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

19:14 EDT Avianca CEO Rincon to retire effective April 30 - Avianca Holdings announced that Hernan Rincon Lema has notified the Avianca Holdings board of directors that he plans to retire from the company effective April 30, 2019 after three years serving as the company's Chief Executive Officer. Rincon's announcement, which was made upon completion of his third year as Avianca's CEO, is aligned with the company's ongoing long-term strategic and organizational development program, as part of a planned transition, the company said. "Pursuant to our bylaws and Amended & Restated Joint Action Agreement, we have already retained a third-party international consulting firm to assist us in searching for a successor for Mr. Rincon," the company said. "Our board of directors has resolved that, if a successor Chief Executive Officer is not appointed prior to the departure of Mr. Rincon, our Secretary Mr. Renato Covelo, who has been acting as Legal Vice President and General Counsel since December 2016, shall become our interim Chief Executive Officer until a successor has been appointed. In the meantime, Mr. Richard Galindo, who has been acting as Legal Director since February 2017 will become our interim Secretary."

19:01 EDT PBF Logistics acquires remaining 50% interest in Torrance Valley Pipeline Compan - PBF Logistics (PBFX) announced the execution of definitive agreements for the acquisition of the remaining fifty percent interest in Torrance Valley Pipeline Company LLC from an affiliate of PBF Energy Inc. (PBF) for total consideration of approximately $200M in cash. The Partnership and PBF Energy currently anticipate closing of the transaction to occur in the second quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. The acquisition is expected to be financed through a combination of $135M of gross proceeds from PBFX's over-subscribed registered direct offering of common units to certain institutional investors announced today and a $65M draw-down from the Partnership's senior secured revolving credit facility. The acquisition of TVPC by the Partnership immediately doubles its position in one of its core assets and is immediately accretive to distributable cash flow. Pro forma for the transaction, the Partnership expects 2019 coverage to be consistent with its original guidance of approximately 1.05x based on current expectations. The Partnership reiterates its prior guidance of maintaining leverage in the three-to-four times run-rate EBITDA range and its commitment to a long-term coverage ratio of 1.15x.

18:56 EDT Northfield Bancorp raises quarterly dividend to 11c from 10c per share - The dividend is payable on May 22, 2019, to stockholders of record on May 8, 2019.

18:31 EDT Tesla says 50% of deliveries occurred in last 10 days of quarter - Says: Overseas volume increase led to logistics problem... Expects quarter ending cash balance to increase going forward... On track with acquisition of Maxwell Technologies (MXWL), should close in mid-May... Creating "compelling" insurance product... Will start production of semi trucks next year... Seeing strong demand for vehicles... Expects demand to return to normal in Q2... Expects "significant" uptick in Model S, X demand... Some merit to raising capital, but more important to have an efficiently running company... Will continue to add stores in high foot traffic areas and close stores in low foot traffic areas... China gigafactory progress going incredibly well.

18:05 EDT Nintendo says 'Super Mario Maker 2' coming to Switch June 28 - Nintendo announced that its upcoming Switch exclusive game "Super Mario Maker 2" will launch for the console on June 28. "This full-fledged sequel to the original groundbreaking Super Mario Maker game for the Wii U system lets your imagination run wild as you make and play your own Super Mario courses using new tools, items and features.," the company said in a statement.

18:02 EDT Celanese announces acetyl intermediates price increases - Celanese Corporation will increase list and off-list selling prices for several acetyl intermediate products. The price increases are for orders shipped and will be effective immediately, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced increases. The company will increase vinyl acetate monomer prices to EUR100 per MT in the EMEA region and $50 per MT in Asia outside China, the price of emulsion polymers to $25 per MT in Asia outside China, and the price of acetic anhydride to EUR30 per MT in the EMEA region.

17:51 EDT Facebook CEO says 'quite focused on' commerce and payments - Says "quite focused on" commerce and payments. Says Stories biggest individual driver of impression growth.

17:41 EDT Microsoft CEO says LinkedIn saw 'record level of engagement' in Q3 - Says LinkedIn marketing solutions rose 46% and job postings saw another record high. Comments from the company's Q3 earnings call.

17:33 EDT Facebook sees changes making mobile ad targeting more difficult - Says year-over-year decline in average price per ad reflects ongoing mix shift toward Stories ads and geographies that monetize at lower rates. Says number of people who have opted out from using contacts for ad targeting has increased amid increased regulations. Says anticipates changes that will make mobile ad targeting more difficult.

