Stockwinners Market Radar for February 24, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:19 EDT Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories - Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Using his Twitter account, President Donald Trump said that, "I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues. As a result of these very... productive talks, I will be delaying the U.S. increase in tariffs now scheduled for March 1. Assuming both sides make additional progress, we will be planning a Summit for President Xi and myself, at Mar-a-Lago, to conclude an agreement. A very good weekend for U.S. & China!" 2. Kraft Heinz (KHC) has tapped investment bank Credit Suisse to review options for its Maxwell House coffee business, which could include a potential sale, CNBC's Lauren Hirsch reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Based off valuations for other sales of consumer brands, a sale could fetch a price of at least $3B, sources said. 3. While investors are cheering indications of progress being made toward a resolution of trade issues between China and the U.S., the battle for tech supremacy between the two global superpowers shows few signs of abating, Reshma Kapadia wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. Global chip makers remain highly reliant on China, which makes just 30% of the chips it actually needs, the publication noted. Companies with revenue exposure to china include Qualcomm (QCOM), Micron (MU), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Broadcom (AVGO), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), AMD (AMD), Maxim Integrated Devices (MXIM), Applied Materials (AMAT), Intel (INTC), Xilinx (XLNX), Skyworks (SWKS), Nvidia (NVDA), Analog Devices (ADI), Lam Research (LRCX), and KLA-Tencor (KLAC). 4. Comcast (CMCSA; CMCSK) subsidiary Universal's "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" won the weekend with a franchise-best launch of $55.5M from 4,259 theaters in North America, the top opening of the year so far. Overseas, the threequel earned another $34.7M from 53 market for a foreign total of $216.9M and $274.9M globally. The movie sports an audience grade of A and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score. 5. Altria Group's (MO) and WellCare Health (WCG) saw positive mentions in Barron's, while Windstream (WIN) was mentioned cautiously.

17:54 EDT PTC announces Vuforia support for Microsoft HoloLens 2 - PTC (PTC) announced from the 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that its Vuforia augmented reality and mixed reality solutions offer built-in support for Microsoft (MSFT) HoloLens 2. Vuforia solutions give industrial customers an efficient and effective way to create AR/MR interactions that capitalize on Microsoft HoloLens 2 new gestures, voice enhancements, and tracking capabilities without the need for extensive programming or costly custom designers.

16:20 EDT Box Office Battle: 'How to Train Your Dragon 3' wins weekend with $55.5M - Comcast (CMCSA; CMCSK) subsidiary Universal's "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" won the weekend with a franchise-best launch of $55.5M from 4,259 theaters in North America, the top opening of the year so far. Overseas, the threequel earned another $34.7M from 53 market for a foreign total of $216.9M and $274.9M globally. The movie sports an audience grade of A and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score. BOX OFFICE RUNNERS-UP: Fox's (FOXA) "Alita: Battle Angel" fell to number two, with an estimated $12M for a domestic total of $60.7M. Overseas, the movie debuted in China with $62.3M, the top showing ever for a Fox release. Behind it in the domestic box office was AT&T (T) subsidiary Warner Bros' "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part," earning another $10M for a domestic total of $83.6M. "Fighting with My Family" placed number four with $8M. Rounding out the top five, Viacom (VIAB) subsidiary Paramount's "Isn't it Romantic" grossed an estimated $7.5M for a domestic tally of $33.8M. Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include Disney (DIS), Lionsgate's (LGF.A) and Sony (SNE).

14:40 EDT Verizon adds third 5G smartphone in 2019 - Verizon (VZ) announced the LG V50 ThinQ 5G - LG's first 5G smartphone - is coming to Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network this summer. This is the third smartphone that will run on Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network, joining the Motorola (MSI) moto z3 with 5G moto mod and the Samsung (SSNLF) Galaxy S10 5G, both coming in the first half of 2019 for consumers and business users. LG's V-series is a gateway to creativity, packing improved video, camera and display technology into a slim, powerful smartphone that's perfect for content creators, entertainment connoisseurs and mobile professionals. LG V50 ThinQ 5G will be available on Verizon this summer.

