Stockwinners Market Radar for April 17, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:49 EDT Mangrove withdraws application before ASC over TransAlta-Brookfield transaction - TransAlta announced that Mangrove Partners has withdrawn its application before the Alberta Securities Commission, or ASC, for a hearing related to TransAlta's recent transaction with Brookfield. As previously released, Mangrove originally filed applications on April 8, 2019 before both the ASC and the Ontario Securities Commission complaining about the Brookfield transaction. On April 15, 2019, the OSC issued a decision declining to assert jurisdiction, which left the matter solely within the jurisdiction of the ASC. Within hours of receiving TransAlta's response submissions on April 17, 2019, Mangrove withdrew its application effective immediately. The result is that Mangrove's application before the ASC has been abandoned. The OSC's previous decision declining to hear the complaints, coupled with Mangrove abandoning its application before the ASC, means that this matter before the Commissions is at an end.

20:03 EDT Cutera gets regulatory approval for RF microblading system in Canada - CUTERA announced that Canada's healthcare regulatory authority, Health Canada, recently granted a Medical Device License for the company's Secret RF system.

18:50 EDT Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: United Rentals (URI) up 7.2%... E-Trade (ETFC) up 3.1%... Las Vegas Sands (LVS) up 3.0%... Texas Capital Banc (TCBI) up 2.1%. ALSO HIGHER: Mustang Bio (MBIO) up 225% after NEJM reported "medical breakthrough" in its gene therapy for "bubble boy disease"... Canopy Growth (CGC) up 6.9% after Bloomberg report that it is acquiring Acreage Holdings. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Sleep Number (SNBR) down 13.1%... Atlassian Corp (TEAM) down 9.1%... Pier1 Imports (PIR) down 8.6% after Q4 earnings, CFO resignation... Limelight Networks (LLNW) down 6.5%... Plexus Corp (PLXS) down 5.9%... Alcoa (AA) down 1.7%... Preferred Bank (PFBC) down 1.1%. ALSO LOWER: Eiger BioPharm (EIGR) down 7.9% after equity offering... AngioDynamics (ANGO) down 3.8% after selling its NAMIC fluid management portfolio. Movers as of 18:30ET.

17:42 EDT Sleep Number says overall industry is providing a fair amount of weakness - Says media percent of sales was flat. Says media spend was up in Q1. Says manufacturing is improving and delivering nice leverage. Says average revenue per store has gone from $1M per store to over $2.7M, targeting $3M and beyond. Says making advancements in pillows.

17:31 EDT Transocean added $373M in contract backlog in Q1 - Transocean issued a quarterly Fleet Status Report that provides the current status of the company's fleet of offshore drilling rigs. Since its last report Transocean added approximately $373M in contract backlog, bringing total backlog to $12.1B.

17:21 EDT Sleep Number says Q2 has seasonally lower earnings - Says referrals and repeat sales represent 40% of business. Says on track with full year EPS range. Says investments are delivering accelerated performance. Says eliminated transition costs. Says increased research and development expense 21% year-over year. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

17:09 EDT Crown Holdings CEO: 'We started off the year as expected' - Commenting on the quarter, Timothy Donahue, President and CEO, stated, "We started off the year as expected, as the fundamentals underlying our global businesses remain strong. The company is on track for a solid 2019, and we reaffirm our free cash flow guidance of $775 million for the year. Global beverage can volume during the quarter increased 3%, driven by robust shipments in Brazil, Europe and Southeast Asia. The Transit Packaging business continued to perform well and is an important strategic addition to Crown's portfolio. As expected, we were adversely impacted by currency translation and start-up costs related to the two new beverage can facilities in Europe. Beverage cans are the world's most sustainable and recycled beverage packaging and are increasingly being viewed as its most responsible format. As such, cans are gaining preference among both brand owners and consumers, as reflected by increasing offerings of new beverage products - both non-alcoholic and alcoholic - being introduced in cans versus alternative packaging formats. To meet the rising demand for beverage cans, during the first quarter, we began production on a third line at the company's existing plant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and started up a second high-speed aluminum line at our new beverage can facility in Valencia, Spain. During the fourth quarter of 2019, we expect to begin operations at a new one-line beverage can plant in Rio Verde, central Brazil."

17:07 EDT NEJM reports 'medical breakthrough' in Mustang Bio cell and gene therapy - Mustang Bio announced that the New England Journal of Medicine has published data from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the nation's "leading hospital" for understanding, treating and curing childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The data comes from a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of a lentiviral gene therapy for the treatment of newly diagnosed infants under two years old with XSCID, also referred to as SCID-X1 and commonly known as "bubble boy disease." Under a licensing agreement with St. Jude, Mustang will develop the lentiviral gene therapy for commercial use as MB-107. The multi-center Phase 1/2 clinical trial is evaluating the safety and efficacy of a lentiviral vector to transfer a normal copy of the IL2RG gene to bone marrow stem cells in newly diagnosed infants under the age of two with XSCID, preceded by low exposure-targeted busulfan conditioning. A total of 10 infants have received the therapy to date in this clinical trial. Among the data highlights, bone marrow harvest, busulfan conditioning and cell infusion were well tolerated. In seven of the eight cases, normalization of naive T-cell and natural killer cell numbers occurred within three to four months after treatment, accompanied by vector marking in T, B, NK and myeloid cells and marrow progenitors. All patients cleared previous infections and are growing normally. Seven of the eight infants treated have developed normal IgM levels to date. Most patients were discharged from the hospital within one month.

16:53 EDT United Rentals reports Q1 Rental Rates up 2.4% from last year - Reports Q1 Time Utilization 63.4% vs. 64.9% last year. Comments from Slides accompanying the company's Q1 earnings presentation.