17:29 EDT Facebook says number of ad impressions served across all services rose 32% in Q1 - Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

17:22 EDT Tesla said deliveries of Model S, Model X declined to 12,100 in Q1 - Tesla CEO Elon Musk said "Deliveries of Model S and Model X declined to 12,100 vehicles in Q1 compared to our two- year run rate of roughly 25,000 units per quarter. This decline was mainly caused by weaker Q1 demand due to seasonality, pull-forward of sales into Q4 2018 in the U.S. due to the first scheduled reduction of the federal EV tax credit in Q1 and discontinuation of our 75 kWh battery pack. We also had a mismatch between orders and deliverable cars. For example, due to adjustments in pricing mid-quarter, the take rate for the performance versions of Model S and Model X increased faster than we were able to supply."

17:18 EDT Methanex raises quarterly dividend 9% to 36c per share - Methanex announced that its board of directors has approved a 9% increase in its quarterly dividend to 36c per share from 33c per share. The increased dividend will apply to the dividend payable on June 30, 2019 to holders of common shares of record on June 16, 2019.

17:17 EDT Facebook says now has 3M advertisers using Stories ads - Says "dramatically" increasing transparency around elections. Says now has 3M advertisers using Stories ads. Says Commerce a growing area for company.

17:14 EDT Martin Midstream Partners cuts dividend to 25c per share from 50c - Martin Midstream Partners also discloses strategic initiatives that include "previously announced marketing of the Partnership's gas storage assets and the active negotiation of the sale of certain non-core assets and/or businesses." CEO Ruben Martin says: "The cash distribution announcement, while difficult, assists us as we move forward toward those goals. The decision was not made lightly or without considerable debate, as I, as well as the other members of our board realize the implications of such a decision for our unitholders and our Partnership. However, this decision allows us to retain approximately $39.3M annually enhancing the Partnership's financial flexibility to pursue desirable growth opportunities that build long-term value for our unitholders."

17:11 EDT A&T Stainless joint venture tariff exclusion request denied - Allegheny Technologies learned that the A&T Stainless joint venture's previously filed Section 232 tariff exclusion request has been denied by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The joint venture imports semi-finished stainless slab products from Indonesia to produce 60-inch wide stainless sheet products for sale in North America. These slabs will continue to be subject to the 25% tariff levied on all stainless steel products imported into the United States. "While we are disappointed that the U.S. Department of Commerce denied the JV's Section 232 tariff exclusion request, it does not change our strategy of returning ATI's Flat Roll Products segment to sustained profitability," said Robert Wetherbee, ATI President and CEO. "Although we believe the unique status of the North American stainless steel industry warranted approval of our exclusion, we are committed to meeting our customers' needs and delivering value to our shareholders. We will work with our joint venture partner to determine our next steps."

17:10 EDT Resolute Forest renews U.S. labor agreements for three mills - Resolute Forest announced a four-year renewal of the master collective agreement covering unionized employees of three U.S. pulp, paper and tissue mills. Unionized employees voted overwhelmingly to ratify the agreement at facilities in Calhoun, Tennessee, Augusta, Georgia, and Coosa Pines, Alabama. The agreement takes effect for the Calhoun pulp, paper and tissue mill in May 2019 and runs through April 2023, in addition to spanning the four-year period between May 2020 and April 2024 for the Augusta newsprint mill and Coosa Pines fluff pulp operation. Approximately 775 unionized employees are covered by the agreement. The agreement improves wages in each of its four years.

17:02 EDT Exxon Mobil acquires additional exploration acreage offshore Namibia - ExxonMobil said it will increase its exploration acreage in Namibia with the addition of approximately 7M net acres following the signing of an agreement with the government of Namibia and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia for blocks 1710 and 1810, and farm-in agreements with NAMCOR for blocks 1711 and 1811A. The blocks extend from the shoreline to about 135 miles offshore Namibia in water depths up to 13,000 feet. ExxonMobil plans to begin exploration activities in 2019, including acquisition of seismic data and analysis. ExxonMobil will operate blocks 1710 and 1810 and hold a 90% interest; NAMCOR will hold a 10% interest. ExxonMobil will assign 5% of its interest to a local Namibian company. ExxonMobil will be operator of blocks 1711 and 1811A, and will hold an 85% interest. NAMCOR will retain a 15% interest. ExxonMobil also holds a 40% interest in the PEL 82 license offshore Namibia, comprising about 2.8M gross acres.

16:46 EDT Employers Holdings board authorizes $50M expansion to share repurchase program - Employers Holdings said its board of directors authorized a $50M expansion to its existing share repurchase program and extended the repurchase authority pursuant to the expanded program through June 30, 2020. As a result of this action, the company currently has a remaining share repurchase authorization of $58.1M.

