Stockwinners Market Radar for February 12, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:14 EDT Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Unisys (UIS) up 11.8%... J2 Global (JCOM) up 10.6%... Lattice Semi (LSCC) up 10.6%... iRhytm Technologies (IRTC) up 6.1%... Exelixis (EXEL) up 5.9%... Activision (ATVI) up 3.0%... Avalara (AVLR) up 1.6%... Red Rock Resorts (RRR) up 1.3%... Akamai (AKAM) up 1.0%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Aquantia (AQ) down 20.3%... Qualys (QLYS) down 13.9%... Quotient Technology (QUOT) down 12.1%... Groupon (GRPN) down 11.6%... Cray Inc (CRAY) down 10.2%... Twilio (TWLO) down 5.6%... Cornerston OnDemand (CSOD) down 5.2%... TripAdvisor (TRIP) down 5.0%... Kornit (KRNT) down 3.4%... Monolithic Power (MPWR) down 1.5%... HubSpot (HUBS) down 1.2%. Movers as of 18:45ET.

18:51 EDT Robert Half raises quarterly cash dividend to 31c from 28c per share - The cash dividend will be paid on March 15 to all shareholders of record as of February 25.

18:32 EDT Twitter CEO says Elon Musk 'most exciting' Twitter user - When asked by Recode's Kara Swisher who the "most exciting" person on Twitter (TWTR) is right now, CEO Jack Dorsey named Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (TSLA). "He's focused on solving existential problems and sharing his thinking openly," Dorsey said. "I respect that a lot, and all the ups and downs that come with it."

18:30 EDT Twitter CEO says wants service to be valuable to people daily - When asked by Recode's Kara Swisher about switching to DAU instead of MAU as a key metric, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that he wants the service to be valuable to people daily, and not monthly. "It's a higher bar for ourselves," Dorsey said. "Sure, it looks like a smaller absolute number, but the folks we have using Twitter are some of the most influential in the world. They drive conversation."

18:28 EDT Twitter CEO says has improved work against automations, coordinated campaigns - When asked by Recode's Kara Swisher about the single biggest improvement since 2016 that "signals you're ready for the 2020 elections," Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that the biggest improvement has been the company's work against automations and coordinated campaigns, as well as partnering with government agencies to improve communication around threats. In response to a question about what level of confidence people should have that Russia or other state-sponsored actors won't be able to wreak havoc on next year's elections, Dorsey said that people should expect "a lot more coordination between governments and platforms to address. That would give me confidence. And have some skepticism too. That's healthy. The more we can do this work in public and share what we find, the better."

18:14 EDT SPDR Gold Shares holdings fall to 798.89MT from 802.12MT - This is the lowest level of holdings since January 17th.

18:03 EDT Twitter CEO says platform tends to incentivize outrage, fast takes - When asked by Recode's Kara Swisher about how Twitter breaks and purges affect him, CEO Jack Dorsey said that he doesn't feel good about how the platform tends to incentivize outrage, fast takes, short term thinking, echo chambers, and fragmented conversation and consideration. "Are they fixable? I believe we can do a lot to address," Dorsey said. "And likely have to change more fundamentals to do so."

17:51 EDT 21st Century Fox exec Zweifach sells 36,007 Class A shares - In a regulatory filing, 21st Century Fox senior EVP and Group General Counsel Gerson Zweifach disclosed the sale of 36,007 Class A common shares of the company at a price of $49.41 per share.

17:45 EDT Twitter CEO says has been 'much more aggressive' on coordinated behavior - When asked by Recode's Kara Swisher to provide examples of things Twitter has done to address abuse on the platform, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that the company has evolved its policies, prioritized proactive enforcement to remove burden from victims, given more control in product such as muting accounts without profile pictures or associated phone and emails, and been "much more aggressive" on coordinated behavior.

17:36 EDT Twitter CEO says 'tried to do too much in the past' on online abuse - When asked by Recode's Kara Swisher why he did not see the abuse that occured on the platform, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted: "I think we tried to do too much in the past, and that leads to diluted answers and nothing impactful. There's a lot we need to address globally. We have to prioritize our resources according to impact. Otherwise we won't make much progress."

17:34 EDT Twitter CEO says system works reactively to reports of harm - In an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher via Tweets, Jack Dorsey, CEO of both Twitter (TWTR) and Square (SQ), said that most of Twitter's system today works reactively to someone reporting harmful behavior. "If they don't report, we don't see it," Dorsey said. "Doesn't scale. Hence the need to focus on proactive."

17:29 EDT Twitter CEO says abuse happens most often 'within replies' - In an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher via Tweets, Jack Dorsey, CEO of both Twitter (TWTR) and Square (SQ), said that abuse on Twitter happens most "likely within replies," which is why the company has been "more aggressive about proactively downranking behind interstitials, for example." In addition, Dorsey discussed the importance of physical safety off platform. "Doxxing is a good example which threatens physical safety," he tweeted. "So does coordinate harassment campaigns."

17:17 EDT Groupon sees FY20 adjusted EBITDA rising to $300M or more - The company states: "Over time, as legacy headwinds subside and we execute against our strategy, I believe the power of our assets and potential will be more appreciated. As we look ahead, we expect 2019 will be a year defined by investments in our future. For 2019 we expect $270 million of Adjusted EBITDA, which includes sizeable investments in expanding our card-linked offers products, booking and partner integrations. These investments will be most significant in the first half of the year, where we will see some pressure on Gross Profit while setting the stage for stronger performance as we exit the year and build to 2020. Importantly, we anticipate that the investments we're making now, along with continued cost discipline, will put us on the path to achieving $300 million or more of Adjusted EBITDA in 2020 -- with significant upside potential over time should our initiatives on voucherless and conversion drive purchase frequency higher, as we have seen in early testing." Reference Link

17:12 EDT Activision Blizzard says restructuring plan focuses on reach, player engagement - Says will not generate meaningful operating income from Destiny this year. Says planning for a higher tax rate in FY19. Says fan base is looking for content to come more quickly and at a good cadence. Says it saw in-game softness at the end of 2018. Says has strong foundation of Call of Duty Black Ops 4 players and believes the fall launch will deliver significant buzz. Says working to increase development capacity.

17:10 EDT Dorsey tells Kara Swisher he would give himself a 'C' for tech responsibility - In an interview with Recode's Kara Swisher via Tweets, Jack Dorsey, CEO of both Twitter (TWTR) and Square (SQ), said that the tech industry is "prioritizing by impact now," adding he believes the number one thing we should focus on is someone's physical safety. On the topic of how he would grade himself and Silicon Valley as a whole when it comes to tech responsibility, Dorsey said he would give himself a "C," and that while there has been progress, it "has been scattered and not felt enough." "Changing the experience hasn't been meaningful enough. And we've put most of the burden on the victims of abuse (that's a huge fail)," Dorsey said.