16:38 EDT Data center systems segment to see reduced spending in 2019, Gartner says - Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.79T in 2019, an increase of 1.1% from 2018, according to the latest forecast by Gartner ."Currency headwinds fueled by the strengthening U.S. dollar have caused us to revise our 2019 IT spending forecast down from the previous quarter," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "Through the remainder of 2019, the U.S. dollar is expected to trend stronger, while enduring tremendous volatility due to uncertain economic and political environments and trade wars. "In 2019, technology product managers will have to get more strategic with their portfolio mix by balancing products and services that will post growth in 2019 with those larger markets that will trend flat to down," said Mr. Lovelock. "Successful product managers in 2020 will have had a long-term view to the changes made in 2019." The data center systems segment will experience the largest decline in 2019 with a decrease of 2.8%. This is mainly due to expected lower average selling prices in the server market driven by adjustments in the pattern of expected component costs. Publicly traded companies that may be impacted by this include: Cisco (CSCO), Arista Networks (ANET), NetApp (NTAP), HP Enterprise (HPE), AMD (AMD), NeoPhotonics (NPTN), Lumentum (LITE), Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI), Finisar (FNSR), Emcore (EMKR) and (IBM). Reference Link

16:31 EDT Cohen & Steers reports AUM of $62.6B at March 31st - Cohen & Steers reported Assets under management at March 31 of $62.6B, an increase of $7.8B from $54.8B at December 31, 2018. The increase was driven by net inflows of $1.0B and market appreciation of $7.5B, partially offset by distributions of $695M.

16:27 EDT Crown Castle backs previously issued FY19 net income view $821M

16:19 EDT Pier 1 Imports names Deborah Rieger-Paganis interim CFO - Pier 1 Imports, Inc. announced that Deborah Rieger-Paganis will assume the role of Interim Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Her appointment follows Nancy Walsh's departure from the company. Rieger-Paganis is employed as a managing director at global consulting firm AlixPartners. She will continue in her capacity at AlixPartners while serving as Interim Chief Financial Officer of Pier 1. Pier 1 also announced that Darla D. Ramirez, Vice President and Controller of the company's operating subsidiaries and the company's Principal Accounting Officer, was appointed Interim Principal Financial Officer. Ms. Ramirez has served as the company's Principal Accounting Officer since January 2011 and served as the company's Interim Chief Financial Officer from October 4, 2017, through January 24, 2018.

16:19 EDT Las Vegas Sands up 4% to $70.63 after Q1 results beat estimates

16:18 EDT United Rentals reports Q1 adjusted EBITDA up 18.1% at $921M - Reports adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 150 basis points to 43.5%. CEO Michael Kneeland states: "We're pleased with our solid start to 2019, and the broad-based growth we realized across geographies and verticals. By reaffirming our guidance, we're emphasizing our confidence in the cycle. The year is unfolding as we expected - customer sentiment remains positive, and feedback from the field points to healthy end-market activity."

16:15 EDT Aduro Biotech to present ADU-S100, BION-1301 data at ASCO - Aduro Biotech announced that abstracts pertaining to the company's lead programs, Sting agonist ADU-S100 and anti-April antibody BION-1301, will be presented at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO.

16:11 EDT Alector: First frontotemporal dementia patient dosed in Phase 1b study - Alector announced dosing of the first frontotemporal dementia patient in the Phase 1b portion of the Infront clinical study of AL001 after completion of the healthy volunteer single ascending dose escalation portion of the study. "AL001 was generally well tolerated, with no drug-related serious adverse events in healthy volunteers, achieving the study's primary objective. Moreover, AL001 successfully demonstrated proof of mechanism in healthy volunteers by showing a dose dependent increase in progranulin levels, a disease specific biomarker, in plasma and in cerebrospinal fluid," said Robert Paul, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer. In a subset of FTD patients, mutations in a single copy of the progranulin gene lead to a 50% or greater decrease in the level of progranulin, which in turn leads to development of FTD with greater than 90% penetrance. This subset of patients is known as FTD-GRN. Alector aims to deploy AL001 to increase the level of progranulin in FTD-GRN patients, by inhibiting a progranulin degradation mechanism. "We are proceeding with the Phase 1b study which will assess the safety of multiple doses of AL001 as a primary objective. AL001's therapeutic approach is conceptually similar to enzyme replacement therapy and as such AL001 is designed to increase the level of progranulin in these FTD-GRN patients. In addition to the safety, we will also measure the levels of progranulin in plasma and in cerebrospinal fluid to demonstrate proof of mechanism in FTD-GRN patients by increasing the levels of this critical factor," said Omer Siddiqui, vice president of development operations. "These data will inform future clinical studies, including rational dose selection in potential registrational studies."

16:10 EDT E-Trade CEO says Q1 'an exceptionally strong quarter' - "We kicked off 2019 with an exceptionally strong quarter, generating record net revenue and a record adjusted operating margin, demonstrating the resiliency of our model across operating environments. We generated solid account growth and asset flows in our retail channel, as customers remained highly engaged with the markets, and our institutional channels continued their momentum, with Corporate Services implementing nearly $7 billion in new client relationships. As we look ahead there is much to be excited about as we further invigorate our complementary retail and institutional customer channels, delivering exceptional value for our customers and our shareholders," said CEO Karl Roessner.

16:08 EDT Affimed N.V. submits additional info to FDA relating to clinical hold on AFM11 - Affimed N.V. announced that it has submitted to the FDA additional information to Affimed's initial response document submitted in early March relating to the previously-announced clinical hold on AFM11. The additional information addresses the request from the FDA for the clinical trial protocol for the study of AFM11 for treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia. Affimed anticipates receiving a response from the FDA regarding the status of the AFM11 clinical program in Q2.

16:08 EDT AngioDynamics to sell its NAMIC fluid management portfolio for $167.5M - AngioDynamics announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its NAMIC fluid management portfolio to Medline Industries for $167.5 M. The transaction consists of AngioDynamics' NAMIC brand and its extensive offering of manifolds, contrast management systems, closed fluid systems, guidewires, disposable transducers, and interventional accessories. Additionally, AngioDynamics' primary Glens Falls, New York manufacturing facility, including all related manufacturing jobs and the sales & marketing teams that support the NAMIC business, will be acquired by Medline as part of the transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, AngioDynamics intends to use the net cash proceeds of approximately $160.0M to pay down all outstanding debt. The cash balance of approximately $74.0M will be used to support strategic investments in the company's existing portfolio to drive enhanced growth and future profitability.