16:36 EDT Xilinx down 11% to $123.90 after Q4 results, Q1 guidance

16:34 EDT Aspen Aerogels awarded PTT LNG insulation contract - Aspen Aerogels announced that it has been awarded a new contract to supply Cryogel Z aerogel insulation to the PTT LNG Nong Fab LNG Receiving Terminal Project in Thailand. The contract was awarded to Aspen by SPCC Joint Venture, a joint venture between Saipem S.A. and CTCI Corporation, responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the terminal. The Nong Fab Terminal will include two 250,000m3 storage tanks, a 7.5M ton per annum regasification facility, a trestle marine jetty and an administrative facility. Under the terms of the contract, and subject to modification by SPCC Joint Venture, Aspen has agreed to provide approximately $35M-$40M of Cryogel Z for use in the construction of the Nong Fab Terminal. Aspen's deliveries of Cryogel Z are currently scheduled to run from the second quarter of 2019 through the fourth quarter of 2020.

16:34 EDT Lazard raises quarterly dividend 7% to 47c per share - Lazard Ltd announced that its Board of Directors has voted to increase the quarterly dividend on its outstanding Class A common stock by 7% to $0.47 per share. The dividend is payable on May 17, 2019, to stockholders of record on May 6, 2019.

16:31 EDT Alkermes names Todd Nichols SVP of Sales and Marketing - Alkermes (ALKS) announced that C. Todd Nichols will become the company's Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing effective May 13. Nichols most recently held the position of Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Inflammation and Immunology at Celgene (CELG).

16:30 EDT Talos Energy names Shane Young as CFO, effective May 16 - Talos Energy announced the appointment of Shannon Young, III as Executive Vice President and CFO of Talos, effective May 16. Michael Harding, II, currently Executive Vice President, CFO, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer, will continue to serve as the Chief Accounting Officer of the company on an interim basis for a mutually agreed period. Prior to joining Talos, Young served as Vice President and CFO of Sheridan Production Company since 2016.

16:28 EDT Trinity Industries announces new $350M stock buyback for 2019-2020

16:27 EDT Ball Corp. announces board reelections and appointments - Ball shareholders reelected Daniel Heinrich, Georgia Nelson and Cynthia Niekamp to the board to serve three-year terms expiring in 2022. The board of directors also appointed Stuart Taylor II as lead independent director. Robert Alspaugh, who has served as a director since 2008, and Theodore Solso, who has served as a director since 2003 and as lead independent director since 2013, both retired from the board.

16:26 EDT Xilinx to acquire Solarflare, terms not disclosed - Xilinx announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Solarflare Communications, an Irvine, Calif.-based privately-held company. Solarflare is a leading provider of high-performance, low latency networking solutions for customers spanning FinTech to cloud computing. The acquisition will enable Xilinx to combine its industry-leading FPGA, MPSoC and ACAP solutions with Solarflare's ultra-low latency network interface card technology and Onload application acceleration software, to enable new converged SmartNIC solutions, accelerating Xilinx's "data center first" strategy and transition to a platform company. The acquisition is expected to close in Xilinx's second quarter of fiscal year 2020, following regulatory review and other customary closing conditions.

16:23 EDT CoreLogic to incur $15M in charges over FY19 - The company states: "In connection with the previously announced 2020 adjusted EBITDA margin target of 30%, we intend to incur discrete charges of approximately $15 million over the course of 2019. These investments will increase the operating efficiency and accelerate the transformation of certain technology and data platforms."

16:19 EDT PayPal reports net new active accounts up 15% to 9.3M in Q1 - PayPal reports 9.3M net new active accounts in Q1, versus an increase of 8.1M n Q1 2018, up 15%. Reports 2.8B payment transactions, up 28%. Reports $161B in total payment volume, up 22%, or 25% on a currency-neutral basis. Reports 37.9 payment transactions per active account on a trailing twelve months basis, up 9%.

16:16 EDT Terex sells boom truck, truck crane and crossover product lines to Load King - Terex Corporation announced that it has sold its boom truck, truck crane and crossover product lines to Load King, a subsidiary of Custom Truck One Source L.P. Included in the transaction are the assets and parts business associated with these product lines.

16:14 EDT Facebook estimates 2.1B people use services every day on average - Facebook estimates that more than 2.1B people now use Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messenger every day on average, and around 2.7B people use at least one of its family of services each month.

16:13 EDT Chipotle raises FY19 comp restaurant sales growth to mid to high single digits - For 2019, management is anticipating the following: Mid to high single digit comparable restaurant sales growth, up from the prior mid-single digit growth expectation... 140 to 155 new restaurant openings... An estimated underlying effective full year tax rate on the low end of the previously disclosed range of 27.0%-30.0%, excluding the potential impact of excess tax deductions from equity vesting or exercises.

16:13 EDT Facebook CEO says focus is building out 'privacy-focused vision' - Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in tonight's earnings release, "We had a good quarter and our business and community continue to grow. We are focused on building out our privacy-focused vision for the future of social networking, and working collaboratively to address important issues around the internet."