17:09 EDT Groupon reports Q4 adjusted EBITDA $104.6M vs. $105.3M last year

16:58 EDT Macy's names Patti Ongman Chief Merchandising Officer - Macy's announced that Patti Ongman has been named Chief Merchandising Officer of the Macy's brand, effective March 1. Ongman succeeds Jeff Kantor in this role, who previously announced his decision to retire. She currently serves as Macy's executive VPand general business manager for Home merchandise.

16:52 EDT Morgan Stanley reports 5.3% passive stake in DexCom - Morgan Stanley disclosed a 5.3% stake in DexCom, which represents over 4.75M shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

16:45 EDT Smucker Foods of Canada to invest $12M in Sherbroke facility - Smucker Foods of Canada Corp., a subsidiary of The J. M. Smucker Company, has announced a $12M investment in its Sherbrooke manufacturing facility. The Sherbrooke facility, which has proudly been a part of the Quebec community since 1939, produces Carnation evaporated milk and Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk products for Canadian consumers. The investment, supported in part by funding from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food, will be used to upgrade equipment that will allow the facility to increase its flexibility and the variety of products produced. This improvement will also lead Smucker to broaden its sourcing of domestic milk.

16:41 EDT Rexford Industrial raises dividend 15.6% to 18.5c - The Company declared a quarterly dividend of 18.5c per share, an increase of 15.6% from the prior rate of 16c per share.

16:38 EDT Allscripts' Veradigm to partner with NextGen on data exchange - Veradigm, an Allscripts (MDRX) business, and NextGen Healthcare(NXGN) entered into a long-term agreement. This partnership will streamline workflow for healthcare provider clients and facilitate data sharing with a variety of key stakeholders, including health plans, life insurance companies, laboratories and research organizations.

16:35 EDT Twilio drops 3% to $111.99 following Q4 results

16:33 EDT TripAdvisor sees 2019 revenue, profit performance back-half weighted - The company said, "We expect year-over-year revenue and profit performance in both first half and full year 2019 will be back-half weighted due to various impacts of timing and lapping of investments and improvements, increased seasonality of our portfolio, currency and other factors....Navigating competitive environments and recent investment re-prioritization, the Other hotel line within our Hotel Segment as well as Rentals within our Non-Hotel segment are expected to see increased revenue headwinds in 2019, as, on balance, we operate these lines for near-term profit."

16:31 EDT TripAdvisor sees double-digit consolidated adjusted EBITDA growth in 2019 - TripAdvisor said. "We expect double-digit consolidated adjusted EBITDA growth in 2019, with differentiated revenue and profit focus by segment. We remain bullish on our long-term prospects and will continue to leverage our unique assets as we invest in profitable growth opportunities."

16:25 EDT Regional Management CFO Donald Thomas to retire - Regional Management Corp. announced that CFO Donald Thomas is retiring from Regional, pending the appointment of a new CFO. Thomas will remain in his role until a successor is chosen and will stay on to ensure a smooth and orderly transition. Regional has engaged an executive search firm to conduct a search for its new CFO.

16:23 EDT Activision Blizzard raises annual dividend to 37c from 34c - The dividend is payable on May 9, 2019 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 28, 2019.

16:22 EDT Qualys to acquire software assets of Adya - Qualys announced it has acquired the software assets of Adya. Qualys is working on fully integrating Adya's solutions with the Qualys Cloud Platform. Qualys currently expects this solution to be commercially available in Q3 2019.

16:20 EDT Twilio guidance includes outlook for SendGrid - Twilio said its guidance includes the outlook for SendGrid from February 1, 2019, the date of acquisition.

16:17 EDT Sunstone Hotel sees FY19 AFFO $1.01-$1.11, consensus $1.11 - Sees FY19 net income $100M-$134M; and 21 Hotel Comparable Portfolio RevPAR Growth 0.0%-3.0%.

16:15 EDT Sunstone Hotel sees Q1 AFFO 18c-20c - Sees Q1 net income $10M-$14M; and 21 Hotel Comparable Portfolio RevPAR Growth 2.5%-4.5%.

16:09 EDT AGNC Investment reports estimated tangible net book value of $17.11 per share - The company announced its estimated tangible net book value of $17.11 per common share as of January 31. The estimate of tangible net book value includes deductions for the company's January 2019 dividend of 18c per common share, which was declared on January 10 with a January 31 record date.

16:08 EDT Zayo Group names Jack Waters COO - Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. announced that it has appointed Jack Waters as President, Zayo Networks and Chief Operating Officer of Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. In this expanded role, Waters will lead the company's global Networks business, including the fiber solutions, transport, enterprise and strategic networks businesses in addition to network operations and security. Waters has served as Zayo's Chief Technology Officer and President, Fiber Solutions since August 2016.

16:07 EDT Akamai CEO says 'well on our way to achieving our 30% margin goal in 2020' - "We were very pleased with our strong finish to the year. Both revenue and earnings exceeded our expectations due to the very rapid growth of our cloud security business, robust seasonal traffic and our continued focus on operational excellence," said Dr. Tom Leighton, CEO of Akamai. "As a result, we achieved our fifth consecutive quarter of non-GAAP operating margin improvement, and we are well on our way to achieving our 30% margin goal in 2020, while continuing to invest in innovation and new products to drive future growth."

16:06 EDT Cleveland-Cliffs names Keith Koci as new CFO - Cleveland-Cliffs announced that Keith A. Koci has been appointed Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of the company, effective immediately. Mr. Koci replaces Timothy K. Flanagan, who will be leaving the company, effective immediately. Mr. Koci joins Cliffs from Metals USA Holdings, where he served most recently as its Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

16:05 EDT Moderna announces positive phase 1 data for hMPV/PIV3 combination vaccine - Moderna announced topline data from the first planned interim analysis of safety and immunogenicity from its Phase 1 study of mRNA-1653 in healthy adults. mRNA-1653 is a wholly-owned program in Moderna's prophylactic vaccine modality. mRNA-1653 is designed to protect against human metapneumovirus and parainfluenza type 3, two viruses that cause respiratory infections. It is a combination vaccine that consists of two distinct mRNA sequences encoding the fusion proteins of hMPV and PIV3 formulated in Moderna's proprietary lipid nanoparticle technology. These Phase 1 interim data show that a single vaccination with mRNA-1653 boosted serum neutralization titers against hMPV and PIV3, and that the magnitude of the boost was similar at all dose levels tested. Consistent with prior exposure to hMPV and PIV3, all study participants had neutralizing antibodies against both viruses at baseline. One month after a single mRNA-1653 vaccination, the hMPV neutralization titers were approximately six-fold baseline and PIV3 neutralization titers were approximately three-fold baseline. A second mRNA-1653 vaccination one month after the first vaccination did not further boost antibody titers, suggesting a single vaccination was sufficient to achieve a plateau in neutralizing antibodies in this pre-exposed population.