16:08 EDT Las Vegas Sands CEO: 'We delivered strong financial results in the quarter' - Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO, said, "We are pleased to have delivered strong financial results in the quarter, led by consistent growth in the mass and non-gaming segments in Macao. Our market-leading Integrated Resort property portfolio in Macao delivered revenue growth of 13% in the high-margin mass gaming table segment and adjusted property EBITDA of $858 million. At Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, our hotel, retail, convention and mass gaming segments all exhibited strength, contributing to $423 million of adjusted property EBITDA for the quarter. We are also extremely pleased to have reached an agreement with the Singapore Tourism Board to invest an additional $3.3 billion to expand our Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort in Singapore. Our investments will include spectacular new attractions including a state-of-the-art arena designed specifically for live musical entertainment and theatrical performances, a luxurious new hotel tower, additional MICE capacity and luxury retail. We believe the expansion of Marina Bay Sands will meaningfully enhance Singapore's appeal as a leisure and business tourism destination while creating an outstanding platform for growth for the company. In Macao, construction and development work on the Four Seasons Tower Suites Macao and the Londoner Macao is progressing. We believe our market-leading interconnected Integrated Resort portfolio in Macao, bolstered by our investments in additional luxurious hotel suite offerings, destination retail, MICE capacity and entertainment attractions, positions us exceedingly well to continue to contribute to Macao's economic diversification and to deliver growth in the years ahead."

16:06 EDT Las Vegas Sands reports Q1 consolidated adjusted property EBITDA $1.45B

16:05 EDT Celyad to present SHRINK, alloSHRINK data at ESMO - Celyad announced that clinical data from the SHRINK and alloSHRINK Phase 1 trials, evaluating the safety of NKG2D-based autologous and allogeneic CAR-T candidates, CYAD-01 and CYAD-101, respectively, will be presented at the upcoming European Society for Medical Oncology, or ESMO world congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, or WCGIC. CYAD-01 is an investigational CAR-T therapy in which a patient's T cells are engineered to express a chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, based on NKG2D, a receptor expressed on natural killer cells that binds to eight stress-induced ligands expressed on tumor cells. CYAD-101 is an investigational, non-gene edited, allogeneic CAR-T therapy that co-expresses the NKG2D CAR of CYAD-01 and the novel inhibitory peptide TIM. The expression of TIM reduces signalling of the TCR complex which is responsible for Graft versus Host Disease. SHRINK is an open-label, dose-escalation Phase 1 trial assessing the safety and activity of CYAD-01 administered concurrently with Folfox chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, or mCRC. Patients will receive six cycles of Folfox chemotherapy every two weeks and three administrations of CYAD-01 every two weeks. alloSHRINK is an open-label, dose-escalation Phase 1 trial assessing the safety and clinical activity of CYAD-101 administered concurrently with Folfox chemotherapy in patients with refractory mCRC. Similar to the SHRINK trial for CYAD-01, patients will receive six cycles of Folfox chemotherapy every two weeks and three administrations of CYAD-101 every two weeks.

16:03 EDT Autolus treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia granted orphan status - The FDA granted orphan designation to Autolus' treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to a post to the agency's website. Reference Link

16:01 EDT Central Valley Community raises quarterly dividend to 11c per share - Central Valley Community said its board of directors declared an increase in the regular quarterly cash dividend to 11c per share on the company's common stock. The dividend is payable on May 17, 2019 to shareholders of record as of May 3, 2019.

16:00 EDT AngioDynamics trading halted, news pending

15:30 EDT OncoMed reports shareholders approve merger plan - In a regulatory filing, OncoMed Pharmaceuticals reported that it held its special meeting of stockholders on April 17. At the meeting, shareholders voted in favor of approving and adopting the agreement and plan of merger and reorganization by and among OncoMed and Mereo BioPharma Group, the filing stated.

15:04 EDT FCC Chairman Pai opposes China Mobile's application for U.S. services - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai released the following statement regarding his opposition to China Mobile's application to provide telecommunications services in the United States. The Commission is scheduled to vote on an Order that would deny that application at its May Open Meeting: "Safeguarding our communications networks is critical to our national security. After reviewing the evidence in this proceeding, including the input provided by other federal agencies, it is clear that China Mobile's application to provide telecommunications services in our country raises substantial and serious national security and law enforcement risks. Therefore, I do not believe that approving it would be in the public interest. I hope that my colleagues will join me in voting to reject China Mobile's application." Reference Link

14:02 EDT MicroVision enters into $11M stock purchase pact with Lincoln Park Capital - MicroVision, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Lincoln Park Capital Fund, an institutional investor based in Chicago, Illinois, under which the company has the right to sell up to $11M of common stock to Lincoln Park. Proceeds from any sales of stock will be used for general corporate purposes. Under the terms of the agreement, Lincoln Park will immediately purchase $1M in shares of common stock at a purchase price of 98.21c. In addition, for a period of 24 months, the company has the right, at its sole discretion, to sell up to $10M of additional common stock to Lincoln Park, subject to certain limitations, based on the prevailing market prices of the company's shares at the time of each sale. The agreement may be terminated by the company at any time without any cost or penalty.

13:20 EDT Google Cloud adds former SAP executive as President, Global Customer Operations - Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, announced in a blog post that President of Google Cloud Global Customer Operations, Paul-Henri Ferrand, "has decided to take on a new challenge within Google." In the same post, Kurian announced that Robert Enslin will be Google Cloud's new President of Global Customer Operations. "Rob's expertise in building and running organizations globally, business acumen and deep customer and partner relationships make him a perfect fit for this crucial role. Rob will report to me, and he starts on April 22. Rob spent the last 27 years at SAP in leadership roles across sales and operations, most recently as the President, Cloud Business Group and Executive Board Member," the post stated. Reference Link

12:37 EDT Uber says to bring Apple Pay to Uber Eats - Mithat Ayok, Senior Product Manager, Uber (UBER), said in a statement: "At Eats, we're always thinking about ways to enhance your delivery experience. That's why we're bringing Apple Pay (AAPL) to our app, so you can pay for your order faster, more conveniently and securely. Apple Pay will be rolling out to customers in nearly 20 markets in the coming weeks. Riders who have been relying on Apple Pay since we combined forces in 2014 already know that paying in apps with Apple Pay is as simple as a glance with Face ID or the touch of a finger with Touch ID on our iPhone. There's no need to manually fill out lengthy account forms or type in billing information. Security and privacy are at the core of Apple Pay. When you use a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code. We're excited to offer this service that's transforming payments. Apple Pay will be rolling out to customers in Belgium, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States, so keep an eye out in your Uber Eats app for this convenient payment option." Reference Link

