland to Chroma Impact Investment, a global investor in renewable energy, focusing on large-scale solar, B2B and storage projects. Pursuant to the LOI, Chroma will acquire ReneSola's 55 MW of solar projects in Poland, each with a capacity of 1 MW. All of these projects will sell power under Poland's Contract for Difference, or CFD, regime and are eligible for a 15-year guaranteed tariff. Among the 55MW of projects, 14MW have been connected. The rest of the projects are under construction and are expected to be fully operational by the first half of 2019.

06:40 EDT Penn Virginia sees FY18 CapEx $405M-$410M - The 2019 capital plan currently calls for a three rig drilling program, which is expected to generate production growth of 50 to 60 percent over 2018 levels. Penn Virginia expects to generate free cash flow in 2019 after funding its capital plans, at current strip pricing.

06:34 EDT Denbury Resources sees FY18 CapEx in upper half of $300M-$325M range - The Company's 2018 capital budget, excluding acquisitions and capitalized interest, is expected to be in the upper half of its previously estimated range of $300 million to $325 million. This level of capital expenditures is expected to be significantly less than the Company's estimated 2018 cash flow from operations. Approximately $215 million, or 66%, of the expected capital spend has been incurred through the third quarter of 2018, which was fully funded with $394 million of cash flow from operations. Denbury's estimated 2018 production is currently expected to be between 60,100 and 60,600 BOE/d, within the Company's original guidance range of 60,000 to 64,000 BOE/d.

06:26 EDT UBS expects U.S. DOJ will file civil complaint relating to RMBS - UBS has been advised by the United States Department of Justice that the DOJ intends to file a civil complaint as early as November 8, 2018 related to UBS's issuance, underwriting and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities more than a decade ago. UBS anticipates that the complaint will seek unspecified monetary civil penalties under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act regarding RMBS transactions that date back to 2006 and 2007. The company said, "The DOJ's claims are not supported by the facts or the law. UBS will contest any such complaint vigorously in the interest of its shareholders. UBS is confident in its legal position and has been fully prepared for some time to defend itself in court. UBS was not a significant originator of U.S. residential mortgages and suffered massive losses on its investments in U.S. mortgage-related assets when the U.S. housing market collapsed. This fact alone negates any inference that UBS engaged in an intentional fraud. UBS fulfilled its disclosure obligations to RMBS investors and believes that FIRREA limits any penalty that the DOJ may seek to obtain to losses incurred by federally insured financial institutions, which were a fraction of the overall losses on RMBS certificates sold by UBS." Reference Link

06:24 EDT Targa Resources to build two fractionation trains in Texas in 2020 - Targa plans to construct two new 110 thousand barrels per day fractionation trains in Mont Belvieu, Texas, which are expected to begin operations in 1Q20 and 2Q20, respectively. Targa now estimates 2018 net growth capital expenditures for announced projects will be approximately $2.4B and estimates that 2018 net maintenance capital expenditures will be approximately $110M. Targa also estimates that preliminary 2019 net growth capital expenditures for announced projects will be about $2B.

06:21 EDT Maxar Technologies unit Radiant Solutions awarded $2M contract by DARPA - Radiant Solutions, a Maxar Technologies company, has been awarded a $2M contract by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to lead a team in designing, building, and demonstrating a next-generation optical telescope system for agile small satellite constellations. Radiant Solutions is partnered on this program with SSL, Maxar's spacecraft manufacturing business, demonstrating the power of combining unique capabilities from across Maxar to meet U.S. Defense and Intelligence agency demand for small form-factor satellites and grow Maxar's U.S. Government space program pipeline. Radiant Solutions will provide world-class geospatial mission engineering expertise, augmented by SSL's decades of experience in providing powerful and resilient spacecraft systems.

06:15 EDT NanoString announces launch of CAR-T Characterization Panel - NanoString Technologies announced the launch of a new gene expression panel for the molecular characterization of CAR-T cells in research, development and manufacturing. The nCounter CAR-T Characterization Panel was created in collaboration with eight leading centers in the field of CAR-T therapy. This novel panel is designed for use across the entirety of the CAR-T work flow including leukapheresis, manufacturing and post-infusion monitoring and may further efforts for product optimization, development of quality controls and an understanding of mechanisms that influence CAR-T performance.