16:03 EDT Akamai and Mitsubishi UFJ establish GO-NET joint venture - Akamai Technologies (AKAM) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) announced an expansion of their relationship through the establishment of a joint venture, the Global Open Network, or GO-NET, and their plans to offer a new blockchain-based online payment network enabling next-generation transaction security, scale and responsiveness. GO-NET is the result of more than three years of close collaboration between Akamai and MUFG. Both Akamai and MUFG will be investors in GO-NET, which is expected to make the new payment network available in Japan during the first half of 2020. GO-NET aims to provide a comprehensive set of services, including support for existing payment processing functions, pay-per-use, micropayments and other developing IoT-enabled payment transactions.

15:21 EDT Airgas to acquire CI Capital's Tech Air, terms not disclosed - Private equity firm CI Capital Partners elaborated on the recent sale of one of its portfolio companies, Tech Air. Tech Air, a distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut, will be acquired by Airgas, an Air Liquide company. The transaction was announced upon signing of a definitive agreement on February 6, 2019. The companies expect to close the transaction later this year. Under CI Capital's ownership, Tech Air completed 28 add-on acquisitions. The company increased revenue twelvefold. Tech Air's EBITDA increased 19 times. The company's operations expanded from two to 14 states. Tech Air was acquired by CI Capital Partners and Tech Air management and was built up following a "buy-and-build" strategy.

14:59 EDT Janus Henderson reports 8% passive stake in Cedar Fair - In a regulatory filing, Janus Henderson disclosed an 8% stake in Cedar Fair, which represents about 4.5M shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

14:28 EDT WEC Energy says on track to meet 2019 guidance - Says "very pleased" with 2018 performance. Says made "significant progress" in "nearly every measure." Says Foxconn (HNHPF) has so far invested $200M in Wisconsin. Says on track to meet 2019 guidance. Says 2019 off to "strong start." Sees lower tax rate in 2019. Says continues to see customer growth across its systems. Comments taken from Q4 earnings conference call.

13:20 EDT Adial Pharmaceuticals sees Phase 3 trial for AD04 in 1H19 - Adial Pharmaceuticals announced earlier that it has appointed Professor Markus Heilig, MD, PhD as a Scientific Advisory Board member. The SAB is charged with helping to guide the company's strategy and advance AD04, its lead therapeutic agent for AUD, with Phase 3 trials expected to commence in the first half of 2019.Shares of Adial Pharmaceuticals are down 13% to $4.60 per share in afternoon trading.

13:08 EDT Democratic senators urge FCC, DOJ to reject T-Mobile-Sprint deal - A group of Democratic senators, including Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, and Corey Booker, as well as independent senator Bernie Sanders, sent letters to FCC chairman Ajit Pai and DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim urging them to reject the proposed merger between T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S). The letters claim that the proposed deal will likely raise prices for consumers, harm workers, stifle competition, exacerbate the digital divide, and undermine innovation. In addition, the senators said they remain unconvinced that the merger would speed up the deployment of next-generation 5G networks or extend affordable coverage to all Americans. Reference Link

12:36 EDT Barrow, Hanley reports 6.26% passive stake in Cohu - arrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss's 6.26% passive stake represents 2,546,810 shares of Cohu shares. This stake does not allow for activism.

12:13 EDT FedEx Logistics to move global headquarters to downtown Memphis - FedEx Logistics, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, announced that it will move its global headquarters to the former Gibson Guitar factory building in downtown Memphis, consolidating multiple locations and nearly 700 team members into the new location over the next several years. FedEx Logistics has executed a multi-year lease to move its offices to the former Gibson Guitar factory building beginning April 2020. While the existing building comprised 154,000 square feet when purchased, FedEx Logistics staff size and spatial needs will prompt the construction of an additional mezzanine to grow total square footage to just under 200,000 square feet. LRK has been engaged as architect for the project.

12:00 EDT Molson Coors falls -9.3% - Molson Coors is down -9.3%, or -$6.05 to $59.30.

12:00 EDT Tower International falls -11.8% - Tower International is down -11.8%, or -$3.31 to $24.80.

12:00 EDT Pyxus rises 20.4% - Pyxus is up 20.4%, or $3.54 to $20.90.

11:51 EDT Auburn National Bancorporation raises dividend 4.2% to 25c per share - The board of directors of Auburn National Bancorporation declared a first quarter 25c per share cash dividend, payable March 25, 2019 to shareholders of record as of March 8, 2019. This represents a 4.2% increase over dividends declared for the first quarter of 2018.

11:37 EDT IBM, ICBC Argentina strike $63M services agreement - ICBC Argentina announced a five-year $63M agreement with IBM Services. As part of the agreement, ICBC Argentina is "redefining the Bank's customer experience with IBM AI and Cloud, which will allow the bank to improve response time by predicting 75% of specific system failures, understand online user behavior and preferences in its home banking platform, reduce up to 30% of client queries through online services powered by Watson, and innovating in personalized experiences by driving the convergence between physical and digital branches." IBM will also continue managing the bank's infrastructure.

11:33 EDT IBM makes Watson portable across any cloud and empowered businesses - IBM announced a new chapter in the journey from AI experimentation to wide-scale deployment and industry transformation. IBM has made Watson portable across any cloud and empowered businesses to prevent vendor lock-in and start deploying AI wherever their data resides."Businesses have largely been limited to experimenting with AI in siloes due to the limitations caused by cloud provider lock-in of their data," said Rob Thomas, General Manager, IBM Data and AI. "With most large organizations storing data across hybrid cloud environments, they need the freedom and choice to apply AI to their data wherever it is stored. By breaking open that siloed infrastructure we can help businesses accelerate their transformation through AI." Watson, IBM's AI, is designed to help organizations put AI to work to improve the performance of business. With a clear set of applications, development tools, machine learning models, and management services, Watson is helping organizations around the world mine their data, predict outcomes, and automate time- and resource-sensitive processes.