12:21 EDT Ethan Allen CEO says decisions affect approximately 380 associates

12:20 EDT Ethan Allen reports plans to improve vertical integration operatoins - Ethan Allen Interiors announced plans to further improve its vertical integration operations with the following initiatives. The 550,000 sq. ft. Old Fort, NC plant, while maintaining a lumber processing facility, will be converted into a state-of-the-art distribution center to support the company's national distribution structure and growing U.S. government GSA contract business. Consolidating U.S. case goods manufacturing to Vermont. This involves consolidating approximately half of the case goods manufacturing at the Old Fort, NC plant into the company's case goods plants in Orleans and Beecher Falls, Vermont, which together have approximately 1.0 million sq. ft. of manufacturing space, with the balance of the Old Fort manufacturing to be consolidated into the company's other case goods manufacturing facilities. The company's U.S. upholstery manufacturing has previously been consolidated to our Maiden, NC campus where it has three plants totaling 714,000 sq. ft. "We are in the process of expanding the campus with the addition of 80,000 sq. ft. at an investment of approximately $5M," the company said. The distribution operations at the company's 250,000 sq. ft. Passaic, NJ facility will be moved to its operations in North Carolina and the art framing operations will be outsourced. As a result of these initiatives, the company expects to incur restructuring and other consolidation costs of approximately $7M-$8M of which approximately 40% is expected to be non-cash asset impairment charges, primarily during the fourth quarter. In addition, the company will also make related capital investments of approximately $8M, which includes the expansion in Maiden, NC, over the next twelve months. The company expects these changes will provide an opportunity to benefit gross profit by $5M-$6M during fiscal 2020 and beginning in fiscal 2021, after the completion of these initiatives, provide the opportunity for a 100 to 200 bps improvement to gross margin. ""These decisions are not easy, especially as they affect approximately 325 of our associates in Old Fort, NC and 55 associates in Passaic, NJ," said Chairman, President and CEO Farooq Kathwari.

12:08 EDT Bionano Genomics says study finds its optical mapping key to detecting variants - Bionano Genomics announced the publication of a multi-platform analysis of genome structural variation by the Human Genome Structural Variation Consortium, HGSVC.The publication highlights the unique capability of Bionano's Saphyr to comprehensively detect SVs and enable the identification of their human disease associations. A study published this week in Nature Communications described the results of analyzing three different trio sample sets, each comprising two parents and a child, to discover, sequence-resolve and phase, resolve the parental origin of variation in the child, all variants except single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs. The consortium used a suite of genome analysis tools, including the Saphyr system from Bionano, short-read sequencing from Illumina, long-read sequencing from PacBio, sample preparation and sequencing techniques like Hi-C and other tools and methods.

12:00 EDT StoneMor Partners falls -9.7% - StoneMor Partners is down -9.7%, or -44c to $4.11.

12:00 EDT Tenet falls -10.3% - Tenet is down -10.3%, or -$2.63 to $22.96.

12:00 EDT Daily S&P Biotech Bear 3x Shares rises 12.6% - Daily S&P Biotech Bear 3x Shares is up 12.6%, or $2.41 to $21.60.

11:55 EDT American Water increases quarterly dividend by 9.9% - American Water Works Company announced that its board increased its quarterly cash dividend payment to 50c per share from 45.5c per share, a 9.9% percent increase. The company has increased its dividend every year since its IPO in April 2008. The increased dividend is consistent with American Water's historical dividend practice, which is to link dividend increases to earnings per share growth and target a payout ratio between 50%-60% of net income.

11:45 EDT LSI Industries announces agreement to sell New York manufacturing facility - LSI Industries announced that the company has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its manufacturing facility in New Windsor, New York. The company previously announced the closure of the New York facility on October 29, 2018. The facility manufactures indoor lighting products and production is being transferred to the company's Independence, Kentucky and Blue Ash, Ohio facilities. Under terms of the agreement, the company will receive approximately $12M in gross proceeds related to the sale of the New York facility. In addition, the company expects to generate approximately $4M in annualized cost savings resulting from improved operating efficiencies. The transaction is expected to close on or before June 30, subject to final approval from the town leaders of New Windsor, New York.

11:22 EDT Ford says 'couldn't be more excited' about new Explorer

11:06 EDT ArcelorMittal receives approval for sale of several European steelmaking assets - ArcelorMittal announces that it has received European Commission approval for the sale of several steelmaking assets to Liberty House Group. The assets form a divestment package the company agreed with the European Commission during its merger control investigation into the company's acquisition of Ilva S.p.A. Assets included within the divestment package are ArcelorMittal Ostrava, ArcelorMittal Galati, ArcelorMittal Skopje, ArcelorMittal Piombino, ArcelorMittal Dudelange and several finishing lines at ArcelorMittal Liege. Transaction closing is anticipated to occur before the end of the first half of this year.

11:02 EDT Surmodics says patient enrollment resumed into TRANSCEND clinical trial - Surmodics announced that it has resumed patient enrollment into its TRANSCEND clinical trial and is nearly 75% of the way to its goal of 446 randomized patients. Patient enrollment in TRANSCEND, the pivotal clinical trial for the SurVeil drug-coated balloon, was temporarily paused following the March 15 publication of a Food & Drug Administration letter to physicians. The letter included an update on the Agency's preliminary analysis of a potentially concerning signal of increased long-term mortality with paclitaxel-coated devices and recommended that physicians consider alternative treatment methods until additional analysis has been performed. "Immediately following publication of the March 15 FDA communication, we reached out to the Agency seeking guidance on the recommendations and the impact on TRANSCEND. Following multiple conversations, we've taken several actions in response to the Agency's recommendations, including updates to investigator communications, patient Informed Consent Forms, and data safety review and patient follow-up procedures. A number of our trial sites have already secured IRB or Ethics Committee approval of the updated ICF and are actively enrolling and randomizing patients," said Gary Maharaj, Surmodics President and CEO.

10:57 EDT United Continental CFO says 2019 cost headwinds include 737 MAX grounding - EVP and CFO Gerry Laderman says 2019 cost headwinds including the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and suspension of service to Delhi. Says MAX aircraft will remain out of service until at least July and Dehli flights suspended until July , will assess impact as time goes on. Says confident "on track" to deliver FY19 EPS guidance. Says plans to continue to be opportunistic with share repurchases.

10:45 EDT United Continental COO says will collaborate with regulators on 737 MAX - EVP and COO Greg Hart says had to suspend flights to Delhi. Says company will collaborate with regulators to assess Boeing (BA) 737 MAX. Says company minimized customer impact from challenging operational events.