16:12 EDT Chipotle reports Q1 restaurant level operating margin 21.0% - An increase from 19.5% last year.

16:11 EDT Chipotle reports Q1 comparable restaurant sales increased 9.9% - Comparable restaurant sales increased 9.9%, net of 30 bps from loyalty deferral, and included 5.8% of comparable restaurant transaction growth and 2% in mix contribution. Digital sales grew 100.7% and accounted for 15.7% of sales for the quarter.

16:09 EDT Waste Connections President says 'extremely pleased' with Q1 results - "We are extremely pleased with the strong start to the year which, along with expected sequential improvement in volume growth and recently completed acquisitions, positions us well for the remainder of 2019. Continuing strength in solid waste price growth once again drove underlying margin expansion and better than expected financial results in the quarter, enabling us to overcome weather-related impacts across multiple markets and further declines in recycled commodity values. In addition, adjusted free cash flow* of almost 20% of revenue in the quarter puts us solidly on track to achieve our full year outlook of $950 million," said Worthing ackman, President. Jackman added, "Year-to-date, we've signed or closed acquisitions with total annualized revenue of approximately $100 million, putting us on pace to potentially deliver another outsized year of acquisition activity. These acquisitions include new market entries in Colorado, Illinois and Iowa, and tuck-ins in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New York and Wyoming. Our strong financial profile and free cash flow generation provide us the flexibility to fund continuing outsized acquisition activity while increasing the return of capital to shareholders."

16:08 EDT Microsoft reports Q3 Productivity and Business Processes revenue up 14% - Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes was $10.2B and increased 14%, or 15% in constant currency. Office Commercial products and cloud services revenue increased 12%, or 14% in constant currency, driven by Office 365 Commercial revenue growth of 30%, or 31% in constant currency. Office Consumer products and cloud services revenue increased 8%, or 10% in constant currency, and Office 365 Consumer subscribers increased to 34.2M. LinkedIn revenue increased 27%, or 29% in constant currency.

16:07 EDT Microsoft reports Q3 Intelligent Cloud revenue up 22% to $9.7B - Revenue in Intelligent Cloud was $9.7B and increased 22%, or 24% in constant currency. Server products and cloud services revenue increased 27%, or 29% in constant currency, driven by Azure revenue growth of 73%, or 75% in constant currency. Enterprise Services revenue increased 4%, or 5% in constant currency.

16:01 EDT PacWest Bancorp appoints Mark Yung COO - PacWest Bancorp announced that on April 12, Mark Yung was appointed as executive VP and COO of PacWest Bancorp and Pacific Western Bank. Yung's employment will commence on May 13. Yung is co-founder and served as managing principal of OCV Management.

16:00 EDT USG trading resumes

15:31 EDT Shutterfly trading resumes

15:26 EDT Shutterfly trading halted, volatility trading pause

14:16 EDT Aegion names Stephanie Cuskley chair of the board of directors - Aegion Corporation announced that Aegion's board of directors appointed Stephanie A. Cuskley as chair of the Aegion board of directors, effective April 24, 2019. Cuskley has been an Aegion board member since 2005, most recently serving as the chair of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. Cuskley will continue to serve as a voting member of the board's Audit Committee and will serve as an ex officio member of the board's Compensation Committee, Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee and Strategic Planning and Finance Committee.

13:48 EDT Anadarko confirms receipt of unsolicited proposal from Occidental - Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) confirmed that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) on April 24, under which Anadarko shareholders would receive $38.00 in cash and 0.6094 shares of Occidental common stock for each share of Anadarko common stock. As previously announced on April 12, 2019, following unanimous approval from the company's board of directors, Anadarko entered into a definitive agreement with Chevron Corporation (CVX) under which a wholly owned subsidiary of Chevron would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Anadarko in a stock and cash transaction valued at $33B, or $65 per share. In accordance with the terms of the Chevron Merger Agreement, and in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, Anadarko's board of directors will carefully review Occidental's proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company's stockholders. The Anadarko board has not made any determination as to whether Occidental's proposal constitutes, or could reasonably be expected to result in, a superior proposal under the terms of the Chevron Merger Agreement. The Anadarko board expects to respond to Occidental's proposal upon completing its review, and accordingly reaffirms its existing recommendation of the transaction with Chevron at this time. Evercore and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC are acting as financial advisors to Anadarko. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is acting as legal advisor to Anadarko.