11:02 EDT BAE Systems awarded $74.7M contract for Holston Ammunition Plant modernization - BAE Systems has received a $74.7M U.S. Army contract to design, construct and commission a new facility that will improve production efficiency and modernize energetics manufacturing at the installation. The construction of the Recrystallization and Slurry Coating Formulation facility at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant will play a vital part in the manufacturing process of several products that supports the military and is one of several multi-year U.S. Army-driven modernization requirements for the installation. The new facility, designed with state-of-the-art safety and environmental controls, allows for energetics to be "recrystallized" to meet quality and formulation specifications. The new facility will also have dual use capability to "dewater" material in order to prepare it for further processing.

10:25 EDT Simon Property announces new $2B common stock repurchase program - Simon Property announced that the company's board of directors authorized a new common stock repurchase program. Under the new program, the company may purchase up to $2B of its common stock over the next 24 months, as market conditions warrant. The shares may be repurchased in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. This new $2B program replaces the previous program that had been scheduled to expire on March 31, 2019 of which approximately $633M was available.

10:07 EDT McKesson accused of illegal opioid scheme, FDA says - FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement that "As part of our work to secure the drug supply chain, we're announcing that the FDA has issued its first warning letter under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act to McKesson Corp. for violations highlighted by a concerning tampering incident that involved opioid medications. Other incidents involved medications for serious medical conditions including HIV, seizures, bipolar disorder and high blood pressure. The warning letter to McKesson outlines violations observed during inspections that took place this past summer, including failing to: sufficiently respond to notifications that there was illegitimate product in their supply chain; quarantine and investigate suspect products; and maintain records of investigations of suspect product and disposition of illegitimate product as the law requires. In one instance outlined in the letter, McKesson was notified by a pharmacy customer that multiple of their pharmacy locations received bottles that were supposed to contain potent opioid pills. However, once opened, the pharmacies discovered that bottles at three pharmacy locations did not contain the correct medications, and the opioid pills were missing, having been replaced with other non-opioid medications. The pharmacy customer notified McKesson about the discovery of illegitimate products. While McKesson's internal investigation noted that it was likely the opioid medication was replaced while in their possession or control, McKesson did not sufficiently respond to the notification that they may have distributed illegitimate products. McKesson could not demonstrate that they took efforts to identify or quarantine additional illegitimate products that may have still been in their distribution facilities. Additionally, McKesson did not notify other pharmacy customers who may have received products with the same lot number or National Drug Code to make them aware of potential illegitimate product in the supply chain." Reference Link

10:02 EDT Mylan launches Advair Diskus generic Wixela Inhub - Mylan N.V. (MYL) announced the launch of the first FDA-approved therapeutically equivalent, substitutable generic of ADVAIR DISKUS, Wixela Inhub, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through the Abbreviated New Drug Application pathway. Wixela Inhub is indicated for certain patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. All three strengths of Wixela Inhub will be offered at a wholesale acquisition cost* 70% less than ADVAIR DISKUS and 67% less than GSK's (GSK) authorized generic version which launched on Feb. 8. The wholesale acquisition costs of Wixela Inhub 100 mcg/50 mcg, 250 mcg/50 mcg and 500 mcg/50 mcg strengths are $93.71, $116.44 and $153.14, respectively.

10:00 EDT Britannia Bulk falls -7.6% - Britannia Bulk is down -7.6%, or -77c to $9.31.

10:00 EDT Tower International falls -12.2% - Tower International is down -12.2%, or -$3.44 to $24.66.

10:00 EDT Coty rises 14.2% - Coty is up 14.2%, or $1.37 to $11.03.

09:58 EDT Borqs Technologies Inc trading resumes

09:52 EDT Carvana drops 4% to $30.63 after Spruce Point starts at Strong Sell

09:50 EDT Carvana initiated with a Strong Sell at Spruce Point

09:49 EDT Juniper announces 'major refresh' to metro, edge and core solutions - Juniper Networks announced what the company called "a major refresh" to its metro, edge and core solutions intended to "accelerate service providers' 5G transformation." Juniper said: "Comprised of IP optimized silicon enabling industry-leading 400GbE density on a new 14.4Tb line card, new ACX access and aggregation platforms and an expanded MX 5G router portfolio, these new Juniper solutions will help service providers achieve a holistic approach to infrastructure transformation. Combined with Juniper's Contrail software portfolio, these new infrastructure enhancements deliver a secure, automated and cloud-centric architecture that will unlock new revenue opportunities for service providers." The Juniper Penta Silicon-powered MPC11E line cards for MX2000 and Triton Silicon-powered 14.4Tb line cards for the PTX10008 are expected to be available during the second half of 2019. The 1 and 3 RU ACX700 will be available in early 2020.

09:47 EDT Aurora Cannabis falls -6.1% - Aurora Cannabis is down -6.1%, or -44c to $6.73.

09:47 EDT Britannia Bulk falls -8.1% - Britannia Bulk is down -8.1%, or -82c to $9.26.

09:47 EDT Coty rises 17.5% - Coty is up 17.5%, or $1.69 to $11.35.

09:35 EDT SCWorx Corporation trading resumes

09:31 EDT FMC Corporation sees FY19 effective tax rate 14%-16% - Sees FY19 capital expenditures $140M-$160M. Sees FY19 free cash flow $375M-$475M. Sees FX headwinds in first half of 2019. Guidance taken from Q4 earnings conference call.

09:30 EDT SCWorx Corporation trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:22 EDT Under Armour sees DTC down 'a little' in Q1

09:17 EDT Symantec acquires Luminate Security - Symantec announced the acquisition of Luminate Security, a privately held company with pioneering Software Defined Perimeter technology. Luminate's Secure Access Cloud technology further extends the power of Symantec's Integrated Cyber Defense Platform to users as they access workloads and applications regardless of where those workloads are deployed or what infrastructure they are accessed through. The Secure Access Cloud service is available immediately.

09:15 EDT Oshkosh awarded $232.7M delivery order from U.S. Army TACOM - Oshkosh Defense, an Oshkosh company, announced that it has been awarded a $232.7 million delivery order from the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, or TACOM, to recapitalize vehicles in the Army's Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles fleet. Under the contract, Oshkosh will recapitalize a total of 407 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks and Palletized Load System, or PLS, trucks as well as manufacture 601 new PLS trailers.

09:13 EDT Wells Fargo CFO says demand for loans is 'robust' - CFO John Shrewsberry says there's still "robust" demand for loans. Shrewsberry says, more commercial real estate is being done. Shrewsberry said the company is cautious on reinvestment. Shrewsberry said it's becoming harder to find clients for full-service brokerage. Shrewsberry said, "the regular business is running the way the regular business should run." Shrewsberry said there is still room to grow in the company's planned $4B cost savings plan. Shrewsberry said the company won't stop strategic investments or investments in technology. Comments provided during Credit Suisse Annual Financial Services Forum.