10:36 EDT United CEO says 'well on track' to deliver FY19 adjusted diluted EPS guidance - United CEO Oscar Munoz says "clearly our strategy is working". Says more than doubled Q1 EPS y-o-y. Says well on track to achieve FY19 adjusted diluted EPS. Says on track to achieve 2020 adjusted diluted EPS target. Says continues to grow network to service customers. Says investing in customer service. Says momentum is only starting to build. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

10:00 EDT Jumia Technologies rises 11.0% - Jumia Technologies is up 11.0%, or $4.75 to $47.78.

09:32 EDT Barnes & Noble Education, W.W. Norton & Company expand relationship - Barnes & Noble Education and W. W. Norton & Company announced an expanded relationship to further the availability of digital content on campuses nationwide. Norton's digital courseware and eBooks will now be available through inclusive access models offered on campuses served by BNED through its Barnes & Noble College and MBS Textbook Exchange subsidiaries.

09:24 EDT U.S. Bancorp sees Q2 net interest income up low single digits - Says book value is up 8.6% from a year ago. Says average total loan growth was driven by growth in residential mortgages and total commercial loans, partially offset by a decrease in total commercial real estate loans. Sees FY19 tax rate 20%. Says credit quality will remain stable in Q2. Says especially paying attention to digital capabilities. Says digital loan sales are particularly encouraging. Comments and guidance taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

09:19 EDT Navios Acquisition announces $103.2M sale, leaseback transaction - Navios Acquisition announced that it has completed a $103.2M sale and leaseback transaction for three MR2 product tankers and two LR1 product tankers. The proceeds have been used to refinance $82.4M of bank debt. The transaction provides for 28 quarterly payments of $2.3M each plus interest at LIBOR plus 350 bps per annum. Navios Acquisition has an obligation to purchase the vessels at the end of seventh year for $39.7M.

09:16 EDT Greenpro Capital enters strategic cooperation with Gang Tai Holdings - Greenpro Capital announced that it has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Gang Tai Holdings, a conglomerate organization in Chengdu to launch Greenpro Capital financial services to cover the Southwestern region of China. Gang Tai, as a reputable conglomerate organisation in Chengdu, is expected to help generate great economic advantages for Greenpro through its successful businesses and strong resources and connections in Chengdu. Gang Tai's strong existence and resources can help Greenpro to build, develop and grow its financial services in the Southwestern Region rapidly. Greenpro's development of the Asian digital automated quotation platform, an integrated financial information market which identifies, builds and streamlines corporate values for sustainable development, aims to help enterprises in the Southwestern region of China comprised of Chengdu, Chongqing, Xian, Guiyang and Kunming. The center will cooperate with local government-led funds to assist new-technology, new-financial and new-business companies. The headquarters will provide regional enterprises with financial solutions, which includes overseas listing, investors matching, corporate management consulting, venture capital, trust management, financial management, asset management and wealth management. Greenpro plans to nurture a Start-up + Financial ecosystem in Chengdu, which is highly populated, that will enable the city to host a community of companies that all have the same vision to be listed in overseas. With that, Chengdu will become more closely connected to the international community and the company believes it will put Chengdu on a path to develop. Greenpro Venture Capital Fund will cooperate with local government-led funds to empower enterprises with capital solutions. Under the current sophisticated fund management model, the fund will focus in developing strategic advantages. Over the next three years, Greenpro's incubator has a target to support and incubate approximately 200 enterprises through ADAQ; Greenpro will organise six cross-border resources integration workshops, helping 30 enterprises completing 1-to-1 resources integration in each workshop; Greenpro will help 100 enterprises complete international securitisation, creating a target of RMB100B market capitalization.

09:12 EDT Abbott says all long-term growth drivers 'intact'

09:08 EDT Abbott says 'right on track' with FY expectations - Comments taken from the Q1 earnings conference call.

09:05 EDT T-Mobile, Comcast announce new anti-robocalling feature - T-Mobile (TMUS) and Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) announced a new verification feature is available now for T-Mobile customers and coming later this year for Comcast Xfinity Voice home phone service customers. The feature uses STIR and SHAKE standards to identify authentic calls across both company's networks to ensure calls are not generated by a scammer spoofing a number. T-Mobile also announced that Caller Verified, the Un-carrier's implementation of STIR/SHAKEN, is now operable across ten smartphones, with more coming soon. Caller Verified is live for all T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile customers on the LG G8 ThinQ and Samsung Galaxy Note8 and Note9, Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, and coming soon to the new Samsung Fold and Samsung Galaxy A6. Customers with these devices and the latest software update will automatically see "Caller Verified" on their screen for authentic calls from the T-Mobile network and Comcast Xfinity Voice home phone service.

09:02 EDT Ericsson and Future Technologies Venture sign strategic cooperation agreement - Ericsson and Future Technologies Venture have signed a strategic multi-year cooperation agreement under which Ericsson will be able to expand its reach into market verticals that Future Technologies Venture primarily services such as utilities, oil and gas, mining and government. In addition, the agreement allows Future Technologies the ability to integrate Ericsson's Private LTE equipment and MINI-LINK microwave products into their portfolio. Future Technologies Venture is an end-to-end solution provider for private and public network infrastructure projects throughout North America.

08:46 EDT Morgan Stanley says 'confident' in company's outlook - Says: We remain very disciplined on expense management... Will continue to look for bolt-on acquisitions... Solium acqusition will help target younger clients... Investment banking pipelines remain healthy... Macro investors were on the sidelines in Q1 due to uncertainty... Growth in mortgages is encouraging... Markets in Q2 have been constructive. Comments from Q1 earnings conference call.

08:38 EDT B.O.S. Better Online receives $350,000 order from Israeli fashion chain - B.O.S Better Online announced that its RFID and mobile division has received a $350,000 follow-on order from an Israeli retail fashion chain. The order is for in-store inventory management RFID equipment and is expected to be delivered during Q2.

08:35 EDT Badger Meter CEO says 'well-positioned' to improve sales, earnings growth - "Our backlog and order rates remain solid, underscored by a high level of interest in our proven, innovative smart water solutions, including our newly launched larger size E-Series Ultrasonic meters and ORION Cellular LTE-M radios. We continue to leverage our expanded technology offerings across our extensive installed base, delivering significant value to our customers." CEO Kenneth Bockhorst said. "We have a healthy balance sheet for potential tuck-in acquisitions aligned with our key growth initiatives, and we are well-positioned to deliver improving sales and earnings growth while helping to preserve the world's most precious resource."