06:11 EDT CAE to acquire Bombardier's BAT business for $645M - CAE (CAE) has agreed to acquire Bombardier's (BDRBF) business aircraft training, or BAT, business for an enterprise value of $645M, expanding its ability to address the training market for customers operating Bombardier business jets. The acquisition will also serve to expand CAE's position in the largest and fastest growing segment of the business aviation training market, involving medium- and large-cabin business jets. The Bombardier BAT business includes a modern fleet of full-flight simulators, or FFSs and training devices covering the learjet, challenger and global product lines, including the latest large cabin Global 5500, 6500 and 7500 business jets. In its first full year following the closing of the transaction, the acquisition will provide CAE high single-digit percentage earnings accretion and will be accretive to free cash flow. It is also expected to be accretive to CAE's civil segment operating income, or SOI, margin by approximately 100-150bps. The acquisition enterprise value of Bombardier's BAT business represents a multiple of approximately 9x one-year forward EBITDA. The EBITDA is expected to grow at a double-digit pace; driven by demand from the existing large installed base of Bombardier business jet operators; and the ramp up of recent and already planned FFS deployments. The acquisition of Bombardier's BAT business is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the second half of calendar year 2019. In addition to the agreement to acquire Bombardier's BAT business, CAE has agreed to pay US$155 million to monetize its existing future royalty obligations under the current Authorized Training Provider (ATP) agreement with the business jet manufacturer. This also involves the extension of CAE's ATP agreement to 2038. The monetization represents the discounted sum of royalties payable by CAE over the next 20 years, and the transaction is expected to close by the end of CAE's current fiscal year. In view of the expected timing of the transactions, CAE's outlook for its current fiscal year 2019 remains unchanged. The transactions are aligned with CAE's capital allocation strategy, to balance growth investments with cash returns to shareholders, while maintaining CAE's investment grade profile and a target return on capital employed(4) of 13 percent by fiscal year 2022. With this agreement, CAE will be adding 12 Bombardier business aviation full-flight simulators to its training network (including one deployment already planned for CAE's fiscal year 2021), for a total of 29 business aviation FFSs available for training worldwide, with further growth planned in the near- to mid-term. CAE operates more than 80 business aviation full-flight simulators in its training network. The acquisition increases CAE's ability to address the long-term and growing market demand for business aviation professionals. CAE estimates that there will be a need for 50,000 new business aviation pilots over the next 10 years (Source: CAE's 2018 CAE Airline and Business Jet Pilot Demand Outlook, available for download at www.cae.com/civil-aviation). CAE is financing the acquisition with a combination of cash on hand, drawing on its existing bank facility and new committed term loans.

06:04 EDT Carlyle reestablishes ownership in CommScope through $1B minority investment

06:03 EDT Anadarko annoucnes $4B midstream asset sale to Western Gas Partners - Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) announced a transaction to sell substantially all of its remaining midstream assets for $4.015 billion to Western Gas Partners, LP (WES), with $2.0075 billion cash proceeds, and the balance to be paid in new Western Gas equity. Concurrently WES announced it has entered into a merger agreement with Western Gas Equity Partners, LP (WGP), which will result in a simplified midstream structure. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019, concurrently with the closing of the merger. The closing of the asset sale and merger is subject to the parties obtaining regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The closing of the merger is subject to obtaining WES unitholder approval. Under the terms of the asset sale transaction, WES will acquire substantially all of Anadarko's remaining midstream assets, which are largely associated with Anadarko's two premier U.S. onshore oil plays in the Delaware and DJ basins. The acquired assets include DBM Oil Services, APC Water Holdings, the Bone Spring Gas Plant, and the MiVida Gas Plant in the Delaware Basin of West Texas. In the DJ Basin of northeast Colorado, WES will acquire Anadarko's 100-percent interest in both the DJ Basin Oil System and the Wattenberg Plant. Additional Anadarko midstream assets to be acquired by WES include equity stakes in the Saddlehorn Pipeline, the Panola Pipeline, and the Wamsutter Pipeline. Under the terms of their merger transaction, WGP will acquire all of the outstanding publicly held common units of WES and substantially all of the WES common units owned by Anadarko in a unit-for-unit, tax-free exchange. WES will survive as a partnership with no publicly traded equity, owned 98 percent by WGP and 2 percent by Anadarko. WES will remain the borrower for all existing debt and future issuances and the owner of all operating assets and equity investments.