09:09 EDT Comtech awarded $6.2M of additional funding from U.S. Army - Comtech Telecommunications announced that during its second quarter of fiscal 2019, its Command & Control Technologies group, which is part of Comtech's Government Solutions segment, received additional funding of $6.2M on the previously announced three-year $123.6M contract that has subsequently been increased to $124.2M, to provide ongoing sustainment services for the AN/TSC-198A SNAP, Very Small Aperture Terminals. SNAP terminals provide quick and mobile satellite communications capabilities to personnel in the field. The contract has been funded $45.8M to date.

09:07 EDT Alexion appoints Anne-Marie Law as Chief Patient and Employee Experience Officer - Alexion Pharmaceuticals announced the creation of new roles within its executive leadership team. Anne-Marie Law has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Patient and Employee Experience Officer. Aradhana Sarin, M.D., has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Strategy and Business Officer. Ms. Law has served as Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer since joining Alexion in June 2017.

09:06 EDT Wabtec announces resignation of COO Stephane Rembaud-Measson - Wabtec Corporation announced that its COO, Stephane Rambaud-Measson, has resigned from his position and as a board member of the company to pursue other interests. Rambaud-Measson had served as president and chief executive officer of Faiveley Transport and joined Wabtec when it acquired Faiveley in 2016. During his years at Faiveley Transport, Rambaud-Measson had developed Faiveley Transport into a global transit technology and market leader.

09:05 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Ellie Mae (ELLI), up 21.5% after announcing a definitive agreement to be acquired by Thoma Bravo in an all-cash transaction valued at an aggregate equity value of approximately $3.7B, or $99 per share... Coty (COTY), up 17% after JAB announced that an affiliate will commence a tender offer pursuant to which JAB Cosmetics B.V. would acquire up to 150M additional shares of Coty Class A common stock at a price of $11.65 per share in cash... DHT Holdings (DHT), up 3% after being upgraded to Buy from Hold at DNB Markets. UP AFTER EARNINGS: Radiant Logistics (RLGT), up 9%... WEC Energy (WEC), up 2%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Under Armour (UAA), down 2.5%... Varonis (VRNS), down 24%... Shopify (SHOP), down 6%... Molson Coors (TAP), down 7%... US Foods (USFD), down 5%. ALSO LOWER: Gilead (GILD), down 3% after the STELLAR4 trial in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis failed to meet its primary endpoint... Take Two (TTWO), down 3% after BMO Capital analyst Gerrick Johnson downgraded the stock to Underperform from Market Perform and cut his price target to $80 from $119. The analyst said that after a 2-year "hype machine" blast for its Red Dead Redemption 2 title and its "strong" premier, the buzz around the game has "dissipated markedly."

09:00 EDT CAS Medical trading resumes

08:49 EDT Under Armour does not see new restructuring plan, further charges in 2019

08:48 EDT Barnes & Noble Education, Wiley expand relationship for course materials - Barnes & Noble Education (BNED) and Wiley (JWA, JWB) announced an expanded relationship, which will bring wider access to affordable, digital course materials to campuses nationwide. Through a newly signed agreement, Wiley digital content will be made available through inclusive access models offered on campuses served by BNED through its Barnes & Noble College and MBS Textbook Exchange subsidiaries.

08:42 EDT L3 Technologies raises quarterly dividend to 85c per share from 80c per share - L3 Technologies announced that its board has increased the company's regular quarterly cash dividend from 80c to 85c per share payable on March 15, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 1.

08:38 EDT Tronox and FTC filed motion requesting delay of remaining appeal deadlines - Tronox confirmed that it and the staff of the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, have filed a joint motion with the FTC Commissioners requesting a delay of the remaining appeals deadlines. The filing of the joint motion reflects progress in advancing settlement discussions regarding a remedy transaction intended to resolve the Commission's competitive concerns with Tronox's pending acquisition of the titanium dioxide, or TiO2, business of The National Titanium Dioxide Company. Tronox has proposed to address the FTC's concerns through a divestiture of all Cristal's North American TiO2 business including its two-plant Ashtabula TiO2 complex to INEOS Enterprises, a division of INEOS, for a cash purchase price of $700M.

08:36 EDT T. Rowe Price reports preliminary AUM $1.04T at January 31 - Client transfers from mutual funds to other portfolios, including trusts and separate accounts, were $2.7B in January 2019.

08:35 EDT Amyris announces IDRI's receipt of $4.4M grant from NIH - Amyris announced IDRI's receipt of a $4.4M, five-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to discover sustainable alternatives to shark squalene to use as vaccine adjuvants. Funding is provided by a special bioengineering research grant aimed at bringing engineering expertise to focus on a biomedical problem and ultimately develop a new solution. Adjuvants are added to vaccines to enhance their effectiveness; the aim of the new project is to discover and evaluate novel, sustainable squalene-like compounds produced by bio- or chemical engineering for vaccine adjuvant applications. IDRI has selected Amyris and the University of Nottingham, as partners because of their record of engineering pure molecules from sustainable sources at low cost. Instead of sourcing squalene from sharks, Amyris uses patented biotechnology to create squalene-like compounds using sugarcane syrup as the fermentation feedstock. Amyris has developed specific expertise as a clean manufacturer of sustainably sourced squalane.

08:33 EDT Neenah Paper sees FY19 earnings growth 'skewed to the second half' - "As a result of the following, year on year earnings growth is expected to be skewed to the second half of 2019: Continued ramp up of U.S. transportation filtration capacity through the year will contribute to both top and bottom line growth. While declining from recent peaks, input costs are still expected to be $10 - $15 million higher in 2019 and the first half of the year will see the largest year on year comparative impact. Pricing initiatives are expected to offset these incremental increases as well as a majority of unrecovered input cost increases from 2018. The euro on average is expected to be slightly weaker than the US dollar in 2019 compared with 2018, however comparisons in the first half of the year will be more unfavorable when the euro could be 5 to 10 cents weaker. A weaker euro unfavorably impacts results, with each five cent change reducing quarterly sales by approximately $2.5 million, pre-tax income by approximately $0.5 million, and earnings per share by approximately $0.025."