08:09 EDT Gannett urges shareholders to vote for independent director nominees - Gannett mailed a letter to shareholders in connection with the company's 2019 Annual Meeting. The letter read in part, "Your board of directors and management team are confident that Gannett has significant value creation potential in continuing to execute the company's digital transformation and USA TODAY NETWORK strategy. We are making meaningful progress as we continue to deliver on our strategic initiatives, and thanks to these efforts, Gannett is well positioned to grow the company and our valuable assets to the benefit of Gannett shareholders and the communities we serve. MNG Enterprises, also known as Digital First Media, a competing news media company majority-owned by the New York based hedge fund Alden Global Capital, is attempting to derail our progress and take control of Gannett. First, it demanded that Gannett sell itself to MNG and - when your board unanimously rejected MNG's unsolicited proposal, determining that it undervalued Gannett and was not credible - MNG nominated a control slate of candidates, all of whom are closely affiliated with MNG and/or Alden, to stand for election to the Gannett board...All eight of your board's nominees are highly qualified and independent - and committed to acting in your best interests. They have broad and diverse experience and expertise in areas that are critical to Gannett's operations and digital transformation, including in finance, business development and strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, digital media, journalism, marketing and advertising, technology and human resources...In contrast to Gannett's eight independent nominees, all of MNG's nominees have irreconcilable conflicts of interest given their close affiliations with MNG and/or Alden - and in some cases their fiduciary duties to MNG and Alden...Considering the irreconcilable conflicts of interest of MNG's candidates, Gannett believes electing them to the board would essentially transfer control of the board to MNG and Alden - with no control premium - enabling MNG to advance any agenda it wants at Gannett shareholders' expense...We believe the choice is clear. A vote "FOR ALL" of Gannett's nominees on the WHITE proxy card is a vote FOR a board: Composed of entirely independent directors, who are not beholden to or influenced by ANY outside entity. With broad and deep experience and skills in areas that are critical to Gannett's ongoing business transformation. Committed to realizing Gannett's potential and maximizing the value of the company's assets for the benefit of all shareholders."

08:07 EDT AngioDynamics receives IRB approval for DIRECT clinical study - AngioDynamics announced that the company received central Institutional Review Board, or IRB, approval to conduct its NanoKnife Irreversible Electroporation "Direct IRE Cancer Treatment" clinical study, or DIRECT. The IRB approval closely follows the FDA's approval of AngioDynamics' investigational device exemption application announced on April 1.

08:05 EDT ABM to provide into-plane fueling services for Spirit Airlines at IAH - ABM (ABM) will now provide into-plane fueling services for Spirit Airlines (SAVE) at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, or IAH, in Houston, Texas. Under the leadership of George Mencarelli, ABM VP of fueling, the team brings decades of experience in aviation fueling operations. ABM will fuel approximately 25 Spirit Airlines flights each day out of IAH, totaling nearly 9,000 flights annually.

08:04 EDT InVivo Therapeutics announces presentation of twelve-month INSPIRE study results - InVivo Therapeutics Holdings announced the presentation of the twelve-month results from the company's single-arm INSPIRE study. The findings were presented at the 2019 AANS Meeting in San Diego, CA through an e-poster titled, "Twelve Month Results from the INSPIRE Study of the Investigational Neuro-Spinal Scaffold(TM) in Acute Thoracic Complete Spinal Cord Injury". As previously announced by InVivo, 7 of 16 patients who reached the six-month primary endpoint visit in the INSPIRE study had an ASIA Impairment Scale conversion at 6 months, which is the primary endpoint of the trial. Of the seven patients who reached the six-month primary endpoint visit, six patients were later evaluated at the 12-month exam and one patient was lost to follow-up before the 12-month exam. All six patients who were examined at the 12-month exam and had previously converted at the six-month exam remained converted at the 12-month exam. Further, two of those six patients were assessed to have AIS B spinal cord injury at the six-month primary endpoint but were later assessed to have improved to AIS C SCI at the 12-month visit. The Objective Performance Criterion for the study was a 25% AIS conversion rate based on the published conversion rates for thoracic SCI reported in the literature.

08:03 EDT DowDuPont announces new members for future Board of Directors of DuPont - DowDuPont (DWDP) announced three additional members to the future board of directors of DuPont, currently the Specialty Products Division of DowDuPont. The new directors include Frank Clyburn, chief commercial officer at Merck & Co. (MRK), Terrence Curtin, CEO of TE Connectivity (TEL), and Frederick Lowery, senior vice president and president, Life Sciences Solutions and Laboratory Products at Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO). With these additions, DuPont expects to have 12 members on its board, effective June 1.

07:56 EDT PepsiCo sees Frito-Lay growth slowing in 2019

07:55 EDT EU passenger car registrations down 3.9% in March - In March, the European passenger car market contracted by 3.9%, falling from 1,792,880 units the year before to 1,722,442 last month, said the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Demand decreased in all major EU markets, according to the ACEA. Publicly traded automakers include Daimler AG (DDAIF), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VWAGY).

07:54 EDT Neovasc's Reducer featured in Journal of Cardiology - Neovasc announced that the International Journal of Cardiology has published a peer reviewed article demonstrating that coronary sinus narrowing through the use of the Neovasc Reducer improves diastolic function and relaxation of the heart. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of CS narrowing on stiffness and relaxation abilities of the left ventricle in patients with myocardial ischemia and severe refractory angina treated with the Reducer. The study demonstrated that treatment with the Reducer may lead to improvement in diastolic function and echocardiographic parameters of left ventricular relaxation. The study indicates that the Reducer not only improved angina status and quality of life of these patients, but also resulted in a significant improvement in mean diastolic function. The observed improvement in the relaxation properties of the heart are most probably secondary to the improvement in blood perfusion to ischemic territories of the heart muscle which is known to be the effect of the Reducer.

07:53 EDT PepsiCo CEO says executing against key priorities with urgency - Says board moving forward with "urgency."

07:51 EDT J.C. Penney names Steve Whaley as principal accounting officer, controller - J. C. Penney Company (JCP) said Steve Whaley has been named senior vice president, principal accounting officer and controller, reporting to Bill Wafford, executive vice president, CFO, effective April 29. He will lead the company's accounting operations and financial reporting functions, and will have oversight over the JCPenney finance and support services teams in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Bangalore, India. He will work closely with leaders of the organization to develop and execute strategic financial decisions designed to meet near and long-term financial objectives. Whaley was with Walmart (WMT) for over 11 years where he served as the senior vice president and controller, principal accounting officer. The Company also named Laurene Gandolfo as senior vice president for home product design and development reporting to Michelle Wlazlo, executive vice president, chief merchant. Gandolfo joins JCPenney on April 22 from Macy's (M), where she most recently served as executive vice president of men's and kids' private brands. Additionally, Trish Adams will serve as a strategic advisor to JCPenney, supporting the company's transformation office led by Truett Horne, senior vice president, chief transformation officer.