14:33 EDT Telstra, Ericsson announce partnership to deliver IoT connectivity to enterprise - Telstra (TLSYY) and Ericsson (ERIC) have announced partnership to deliver Internet of Things connectivity to global enterprises by integrating Ericsson's Connectivity Management services from Ericsson's IoT Accelerator solution into Telstra's IoT solution and world-class mobile network. The partnership, announced in Barcelona on the eve of Mobile World Congress, will bring together Telstra's cellular IoT capabilities and Ericsson's connectivity services to enable original equipment manufacturers and enterprises to deploy, manage and scale IoT connected devices and applications globally. From March 30, Telstra's enterprise customers will be able to manage, access and track their IoT devices and networked assets at a local, national or global level via access to Telstra's cellular IoT capabilities including Narrowband-IoT and CAT-M1 technology. The announcement builds on Ericsson and Telstra's successful deployment of NB-IoT extended range in September 2018 that increased Telstra's NB-IoT coverage to more than 3.5M square kilometers and which allows data connections up to 100km, 60kms more than 3GPP standards-based limits. There will be support for eSIM capabilities via the connectivity management service from IoT Accelerator solution and other technologies that will allow global enterprise customers and OEMs to deploy their products and services more easily on Telstra's network, allowing end users to enjoy the benefits of Telstra's network capabilities on a local SIM profile.

14:04 EDT Nokia, Korea Telecom to conduct 5G trials - Nokia and Korea Telecom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate and trial various 5G technologies, including NFV and network slicing, in order to develop new applications and business models for the operator's enterprise customers. The joint work will include Service Orchestration and Assurance for the 5G era, with the aim of delivering end-to-end automation and new revenue opportunities. The trials are planned to take place in Seoul later this year. Nokia and KT will trial an end-to-end network service platform in the country for network slicing, a key feature of 5G that will allow carriers to tailor different parts of their network capacity to different subscribers and applications, like connected vehicles and Internet of Things use cases. Leveraging KT's proprietary OPERA 5G end-to-end orchestrator platform and Nokia's Cloudband Management Orchestration software suite, both companies are also working on a Proof of Concept to automate interworking and 5G. OPERA is based on ETSI NFV international standard. The PoC will evaluate hosting, orchestrating, automating, and managing KT's 5G virtual network functions environment.

13:59 EDT Cisco, Airtel Team to build India's largest 5G-ready IP network - Cisco announced its collaboration with Airtel to build India's largest 5G-ready, IP-based fully automated network. Together the companies will help Airtel deliver enhanced subscriber experiences and offer world-class high-speed mobile access for its customers across the country. Airtel partners with Cisco Customer Experience to transform its network to extend reach, reliability and scalability that greatly enhances its customers' experiences, extends IP services to even deep rural markets and importantly, lay a solid foundation for evolution towards 5G. The network architecture is based on open network standards to simplify adoption by other operators, thereby enabling mobile access to more people throughout India. Airtel's IP-based network architecture will enable new functionality, including segment routing, traffic engineering and ethernet VPN that helps ensure seamless interoperability and the ability to leverage existing investments in its MPLS-TP network. The fully-automated IP network architecture will also give Airtel the ability to enhance its services to SMBs and enterprises in urban centers and rural communities, including key growth verticals such as Smart Cities, IoT, Utilities, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Retail.

13:01 EDT Verizon, Cisco extend software-defined networking to support 5G for Enterprise - Verizon (VZ) is expanding its offerings to help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation to support future 5G capabilities. Verizon's Virtual Network Services will support 5G devices on Cisco's (CSCO) software-defined wide area network platform, making it easier to manage network traffic and application performance across a wide area network on both public and private networks. Verizon's Virtual Network Services will now support Cisco's SD-WAN portfolio using Cisco's intent-based networking capabilities, allowing enterprises to leverage the performance of 5G when using services such as network slicing and mobile edge computing. The new offer from Verizon and Cisco sets the stage for enterprises to use Verizon's future 5G network as an extension of their campus and branch infrastructure and enable more control of the application performance on mobile and IoT devices. Potential use cases include the ability to enable an intelligent security perimeter for mobile workers, ensuring that access to corporate assets are governed by their security posture, with a different slice or policy on per application basis from the users' devices. IoT devices that sit outside the campus or branch could be managed and secured with the same network and security tools used inside the campus, giving enterprises a unified approach to applying networking and security policy across any environment.