08:25 EDT CAS Medical trading halted, news pending

08:12 EDT IBM Canada, Boehringer Ingelheim to explore blockchain in clinical trials - Boehringer Ingelheim and IBM Canada announced at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference in Orlando, Florida, their plans to explore the use of blockchain technology in clinical trials. This collaboration underscores Boehringer Ingelheim's commitment to healthcare innovation and marks the first time that blockchain technology will be explored in a clinical trial setting in Canada.

08:11 EDT Ellie Mae trading resumes

08:08 EDT Beadell shareholders approve acquisition by Great Panther Silver - Great Panther Silver is pleased to announce that at a special meeting held on February 12 at 10:00 a.m., shareholders of Beadell Resources approved the scheme of arrangement under which Great Panther will acquire all of the shares in Beadell. Now that both Great Panther's and Beadell's shareholders have approved the acquisition, closing is expected the first week of March following satisfaction of customary closing conditions and receipt of Australian court and regulatory approvals.

08:07 EDT Legg Mason reports preliminary AUM $746.7B as of January 31 - This month's AUM included net long-term outflows of $2B, driven by net outflows in fixed income of $2.4B, partially offset by alternative and equity inflows of $0.2B each. Alternative AUM reflects $0.2B of realizations. Liquidity outflows were $3.8B and the impact of foreign exchange was a positive $2.3B.

08:04 EDT Stratasys announces collaboration agreement with Andretti Autosport - Stratasys unveiled a new collaboration agreement with Andretti Autosport. A top performer in IndyCar, Indy Lights, Rallycross and Formula E, Andretti aims to leverage advanced FDM technology and materials to accelerate design and development of the team's diverse racing platforms. Andretti joins Stratasys customers competing across a wide range of high performance sports - from professional auto racing and motor cross to the winter games - capitalizing on 3D printing to accelerate design iterations, workflows and final part production. Leveraging the technology to become significantly more competitive on the track, Andretti will advance both design and production cycles using both the Stratasys F370 and Fortus 450mc 3D Printers.

08:03 EDT Ellie Mae agrees to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $99 per share in cash - Ellie Mae announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Thoma Bravo, LLC, a leading private equity investment firm, in an all-cash transaction that values Ellie Mae at an aggregate equity value of approximately $3.7B. Under the terms of the agreement, all Ellie Mae shareholders will receive $99.00 in cash per share. The price per share represents a 47 percent premium to the 30-day average closing share price and 49 percent premium to the 60-day average closing price as of February 1, 2019. Ellie Mae's Board of Directors unanimously approved the definitive agreement and recommended that stockholders vote their shares in favor of the transaction. Ellie Mae's headquarters will remain in Pleasanton, California, with regional offices across the United States. Closing of the transaction is subject to approval by Ellie Mae stockholders and regulatory authorities and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2019 and is not subject to a financial condition. The agreement includes a 35 day "go-shop" period, which permits Ellie Mae's Board and advisors to actively initiate, solicit, encourage, and potentially enter negotiations with parties that make alternative acquisition proposals. Ellie Mae will have the right to terminate the merger agreement to enter into a superior proposal subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement. There can be no assurance that this 35 day "go-shop" will result in a superior proposal, and Ellie Mae does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the solicitation process unless and until the Board makes a determination requiring further disclosure.

07:55 EDT IPG Photonics trading halted, news pending

07:48 EDT Medigus receives patent for ScoutCam Micro-Visual Technology - Medigus announced that it has received a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for its ScoutCam Micro-Visual Technology. The U.S patent number is 10,188,275. The patent is valid until March 16, 2031. The patent refers to small diameter camera heads and small diameter visualization probes with a maximal diameter of 4mm, and small diameter medical devices containing visualization means with a maximal diameter of 4mm. This technology is used in the Micro ScoutCam portfolio of products, and includes a range of video cameras with small diameter heads that use complementary metal oxide semiconductor or charge coupled device based sensors.

07:42 EDT ADMA Biologics enters into $72.5M loan facility with Perceptive Advisors - ADMA Biologics announces that it has entered into a senior secured term loan facility with Perceptive Advisors for up to $72.5 million under two funding tranches. The first loan facility tranche from Perceptive of $45M was used to prepay ADMA's former senior secured credit facility of $30M in full plus associated costs and fees. The second loan facility tranche from Perceptive of $27.5M is predicated on United States FDA approval of either the BIVIGAM Prior Approval Supplement or the RI-002 Biologics License Application and is available at ADMA's election through June 30, 2020, with a minimum draw down of $10 million. The Perceptive loan facility provides for an interest only period through the entire duration of the loan facility maturing in March 2022, as well as a more favorable interest rate as compared to ADMA's former senior secured credit facility. Additionally, the new Perceptive loan facility does not include any back-end fees.

07:38 EDT Conatus completes enrollment in ENCORE-LF Phase 2b trial - Conatus announced the completion of enrollment in ENCORE-LF, a Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating emricasan, the company's first-in-class, orally-active pan-caspase inhibitor. The ENCORE-LF clinical trial is designed to evaluate safety, dosing and efficacy of emricasan in patients with decompensated NASH cirrhosis as an integral part of the company's initial registration strategy. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, trial is being conducted at approximately 90 U.S. clinical sites in approximately 210 patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, who have stable decompensated liver cirrhosis. Patients were randomized 1:1:1 to receive 5 mg of emricasan, 25 mg of emricasan, or placebo twice daily for at least 48 weeks. The primary endpoint is event-free survival. Analysis of the primary endpoint will be triggered upon reaching a prespecified target number of events. An additional analysis is planned after all patients have completed at least 48 weeks of dosing.

07:36 EDT Loop Industries completes, expands supply agreement with Danone - Loop Industries announced that it has completed a multi-year supply agreement with Danone. Danone will purchase 100% sustainable and upcycled Loop-branded PET from Loop's joint venture facility with Indorama Ventures in the United States for use in brands across its portfolio including evian, Danone's natural spring water.

07:34 EDT Pacira to increase Exparel manufacturing capacity with second facility - Pacira (PCRX) announced that commercial production of Exparel is now underway at a custom suite in Swindon, UK created under the company's partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific Pharma Services (TMO). This first suite was designed to mirror the company's existing facility at the Pacira Science Center in San Diego, California and is expected to double the company's manufacturing capacity. Through the partnership, the companies are developing a second dedicated suite that is expected to enable another doubling of Exparel manufacturing capacity in approximately two years. The company's investment in this facility is an integral component of its strategy to meet the growing customer demand in the U.S. and to support expansion into new global markets, such as Europe and Asia.