13:30 EDT Medidata gets second downgrade this week amid reported interest from Dassault - SunTrust analyst Sandy Draper downgraded Medidata (MDSO) to Hold saying he sees "limited upside from fundamentals or multiple expansion" for the stock. On Tuesday, Wells Fargo analyst Jamie Stockton also cut his rating on the shares to Market Perform as he believes any potential takeover deal "could be months away if ever." Both downgrades follow a media report saying Dassault Systemes (DASTY) is seeking U.S. acquisitions and considering targets, including Medidata. MOVING TO THE SIDELINES: In a research note to investors, SunTrust's Draper downgraded Medidata to Hold, while keeping a $79 price target, as he views "limited upside from fundamentals or multiple expansion" for the stock. Draper added that after a 30% year-to-date rally in the stock price, the fundamental outlook on the stock appears to be "fairly priced in," and while he assigns a $85-$100 per share potential takeout range, he lacks conviction that a transaction for Medidata will occur. Nonetheless, the analyst acknowledged that he remains "constructive" on the company's longer-term growth prospects. On Tuesday, Wells Fargo's Stockton also downgraded Medidata to Market Perform from Outperform, with a $90 price target. Given a moderately slowing organic growth rate and a lack of significant insider selling in 2018-2019 by the CEO and President, Medidata pursuing a takeout makes sense, Stockton contended. However, the analyst believes that a potential deal with Dassault sounds like it could be months away if ever. Further, while an acquirer might be willing to pay a premium for the rich set of clinical trial data Medidata has spent years gathering and curating, he believes this is "a good place to move to the sideline." TAKEOUT INTEREST: Over the weekend, Bloomberg's Manuel Baigorri, Ruth David and Dinesh Nair reported that Dassault Systemes is seeking U.S. acquisitions and considering targets, including Medidata, as it looks to bolster its life science unit, Deliberations are preliminary and the French software maker may decide against proceeding with a takeover or opt for a different company, the publication noted, citing people familiar with the matter. Medidata could also draw interest from other suitors, one of the people said. During Dassault's earnings call this morning, CEO Bernard Charles said that it was "a good practice to not comment so much on rumors." Nonetheless, he added that, "If you look back at the moves we have done in the last years, I think they were aligned with the strategy on innovative. [...] The success we are seeing on the R&D with BIOVIA on 3D EXPERIENCE give us some very interesting perspective about the life science market at large, for two reasons. Biologics are complex, and for us connecting with manufacturing is a differentiator and there are not many players in town on that. [...] we have to find out what is the best way to expand the solutions in the future on that side as we did for other sectors. So, let's see." To conclude the call, the company's vice president of IR, Francois-Jose Bordonado, said according to a transcript: "We're in good shape for the full year 2019...And don't push too much the rumors." PRICE ACTION: In afternoon trading, shares of Medidata are up almost 2% to $89.29, while Dassault's stock has advanced about 4% to $158.76.

12:37 EDT Northrop Grumman sees restricted portfolio growing faster than restricted in '19 - Sees more restricted growth heading into 2020.

12:27 EDT Northrop Grumman sees return to growth for TS segment later this year - Says will continue to see better profile from technology services. Sees return to growth for technology services later this year.

12:20 EDT Northrop Grumman still sees 'strong' cash flow in 2019 - Says Space portfolio is in excess of $7B in annual revenue. Says reducing interest expense guidance to approximately $560M from previous guidance of $590M. Says expects full recovery of billings in Q2. Says continues to expect strong cash flow in 2019. Says continuing to repurchase shares in 2019. Says intends to retire about $500M in debt in Q3. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

12:01 EDT Superior Energy falls -13.9% - Superior Energy is down -13.9%, or -69c to $4.27.

12:01 EDT SAP rises 11.7% - SAP is up 11.7%, or $13.42 to $128.22.

12:00 EDT Speedway Motorsports rises 32.8% - Speedway Motorsports is up 32.8%, or $4.57 to $18.51.

11:37 EDT Caterpillar: Trade resolution would be positive for company, global economy

11:36 EDT Grainger raises dividend by 6% to $1.44 per share - W.W. Grainger announced that its board of directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $1.44 per share, an increase of 6% from the dividend paid in March 2019. The dividend is payable on June 1 to shareholders of record on May 13.

11:24 EDT Caterpillar says flat inventories at year-end is 'reasonable' expectation

11:18 EDT Caterpillar CFO says has confidence in fundementals of end markets

11:10 EDT Caterpillar: 'Healthy' U.S. economy to be 'positive' for company - In Construction Industries, Caterpillar says it expects that the "healthy" U.S. economy, as well as state and local funding for infrastructure development, will be a "positive" for the company. The company expects demand to remain low in Latin America this year. The company also expects that volatility in oil prices will impact demand for well servicing equipment in 1H. Comments from Q1 earnings conference call. Shares of Caterpillar are down 2.2% to $138.86 in late morning trading.

11:08 EDT Exxon Mobil raises dividend to 87c from 82c per share - The board of directors of Exxon Mobil declared a cash dividend of 87c cents per share on the common stock, payable on June 10 to shareholders of record of common stock at the close of business on May 13. This second quarter dividend compares with 82c cents per share paid in the first quarter of 2019.