07:48 EDT Abbott CEO says 'We're right on track with our expectations to start the year' - "We're right on track with our expectations to start the year," said Miles White, chairman and CEO, Abbott. "All of our key long-term growth drivers are performing well and we're targeting another year of strong sales and earnings growth."

07:36 EDT Ideal Power sells power conversion systems business, PPSA technology to Pathion - Pathion has entered into an agreement with Ideal Power to purchase Ideal Power's power conversion systems business and power packet switching architecture, or PPSA, technology for a combination of cash and shares of common stock in Pathion. "We believe integrating PPSA technology into PATHION's total solution will provide a greater competitive advantage in the C&I market sector. Additionally, incorporating our B-TRAN technology into future PPSA-based power converters provides a sustainable long-term competitive advantage for PATHION's solutions. We are excited to help enable this opportunity and its potential to directly benefit our shareholders through our equity position in PATHION," said Lon Bell, chairman and CEO of Ideal Power.

07:28 EDT United Continental sees year-end 2019 total mainline aircraft of 803 - Sees year-end 2019 total regional aircraft of 575.

07:22 EDT United Continental sees Q2 consolidated capacity growth 3.5%-4.5% - Sees Q2: Adjusted pre-tax margin 11%-13%; consolidated PRASM growth 0.5%-2.5% y/y; consolidated adjusted CASM 0 to 1%; average aircraft fuel price per gallon $2.13-$2.23; effective income tax rate 21%-23%. Guidance from investor update presentation.

07:16 EDT Cubic awarded contract to support Boeing's unmanned tanker for US Navy - Cubic's (CUB) Cubic Mission Solutions CMS business division has been awarded a contract by Boeing (BA) to supply its Wideband Satellite Communications modem system and Line-of-Sight Common Data Link system for the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling program. The MQ-25 is the U.S. Navy's first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft and is designed to provide a much-needed refueling capability. The contract supports Boeing's engineering and manufacturing development program to provide four MQ-25 aircraft to the U.S. Navy for initial operational capability by 2024.

07:10 EDT ADMA Biologics granted U.S. patent for treatment, prevention of S. pneumonia - ADMA Biologics announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued to the company U.S. Patent No. 10,259,865 related to methods of treatment and prevention of S. pneumonia infection. The patent claims encompass methods of preparing immune globulin via harvesting plasma from S. pneumonia vaccinated, healthy adult human donors and pooling the harvested plasma as the source for manufacturing a hyperimmune anti-pneumococcal immune globulin containing elevated opsonic antibodies to a plurality of S. pneumonia serotypes. The issued claims also encompass hyperimmune anti-pneumococcal immune globulin so prepared, methods of treating S. pneumonia infection and methods of providing immunotherapy using the hyperimmune anti-pneumococcal immune globulin. This patent will enable ADMA to protect its proprietary rights and at the same time attract collaborators interested in the development, marketing and commercialization of a therapeutic for the treatment and prevention of infection in immune compromised, immunodeficient and elderly patients who are poorly responsive to available S. pneumonia vaccines. The term of the patent extends to March 2037.

07:09 EDT Morgan Stanley reports Q1 Wealth Management revenue of $4.4B - Wealth Management reported net revenues for the current quarter of $4.4B and pre-tax income of $1.2B, both were essentially unchanged from a year ago. The current quarter's pre-tax margin was 27.1%.

07:07 EDT Casi Pharmaceuticals licenses global rights to monoclonal antibody program - Casi Pharmaceuticals signed a license agreement for exclusive worldwide rights to the investigational anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody TSK011010 program from Black Belt Therapeutics. Under the terms of the agreement, CASI has obtained global rights to TSK011010 for an upfront payment of EUR5M and an equity investment of EUR2M, as well as certain milestone and royalty payments. The equity investment will be made in a newly established company of Black Belt Therapeutics focusing on novel immuno-oncology targets. CASI will be responsible for all development and commercialization activities of the TSK011010 program. TSK011010 is at the IND/IMPD submission stage of development, with Phase 1 trials expected to start in late 2019/early 2020. Preclinical data demonstrate TSK011010 to have enhanced activity against a broad array of malignancies which express CD38 and potentially better safety when compared to other CD38 Mabs.

07:07 EDT Morgan Stanley reports Q1 Institutional Securities revenue of $5.2B - Institutional Securities reported net revenues for the current quarter of $5.2B compared with $6.1B a year ago. Pre-tax income was $1.6B compared with $2.1B a year ago. Investment Banking revenues were down 24% from a year ago while Sales and Trading net revenues were down 15% from a year ago.

07:04 EDT Broadridge to acquire TD Ameritrade retirement plan custody and trust assets - Broadridge (BR) announced it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire the retirement plan custody and trust assets from TD Ameritrade Trust Company, a subsidiary of TD Ameritrade (AMTD). The acquisition will expand Broadridge's suite of solutions for the growing qualified and non-qualified retirement plan services market and the support it provides for third-party administrators, financial advisors, record-keepers, banks, and brokers. The acquisition of TD Ameritrade's retirement plan custody and trust assets represents the continued expansion of Broadridge's Matrix Financial Solutions , a best-in-class mutual fund and ETF trade processing platform for the retirement industry with access to more than 25,000 funds. Upon closing of the transaction, Matrix is expected to have approximately $420B in assets under administration and over 118,000 plan accounts in custody. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of the calendar year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

07:03 EDT j2 Global completes four acquisitions in Q1, terms not disclosed - j2 Global announced that the company completed four acquisitions in Q1. The acquisitions include: Armada Cloud, certain assets, Cloud Services - Backup; iContact, certain assets, Cloud Services - Martech; SafeSend AS, Cloud Services - Security; Telsys AS, certain assets, Cloud Services - Backup. Terms of the individual acquisitions were not disclosed, and the financial impact to j2 is not expected to be material with respect to these acquisitions.