07:17 EDT Molson Coors reports Q4 EBITDA $487.7M, up 3.9% from last year

07:14 EDT STAAR Surgical announces strategic cooperation agreement with Smile Eyes Group - STAAR Surgical Company announced a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with the Smile Eyes Group, an alliance of more than 80 eye experts across 13 vision correction eye centers in Germany and Austria. The agreement positions the EVO Visian ICL family of lenses as a premium and primary refractive procedure for patients suffering from nearsightedness. EVO is the latest version of STAAR Surgical Company's implantable collamer lens that works with the patient's natural eye to correct vision and provide patients visual freedom from spectacles and contact lenses. The central hole of the EVO lens allows for the eye's natural nourishing aqueous flow and a single surgical procedure.

07:09 EDT Check-Cap receives IRB approval to initiate U.S. pilot study of C-Scan system - Check-Cap announced it has received Institutional Review Board approval from New York University School of Medicine to initiate a U.S. pilot study of the C-Scan system. The U.S. pilot study will be a single-arm study enrolling up to 45 subjects considered to be of average risk for polyps and colon cancer. The study will evaluate the safety, usability, and subject compliance of the C-Scan system. The study will be conducted at New York University School of Medicine.

07:05 EDT Sorrento Therapeutics, Yuhan announce $40M in financning for ImmuneOncia JV - Yuhan Corporation and Sorrento Therapeutics announced that ImmuneOncia, a joint venture, or JV, formed in September 2016, has completed a private equity financing of $40M at a pre-money valuation of $95M, which was led by Paratus SP. The proceeds of the transaction will be utilized to advance ImmuneOncia's Phase I and II clinical studies of IMC-001, a PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, as well as to support its earlier stage programs. As a result of this financing, ImmuneOncia is expected to be sufficiently funded in preparation for an initial public offering, which is expected to occur in 2021. As of the closing of the financing, equity stakes in ImmuneOncia include Yuhan at 36.1%, Sorrento at 34.6% and Paratus SP at 29.3%.

07:04 EDT JAB Cosmetics proposes partial tender offer for 150M additional shares of Coty

07:01 EDT Molson Coors to restate financial results for 2016, 2017 - In a regulatory filing, Molson Coors Brewing disclosed that on February 8, 2019, the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the company, after discussion with management of the company and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the company's independent registered public accounting firm, concluded that the company's previously issued consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 should be restated and no longer be relied upon. As part of preparing its 2018 financial statements, the company identified errors in the accounting for income taxes related to the deferred tax liabilities for its partnership in MillerCoors. Upon the closing of the acquisition of the remaining interest in MillerCoors in the fourth quarter of 2016 and completion of the related deferred income tax calculations, the company did not reconcile the outside basis deferred income tax liability for the investment in the partnership to the book-tax differences in the underlying assets and liabilities within the partnership. As a result of completing this reconciliation as part of preparing its 2018 consolidated financial statements, the company identified a difference related to historical financial statements and concluded that the previously issued 2017 and 2016 consolidated financial statements were misstated. Accordingly, the company is restating its consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2016 to increase its deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax expense by $399.1M, with a corresponding decrease in net income and earnings per share. The company's consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017 are also being restated to reflect the revaluation of such deferred liabilities due to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017 and to correct further insignificant income tax errors resulting in a decrease to deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax expense of $151.4M, resulting in corresponding increases to the company's net income and earnings per share. These adjustments resulted in an aggregate $247.7M increase to the company's deferred tax liabilities and corresponding decrease in retained earnings and total equity as of December 31, 2017. The company intends to include restated consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, which it expects to file on February 12, 2019. Management of the company has concluded that the impact of the errors on the previously issued unaudited interim financial statements included in the company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q are not material, but in conjunction with restating its annual financial statements, the company will include corrected 2018 and 2017 previously issued unaudited interim financial information in the 2018 Annual Report and will revise its unaudited 2018 interim financial statements in connection with the filing of its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ending March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2019.

06:59 EDT OneMain Holdings initiates 25c quarterly dividend - OneMain's Board of Directors approved the initiation of a quarterly dividend of 25c per share, with the dividend to be paid on March 15, 2019 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 26, 2019.

06:57 EDT Brown & Brown unit acquires substantially all assets of Smith Insurance - J. Scott Penny, Chief Acquisitions Officer of Brown & Brown, and Stephen Smith, Jr., Brian & Kellie Smith Friel, Christopher & Carrie Smith and Brendan & Megan Smith Whelan, the owners of Smith Insurance Associates, announced that Brown & Brown Metro, a subsidiary of Brown & Brown, has acquired substantially all of the assets of Smith Insurance. Smith Insurance is a family owned agency with over 35 years of experience, providing a variety of business insurance products to its customers with a focus on multifamily residential, hospitality and commercial structures. Smith Insurance's annualized revenue is approximately $5.5M. The Smith Insurance team will continue to operate from their office in Spring House, Pennsylvania, as a branch office of Brown & Brown's Mt. Laurel, New Jersey office, which is led by Billy Roberts. Roberts reports to Rich Knudson, Regional President of Brown & Brown

06:48 EDT US Foods CEO says 'confident in our ability to deliver improved growth in 2019' - "We made significant progress in 2018 as we implemented our key strategic initiatives which position us well for future growth," said Chairman and CEO Pietro Satriano. "As part of our actions to drive profitability, we expanded sales of our private brands, implemented operational improvements in our merchandising and supply chain functions, and maintained strong cost discipline throughout the organization. Our differentiated product innovation, e-commerce and team-based selling strategies continue to give us a competitive advantage and contributed to us exiting the year with independent restaurant case growth exceeding our 4% exit rate target. We are confident in our ability to deliver improved growth and operating profitability in 2019."

06:45 EDT US Foods reports Q4 total case volume decreased 0.8% - Q4 independent restaurant case volume increased 3.9%.

06:36 EDT Callon Petroleum sees FY19 production 39.5-41.5 MBoepd - Sees planned sequential decrease in 2019 operational capital expenditures to a range of $500M-$525M. In FY19 the company plans to place 47-49 net wells on production with an increase of approximately 15% in average net lateral length over the 2018 program. Reports year-end 2018 proved reserves of 238.5 MMBoe, an annual increase in total proved reserves of 74% and proved developed reserves of 85%. Reports year-end 2018 PV-10 value of $3.1B. The company said, "We are currently operating six rigs and one dedicated completion crew. We expect to reduce the number of active rigs from six to four by mid-year after building a sufficient inventory of wells awaiting completion to provide operational flexibility for an increased proportion of larger pad concepts. We began 2019 with one dedicated completion crew and intend to reactivate a second crew to reduce cycle times on large development pads once the necessary drilling activity has been completed."