10:55 EDT Boeing says team is determined to keep improving on safety - Says increased 787 production rate to 14 per month. Says rolled out 777X flight test aircraft. Says backlog remains robust. Says saw continued BGS growth. Says BGS continues to win new business. Says received Embraer (ERJ) shareholder approval on strategic partnerships. Says will continue to work with Embraer over the coming months to complete the transaction. Says main focus is on 737 MAX safe return to service. Says maintaining focus on keeping business strong and healthy. Says continues to see healthy demand in commercial aviation. Says fundamentals remain strong. Says confident in 20-year commercial outlook of 42,730 airplanes. Says long-term demand fundamentals provides a solid basis for commercial business. Says narrowbody segment will command largest share of new deliveries. Says has high-confidence in widebody replacement demand within the next decade. Says continue to expect delivery to be approx. 3.5 per month for 777x in 2019. Plans to increase 767 production rate from 2.5 to 3 per month in 2020. Says sees continuing international defense and space demand. Says continues to see support for F-18. Says maintaining clear focus on future franchises.

10:27 EDT Lululemon CEO sees opportunity around athletic needs in beauty space

10:24 EDT Lululemon CEO says has 'identified opportunity that would be unique' in footwear

10:11 EDT LCNB Corp. announces 500,000 share repurchase program - LCNB Corp. announced that its Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program. Under the terms of the program, the company is authorized to repurchase up to 500,000 of its outstanding common shares. The program is authorized to last no longer than five years. The program will replace and supersede LCNB's prior share repurchase programs, the "Market Repurchase Program" and the "Private Sale Repurchase Program," which were adopted in April 2001. As part of the program, the company is entering into a trading plan adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

10:00 EDT RPC, Inc. falls -10.0% - RPC, Inc. is down -10.0%, or -$1.29 to $11.60.

10:00 EDT K12 falls -13.7% - K12 is down -13.7%, or -$4.96 to $31.26.

10:00 EDT Marine Products rises 13.8% - Marine Products is up 13.8%, or $1.94 to $16.00.

09:50 EDT Entegra Financial trading resumes

09:47 EDT Amphenol falls -9.7% - Amphenol is down -9.7%, or -$10.19 to $95.19.

09:47 EDT SAP rises 10.5% - SAP is up 10.5%, or $12.01 to $126.81.

09:47 EDT Speedway Motorsports rises 28.8% - Speedway Motorsports is up 28.8%, or $4.02 to $17.96.

09:36 EDT AT&T says cash flows 'continue to be impressive' - Says: Confident in meeting FY cash flow guidance of $26B... Confident in meeting FY EBITDA target... WarnerMedia continues to be accretive to earnings, cash flow... WarnerMedia poised for solid year... Making good progress in achieving profitability in Mexico... FY net debt reduction target ~ $20B... On track to meet FY leverage target of 2.5x... Wireless revenue outlook continues to be positive... Plans for 5G going quite well... 5G 'E' is a step-change improvement in wireless speed.

09:35 EDT PAVmed reports DisappEAR animal study results - PAVmed announced that its DisappEAR resorbable pediatric ear tube achieved a major developmental milestone with the successful completion of a 90-day study in an established animal model to support a planned U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) submission later this year. Christopher J. Hartnick, M.D., Professor of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School and Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Massachusetts General Hospital, performed the study. He implanted eighteen DisappEAR ear tubes, one in the tympanic membrane of each ear of nine chinchillas and evaluated them endoscopically at regular intervals over three months. Ear drops delivered under direct vision demonstrated rapid wicking through the tube channel in contrast to plastic tubes where surface tension causes the drop of fluid to sit on the tube orifice and not pass through the channel. At the completion of the study, the ear tubes were explanted and found to be patent without structural degradation and the tympanic membranes showed good healing. The unexpected finding was that there were no cases of otorrhea - a difficult to manage condition where pus and fluid drains out of the middle ear and into the ear canal. When traditional plastic ear tubes are used in clinical practice, as well as in this animal model, otorrhea typically occurs in at least 25-30% of recipients, despite administration of antibiotic ear drops.

09:19 EDT H&R Block reports preliminary 2019 tax returns up 1.5% to 20.2M - H&R Block released its preliminary U.S. tax results, reflecting an increase in overall tax return volume for the second consecutive year. For FY19 through April 19, tax returns prepared by or through H&R Block increased 1.5% to 20.2M. Overall client growth was driven by total DIY growth of 6% and DIY online growth of 9.3%. DIY net average charge increased slightly due to favorable mix. Assisted returns decreased 1.7% for FY19, which was anticipated due to the elimination of the Free Federal 1040EZ promotion. The company also reported a decrease in net average charge due to targeted price decreases, which was in line with expectations. "We executed well against our plans for the tax season and I'm pleased that we will deliver the financial outlook we provided for fiscal 2019," said Tony Bowen, CFO. "Additionally, we now anticipate a fiscal 2019 effective tax rate of approximately 19 percent due to discrete benefits recorded in the fourth quarter."