06:48 EDT U.S. Bancorp CEO: 'We had a good start to the year' - Andy Cecere, Chairman, President and CEO, U.S. Bancorp said, "As our financial results indicate, we had a good start to the year with momentum continuing across our lending and fee businesses. In the first quarter, our industry-leading returns on assets and equity were supported by solid loan growth, disciplined expense management and stable credit quality. Our balance sheet is strong and growing as evidenced by an 8.6% increase in our book value per share compared with a year ago. During the quarter, we returned 77 percent of our earnings to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. We are pleased with our results this quarter and remain focused on the long-term success of this company - and the disciplined investment in people and technology that will drive that success. We are launching a number of digital initiatives combining the best of technology and innovation to help make our customers' financial lives simpler and more productive. I would like to thank our employees for all they do to create value for our customers, communities and shareholders."

06:38 EDT Ericsson says recently started settlement discussions with SEC, DOJ - As previously disclosed, Ericsson is voluntarily cooperating with investigations by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Department of Justice into Ericsson's compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. "The company continues to cooperate with the SEC and the DOJ, and has recently begun settlement discussions. These discussions are in a very early stage and therefore the company is not able to estimate their length. Further, as this is an ongoing legal matter Ericsson cannot provide any detail. However, based on the current status of the discussions, it is the company's assessment that the resolution of these matters will result in material financial and other measures, the magnitude and impact of which cannot be reliably estimated or ascertained at this time. Potential future cash outflows are currently not capable of being reliably estimated. Accordingly, no provisions have been recorded for such potential exposure."

06:33 EDT Textron reports Q1 operating margin 9.5% vs. 8.5% a year ago

06:28 EDT Fulton Financial sees NIM up 4-7bps per quarter in 2019 - Fulton Financial said in slides being presented on its Q1 earnings conference call that it sees average annual loan and deposit growth rates in the low to mid single digits for FY19. The company sees a mid to high single digit growth rate for net interest income and an increase of 4-7 basis points per quarter in 2019 for net interest margin. Sees non-interest income at a low to mid single-digit growth rate and non-interest expense, excluding charter consolidation costs, at a low single-digit growth rate. Sees asset quality at $3M-$8M provision for credit losses per quarter. Says capital levels to remain consistent with December 31, 2018. Sees effective tax rate between 14% and 16%.

06:12 EDT Medtronic's ESAR and Valiant efficacy and safety results presented in London - Medtronic presented new data at the Charing Cross Symposium in London on endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm, or AAA, patients with the Endurant II/IIs stent graft system in combination with Heli-FX EndoAnchor implants and for the Valiant Navion thoracic stent graft system for thoracic endovascular repair, or TEVAR. Medtronic shared preliminary two-year data supporting the safety, durability, and effectiveness of Endurant to treat AAA patients with short aortic necks when used in combination with the Heli-FX EndoAnchor system. One-year outcomes from 70 patients enrolled with short infra-renal necks showed that hrough two years, freedom from aneurysm-related mortality was 94.3% and freedom from secondary endovascular procedure was 95.5%. Finally, no AAA ruptures or stent graft main body migrations were reported through two years. New data from the full patient cohort of the pivotal Valiant Navion study were also presented analyzing the safety and efficacy of Valiant Navion in subjects with thoracic aortic aneurysm and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer. The results demonstrated safety and efficacy in both FreeFlo and CoveredSeal configurations, with no instances of access or deployment failures at implant in the full study cohort. Through 30 days, data showed low rates of peri-operative mortality at 2.0% and secondary procedures at 2.0%. The rate of Type Ia endoleaks was 1.1% at one-month imaging follow-up.

06:05 EDT Golden Star Resources CEO Sam Coetzer to depart, Andrew Wray to succeed - Golden Star Resources announced that CEO Sam Coetzer will be leaving the company as of April 30 and that the board of directors has appointed Andrew Wray as president and CEO, effective May 1. Andrew will remain the CEO of La Mancha until April 30. Prior to joining La Mancha, Wray worked for Acacia Mining for over 7 years, where he was CFO. Coetzer will remain president and CEO until April 30. However, he will not be standing for election as a director of the company at the annual general meeting

06:02 EDT Orion Group awarded three dredging contracts for $35M - Orion Group has been awarded multiple contracts with a total value of approximately $35M. The company's Marine segment has recently been awarded three contracts for dredging services along the Texas Gulf Coast. The company's scope calls for the dredging of ship docks and berths for private clients in the Houston Ship Channel, the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, and the Sabine-Neches Waterway. Work on the first project is expected to begin in Q2 with all three projects expected to be completed this year.

05:40 EDT Precision BioSciences doses first patient in PBCAR0191 Phase 1/2a clinical trial - Precision BioSciences announced today it has dosed the first patient in the Phase 1/2a clinical trial of PBCAR0191, its first gene-edited allogeneic anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, T cell product candidate. Precision is developing PBCAR0191 in collaboration with Servier, an international pharmaceutical company. PBCAR0191 is made from donor-derived T cells that are modified using Precision's ARCUS genome editing technology. These edits are designed to generate CAR T cells that specifically recognize CD19, an important target in several B-cell cancers, and to prevent graft-versus-host disease, a significant complication associated with existing donor-derived cell-based therapies. This CAR T cell product candidate is being evaluated in adult patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma or R/R B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia as an off-the-shelf cell therapy. The first patient dosed in this trial is being treated for R/R NHL, and Precision believes this is the first U.S.-based clinical trial to evaluate an allogeneic CAR T therapy for NHL.

05:14 EDT Uxin sees 'malicious interpretations of events' in J Capital Research report - Uxin issued a statement in response to yesterday's trading activity. Uxin said, "The Company believes the unusual stock trading activities were caused by a report published by J Capital Research on April 16, 2019, which contains errors of facts, misleading speculations and malicious interpretations of events. Uxin believes that the allegations in the report are completely without merit, and strongly condemns the publishing of false and misleading information. The Company firmly denies the baseless allegations that it has falsified any sales data. Kun Dai, the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Uxin, also confirmed that he had never voluntarily sold any shares in Uxin as alleged in the report. The Company is carefully reviewing the report and will provide additional information on the allegations as appropriate. Uxin is committed to providing fair and transparent disclosure to investors and to rebutting any false claims that attempt to undermine confidence in Uxin's business, management and operations." Shares of Uxin closed yesterday down 36%, or $1.10, to $1.95. J Capital Research, as reported yesterday morning by The Fly, claimed the company, among other things, exaggerates the volume of auto sales its processes by as much as 40% and has financial statements that "show a staggering level of debt that puts the company at risk of collapse."