06:33 EDT Wolverine World Wide announces new $400M share repurchase program - During 2018, the company returned approximately $204M to shareholders in the form of share repurchases and dividends, including $105M in share repurchases during the fourth quarter. As part of its on-going strategy to drive total shareholder return, the company's Board of Directors approved a new plan to repurchase up to $400M in shares over a four-year term, incremental to the $27M remaining under the existing repurchase program.

06:17 EDT CorVel approves 1M shares expansion to stock repurchase program - CorVel reported that the Company's Board of Directors has approved a 1M share expansion to its existing stock repurchase program, increasing the total number of shares approved for repurchase over the life of such program to 37,000,000 shares from the previous limit of 36,000,000 shares. Based upon the Company's closing stock price on February 8 this increase in the number of shares authorized to be repurchased over time would cost approximately an additional $63M full 1M additional shares are repurchased. The actual cost could be higher or lower depending on the Company's stock price at the time of any repurchases and the frequency and amount of any repurchases. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had $96 million in cash on the balance sheet and no debt. "As a result of CorVel's organic revenue growth, and the strength of our business model we believe we remain well-positioned to generate cash for future growth," said Michael Combs, CorVel's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our share repurchase program allows CorVel to invest in the continuing success of our services and enhance shareholder value." CorVel commenced its share repurchase program in the fall of 1996. Since its inception through December 31, 2018, the Company has spent $454 million to repurchase 35,267,631 shares, equal to 65% of the outstanding common stock had there been no repurchases. The Company spent $22.6 million to repurchase 386,552 shares during the nine months ended December 31, 2018, for an average price of $58.44 per share. These purchases have been funded primarily from the net earnings of the Company. CorVel had 18,700,031 shares of common stock, net of treasury shares, outstanding as of December 31, 2018.

06:10 EDT NBC, Telemundo to utilize Nielsen Rhiza and voter ratings for TV measurement - Nielsen (NLSN) and the NBCUniversal owned television stations division of NBCUniversal announced that effective immediately, NBC, a Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary, and Telemundo owned stations and nine NBC Sports regional networks have added Nielsen Rhiza consumer insights sales tools and Nielsen voter ratings, a cross-platform tool for voter behavior, to enhance the way the stations and regional sports networks, or RSNs, measure their performance. The added services complement the existing agreement between Nielsen and the NBC and Telemundo owned stations and RSNs. Nielsen's Rhiza consumer insights sales tools allow local TV sales and researchers to explore and visualize their data and insights in a granular way, providing automotive registration by the dealer, make and model. Rhiza also delivers analytics with one-click insights-on-demand that are personalized by market, sector and audience. In addition, Rhiza enables clients to find sales stories that showcase TV or radio stations to inform local planning, buying and advertising sales efforts. The platform is powered by Nielsen data, and in addition to voting behavior, also includes data from Nielsen Scarborough and Polk Automotive, to enable third-party datasets. The voter ratings cross-platform tool provides TV and audio voter rating data to stations on a monthly basis, offering scale, coverage and complete representation of all voter and viewer types, including broadcast only and over-the-top homes. Nielsen voter ratings are available in the top 56 markets in the country, and facilitate a better understanding of the media consumption behavior of voters by race, gender and demographic characteristics.

06:06 EDT CareTrust REIT acquires skilled nursing portfolio in California for $43.9M - CareTrust REIT announced that it acquired a 503-bed, four-property skilled nursing portfolio in California in a sale-leaseback transaction with subsidiaries of Covenant Care, Inc. As part of the transaction, CareTrust and Covenant Care entered into a new master lease, which combined the four newly-acquired facilities with four Covenant Care facilities already in CareTrust's existing portfolio. The total investment for the sale-leaseback was approximately $43.9M, inclusive of transaction costs, with approximately $4.0 million in initial annual cash rent. The master lease carries an initial term of fifteen years, with two five-year renewal options and CPI-based rent escalators. The three standalone leases that were consolidated and eliminated had remaining lease terms of less than five years.

05:58 EDT Sony Interactive Entertainment names Jim Ryan as president and CEO - Sony Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that SIE Deputy President Jim Ryan will be appointed President and CEO of SIE effective April 1, 2019. Current SIE President and CEO John Kodera will dedicate his focus on creating innovative user experiences and further enhancing the network area as Deputy President of SIE. At the same time, Jim Ryan will also assume the role of Representative Director and President of SIE's Japan-based legal entity, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., and John Kodera will be its Representative Director and Deputy President. Jim Ryan will report directly to Kenichiro Yoshida, President and CEO of Sony Corporation.

05:28 EDT Applied DNA Sciences signs Term Sheet with TheraCann - Applied DNA Sciences and TheraCann International Benchmark, a global full-service legal cannabis and hemp consultancy, announced that they have entered into a non-binding Term Sheet for a long term exclusive licensing agreement for the use of Applied DNA's proprietary CertainT supply chain integrity platform technology within TheraCann's ETCH BioTrace seed-to-sale tracking system. The Term Sheet is expected to be followed by a definitive agreement. Upon a signed Agreement TheraCann will pay to Applied DNA $5M in non-contingent phased payments over a period of six months from the date of the signing of the Agreement. In addition, Applied DNA will be the exclusive supplier of SigNature molecular tags, molecular tag application systems and molecular tag authentication systems to TheraCann for use within TheraCann's ETCH Biotrace system. The term of the exclusive license to TheraCann is patent term for patented aspects, and 20 years for non-patented components.

05:22 EDT Wex enters into partnership with Juniper - Wex announced it has secured a new international partnership with Juniper. Founded in 1996, Juniper is a global provider of the booking engines Juniper and Cangooroo. These distribution platforms are used by more than 300 clients around the world. Juniper's online solutions are aimed at tour operators, OTAs, DMCs, Bed Banks, wholesalers, and accommodation suppliers.

05:17 EDT Sanofi appoints Ameet Nathwani as Chief Digital Officer - Sanofi has appointed Ameet Nathwani, M.D. as Chief Digital Officer in addition to his current role of Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Nathwani joined Sanofi in May 2016 as Chief Medical Officer.

05:04 EDT Nektar reports 48% overall response rate in urothelial cancer for NKTR-214 combo - In an abstract for this week's Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) last night reported an overall response rate of 48% or 11 out of the 23 patients with urothelial cancer who've been treated with the NKTR-214 and Bristol-Myers' (BMY) Opdivo combination and were evaluable for efficacy in a Phase 1/2 study. Shares of Nektar are down 6%, or $2.62, to $43.73 in premarket trading. Reference Link