09:08 EDT General Dynamics: "all issues to be behind us this year' for aerospace - Comments provided during Q1 earnings conference call.

09:06 EDT Diebold expands partnership with KeyBank for its digital transformation - Diebold (DBD) announced a continued collaboration with KeyBank (KEY), one of the nation's largest financial institutions, to digitally transform more than 1,400 ATMs in the bank's network. KeyBank selected partner Diebold to refresh its ATM and transaction automation software via a suite of integrated solutions in the DN Vynamic portfolio.

09:06 EDT La-Z-Boy CCO Douglas Collier to retire - La-Z-Boy announced that Douglas Collier, senior VP, CCO and president international, will retire on June 22, to create the time and flexibility to devote to several personal business interests and passions. Collier joined La-Z-Boy in 2002 as VP marketing for the La-Z-Boy branded business.

09:05 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - DEAL NEWS: Andarko (APC), up 11% after Occidental Petroleum (OXY) announced that it has made what it called "a superior proposal" to acquire Anadarko for $76 per share, in which Anadarko shareholders would receive $38.00 in cash and 0.6094 shares of Occidental common stock for each share of Anadarko common stock. Occidental Petroleum is down 5% after the bid news, while Chevron, which has an existing agreement in place to buy Anadarko for $65 per share in cash and stock, is down fractionally. UP AFTER EARNINGS: Boeing (BA), up 1%... General Dynamics (GD), up 3%... Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), up 4%... Domino's Pizza (DPZ), up 6%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: AT&T (T), down 4%... Boston Scientific (BSX), down 5%... Sirius XM (SIRI), down 3%... Caterpillar (CAT), down 2.5%.

09:04 EDT Vertafore selects AWS as preferred cloud provider - Amazon Web Services announced that Vertafore is migrating its business-critical products and workloads to the cloud and has selected AWS as its standard for artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads. Vertafore is already running key customer-facing workloads on AWS, including data and analytics solution RiskMatch and agency management system and comparative rating platform QQ. Vertafore is working with the Amazon ML Solutions Lab to build new and enhance existing products using AWS's machine learning technologies.

09:00 EDT MA COM Tech Solutions trading resumes

08:57 EDT Entegra Financial, First Citizens announce merger agreement

08:52 EDT Entegra Financial trading halted, news pending

08:51 EDT CPSI to acquire Get Real Health for $11M in cash - CPSI announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Get Real Health. The contemplated total aggregate consideration to be paid by CPSI is $11M, payable in cash, subject to certain adjustments at and after closing, as provided for in the purchase agreement, plus an earn-out payment of up to a maximum of $14.M, depending on the EBITDA performance of Get Real Health during 2019. The completion of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and is targeted to close in Q2. To finance the transaction, CPSI will use a draw of approximately $11M under its existing senior secured revolving credit facility. CPSI anticipates that this acquisition will yield approximately $1M in annual cost synergies, primarily from the replacement of CPSI's existing patient engagement solutions. Additionally, the acquisition is expected to be accretive to Adjusted EBITDA for 2019.

08:48 EDT Anthem says will start to migrate some customers to IngenioRX PBM next week - Says will move commercial plans to point-of-sale rebates in 2020. Says is prepared to pass-through in Medicare business.

08:41 EDT AT&T says 'on-track or ahead of schedule' with 2019 goals - Says: On track to generate at least $20B of cash this year... Pleased with wireless performance... Merger related synergies with Time Warner on-track... 5G in 19 cities and will be nationwide next year. Comments from Q1 earnings conference call.

08:40 EDT Ryman Hospitality, Gray Television enter 50/50 joint venture for country channel - Opry Entertainment, a subsidiary of Ryman Hospitality (RHP), and Gray Television (GTN) announced that they have entered into a joint venture to create and distribute a linear multicast and over-the-top, or OTT, channel dedicated to the country lifestyle. The new channel will deliver an entertainment service featuring content that highlights country music artists and the passions, hobbies and love of music they share with their fans. The 50/50 joint venture will link Opry Entertainment's network of entertainment venues, programming archive, licensed content and original programming to Gray's local television and digital presence. The new service will be based in Nashville and will be fueled by marketing and promotional resources from both companies' existing network of media assets. The companies anticipate launching the linear multicast channel in early 2020 across television stations located throughout the country, including those owned by Gray. The companies expect to launch a companion, premium OTT service in mid-2020. Digital media executive Drew Reifenberger will lead the staffing, development and launch of the channel as general manager of the joint venture.