06:01 EDT CommScope to acquire Arris for total price of about $7.4B, including debt

05:52 EDT CNN's Jim Acosta says White House revokes press credentials - The White House has revoked CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta's "hard pass" press credential until further notice following Wednesday's heated press conference between President Trump and Acosta, among other network reporters. Acosta tweeted that "I've just been denied entrance to the WH. Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit." Reference Link

05:47 EDT InflaRx completes enrollment in IFX-1 Phase IIb clinical trial - InflaRx N.V. announced that patient enrollment has been completed in the phase IIb study to determine the safety and efficacy of IFX-1, a first-in-class anti-human complement factor C5a antibody, in patients suffering from moderate or severe Hidradenitis Suppurativa, HS. HS is a painful and debilitating chronic inflammatory skin disease with limited treatment options. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study is being conducted at 38 sites in both North America and Europe. Following a placebo-controlled, double-blind period of 16 weeks investigating four different IFX-1 dosing arms plus one placebo arm, there is a 28-week open-label extension phase to assess long-term efficacy and safety. The primary endpoint is dose response signal, assessed by the Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Response score, at week 16. Additional objectives include the evaluation of safety and tolerability of IFX-1, as well as an assessment of additional efficacy and patient-reported outcome parameters. Topline results from the trial are expected in the first half of 2019.

05:40 EDT Starbucks announces strategic initiatives in Japan - Starbucks presented the company's key initiatives that will accelerate its sales and profit growth, as well as elevate the customer experience in Japan. Starbucks remains committed to building deeper customer relationships, expanding digital innovation, enhancing its unique coffee experience and strengthening local communities. Supported by these initiatives, the company announced plans to build 100 net new stores annually over the next three years in Japan - a goal that will bring the store count to 1,700 across the market. Starbucks digital flywheel in Japan is the foundation that will help enhance the third-place experience, earn customer loyalty and foster customer connection for the long-term. The portfolio of innovative digital offerings will provide customers uniquely rewarding and convenient ways to enjoy the Starbucks Experience, including delivery, digital ordering, cashless payment, rewards and personalization. Building on 22 years of service to Japanese customers across the market, and Starbucks 47-year history of sourcing, roasting and brewing the finest coffees from around the world, Starbucks today announced it will open the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo on February 28, 2019 in the upscale Nakameguro district. Starbucks fifth Roastery globally, the Tokyo Roastery will be the first of its kind, designed and built from-the-ground-up in collaboration with world-renowned architect and Kuma Lab founder, Kengo Kuma. The Roastery is the pinnacle coffee experience, highlighting Starbucks uncompromising pursuit of high-quality coffees and immersive retail innovation. Starbucks commitment to the customer experience in Japan is rooted in the deep belief that a company must take care of the communities it serves, a focus for the company and a passion shared by the more than 30,000 partners

05:32 EDT SAP announces collaboration with Singapore Airlines - SAP announced a collaboration with Singapore Airlines, or SIA, to boost travel visibility for businesses. SIA is the first Asia-based carrier to sign an agreement with the SAP Concur organization, and customers utilizing the Concur TripLink web service will be able to realize the benefits of their corporate travel program when they make reservations with SIA outside of the Concur Travel solution. Concur TripLink connects travelers, itineraries and receipts across multiple channels, allowing businesses to apply their travel policies to direct bookings. It also makes it easier for businesses to quickly locate and communicate with employees in the event of an emergency. By seamlessly identifying corporate bookings made through SIA's website, SIA will be able to enhance the overall corporate booking experience through personalized products and services for businesses and their employees. The ecosystem of connected travel-related apps that Concur TripLink is part of and the collaboration with SIA ease potential inconveniences caused by expense reporting and alleviate compliance issues arising from out-of-policy travel spend.

05:25 EDT Ready Capital announces stock-for-stock merger with Owens Realty Mortgage - Ready Capital Corporation (RC) announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine in a stock-for-stock merger with Owens Realty Mortgage (ORM) a specialty finance REIT that focuses on the origination, investment and management of small-balance and middle-market commercial real estate loans. The combined company, which will operate under the name Ready Capital, is expected to have pro forma equity capital in excess of $750M. The combination will enhance shareholder liquidity and provide for operating leverage across the larger equity base. Under the terms of the agreement, each ORM share will be converted into 1.441 Ready Capital shares, based on a fixed exchange ratio. The exchange ratio is subject to certain adjustments if either company's book value per share, as defined in the merger agreement, declines by more than 3%. The all-stock merger is intended to be a tax-free transaction. Upon the closing of the transaction, Ready Capital stockholders are expected to own approximately 72% percent of the combined company's stock, while Owens Realty Mortgage stockholders are expected to own approximately 28% percent of the combined company's stock. Based on the closing prices of ORM common shares and Ready Capital's common stock on November 7, 2018, the equity market capitalization of the combined company would be approximately $678 million. The combined company's shares are expected to continue trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol for Ready Capital (RC). The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of Ready Capital and approved by the board of ORM upon the unanimous recommendation of the Special Committee of the Owens Realty Mortgage's board, which is comprised entirely of independent directors. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2019, subject to approval by Owens Realty Mortgage and Ready Capital stockholders and other customary closing conditions.