12:31 EDT Cisco announces collaboration with Sprint to deploy new routing technology - Cisco (CSCO) announced its collaboration with Sprint (S) to deploy new routing technology to support Sprint's growing backhaul network traffic as it prepares to launch mobile 5G service in nine cities in the first half of 2019. As mobile operators prepare for the possibilities 5G will bring across vertical markets, many are making changes to automate and simplify core network functions and backhaul transport operations to increase capacity and enable faster speeds. All the while accommodating backward or transitional support for 3G and 4G devices and applications. To accomplish its goals, Sprint is relying on the Cisco Network Convergence System 540 router series, which is capable of tripling backhaul network capacity and delivering 100G connectivity into the core transport network.

12:22 EDT Atlas Air Flight 3591 involved in accident - Atlas Air (AAWW) flight 3591 was involved in an accident on Saturday. Three people were on board at the time. A search investigation is underway. The flight from Miami to Houston was a cargo flight operated by Atlas Air on behalf of Amazon (AMZN). Atlas Air has activated its emergency response plans and will be sending a specialist team to the crash site. The company is working with the emergency services and other agencies to establish the circumstances around exactly what happened.

12:18 EDT BioCryst reports additional topline data from Phase 2 ZENITH-1 trial - BioCryst Pharmaceuticals reported additional topline data from the Phase 2 ZENITH-1 trial, including new data from the 250 mg and 500 mg dose cohorts. Data from the now complete trial confirm previously reported results showing a single dose of oral 750 mg BCX7353 was well-tolerated and superior to placebo against the majority of efficacy endpoints evaluated in HAE patients suffering an acute attack, and demonstrate a clear dose response across the three dose levels. Based on the results of ZENITH-1, the company plans to meet with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the second quarter, and to commence a Phase 3 trial with the 750 mg dose of oral BCX7353 in the summer of 2019. Efficacy and tolerability data for the 750 mg dose cohort were previously reported by the company in a September 4, 2018 press release. With the 750 mg dose, compared to placebo, improvement in symptoms and Visual Analog Scale scores was seen as early as one hour after oral BCX7353 dosing, and was sustained through 24 hours. Through 24 hours, standard of care medication use was reduced by 31.6% after BCX7353 compared with placebo, and no or mild symptoms were reported in 64.1% of attacks treated with BCX7353 compared with 32.3% of attacks treated with placebo. In the additional data reported at the AAAAI annual meeting, a clear dose response was observed across the 250 mg to 750 mg range. Across dose levels, BCX7353 was generally safe and well-tolerated with no notable differentiation from the adverse event profile of placebo.

08:37 EDT Berkshire's Buffett continues to hope for 'elephant-sized acquisition' - Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett said in the company's annual letter, "That disappointing reality means that 2019 will likely see us again expanding our holdings of marketable equities. We continue, nevertheless, to hope for an elephant-sized acquisition. Even at our ages of 88 and 95 - I'm the young one - that prospect is what causes my heart and Charlie's to beat faster. (Just writing about the possibility of a huge purchase has caused my pulse rate to soar.)"

08:32 EDT Berkshire recorded $3B impairment primarily related to Kraft Heinz - Berskhire said in its annual letter, "Berkshire earned $4.0 billion in 2018 utilizing generally accepted accounting principles (commonly called "GAAP"). The components of that figure are $24.8 billion in operating earnings, a $3.0 billion non-cash loss from an impairment of intangible assets (arising almost entirely from our equity interest in Kraft Heinz), $2.8 billion in realized capital gains from the sale of investment securities and a $20.6 billion loss from a reduction in the amount of unrealized capital gains that existed in our investment holdings."