08:37 EDT Anthem sees YE group Medicare Advantage enrollment of nearly 200,000 members - Says "on track" to deliver FY Medicare Advantage growth target of greater than 20%. Comments taken from the Q1 earnings conference call.

08:35 EDT Immersion, TDK Electronics sign agreement for haptics design, marketing - Immersion Corporation (IMMR) announced that it has signed an agreement with TDK (TTDKY) subsidiary TDK Electronics for the design and marketing of haptic feedback for TDK PowerHap piezo actuators. Under the agreement, Immersion will include TDK's actuators in reference designs for automotive, industrial and other markets. Immersion will also certify the components for use with its software products.

08:34 EDT Sensus Healthcare signs R&D collaboration with University of Pennsylvania - Sensus Healthcare has signed a research and development agreement with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania to collaborate with the radiation oncology department on clinical research and development for Sensus' Sculptura robotic intraoperative radiation therapy system. The FDA granted market clearance to Sculptura in February, and the University of Pennsylvania, which is home to the Abramson Cancer Center, is the first in the world to house this new technology.

08:33 EDT Portola Pharmaceuticals reports retirement of John Curnutte, head of R&D - Portola Pharmaceuticals announced that Dr. John Curnutte, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development, will retire on May 17 after more than eight years of service. Portola said in a statement: "Dr. Curnutte will remain in a consultancy role, providing guidance to Portola's President and CEO Scott Garland and engaging with key academic and scientific thoughtleaders in the field on the ongoing development of Andexxa and cerdulatinib." Moving forward, and effective May 1, the company's research efforts will be led by Pamela Conley, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research. The company expects to name a permanent Chief Medical Officer upon completion of the previously announced executive search. During the transition period, Portola's Vice President of Medical Affairs, Jeff Myers, M.D., Ph.D., will serve as interim Chief Medical Officer.

08:27 EDT MA COM Tech Solutions trading halted, news pending

08:12 EDT Ford makes $500M investment in Rivian - Rivian announced an equity investment of $500M from Ford. In addition to the investment, the companies have agreed to work together to develop an all-new, next-generation battery electric vehicle for Ford's growing EV portfolio using Rivian's skateboard platform. Ford intends to develop a new vehicle using Rivian's flexible skateboard platform. This is in addition to Ford's existing plans to develop a portfolio of battery electric vehicles. As part of its previously announced $11 billion EV investment, Ford already has confirmed two key fully electric vehicles: a Mustang-inspired crossover coming in 2020 and a zero-emissions version of the best-selling F-150 pickup.

08:09 EDT Buffett denies report claiming Berkshire in talks to buy PG&E - Earlier, energy-focused deal news provider SparkSpread said, according to Bloomberg, that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) was in talks to buy California utility company PG&E (PCG), which has previously filed for bankruptcy protection. However, Buffett reportedly responded to the report in a statement to CNBC's Becky Quick, telling her that the report is "100% not true." Following the initial report and Buffett's denial, PG&E shares are up 57c, or 2.7%, or $22.10 in pre-market, well off their earlier highs.

08:06 EDT PG&E well off highs after Warren Buffett denies takeover talks to CNBC - The stock remains up 3% to $22.23 after SparkSpreak reported that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) is in talks to acquire PG&E (PCG).

08:05 EDT ChannelAdvisor partnering with Payoneer for cross-border transactions - ChannelAdvisor announced a new strategic alliance with Payoneer, a cross-border payments platform supporting over 150 currencies in more than 200 countries. ChannelAdvisor and Payoneer are working together to provide brands and retailers with payment options to pay or receive funds at a competitive rate.

08:04 EDT United Health Products retains Iqvia to conduct study of HemoStyp - United Health Products announced that it had retained IQVIA Inc. to conduct a U.S. market commercialization study for HemoStyp. The primary purpose of the study will be to assist the company and Societe Generale in its previously announced Review of Strategic Alternatives. In addition, IQVIA will perform qualitative primary market research, and do medical device supply audits using its proprietary databases. IQVIA's work is expected to be completed in the near future.

08:03 EDT Correction: Buffett's Berskhire reportedly in talks to acquire PG&E

07:59 EDT Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reportedly in talks to acquire Procter & Gamble - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) is in talks to acquire Procter & Gamble (PG), SparkSpread reports, citing two industry sources, according to Bloomberg. SparkSpread is an online news service covering energy deals. Procter & Gamble and Berkshire did not immediately respond to SparkSpread for a comment, Bloomberg noted. Procter & Gamble's market capitalization is around $258B coming into today's trading.

07:39 EDT Boeing reports Q1 commercial airplane deliveries 149 vs. 184 a year ago

07:37 EDT Caterpillar reports end of Q1 order backlog of $16.9B - Caterpillar said at the end of the first quarter of 2019, the order backlog was $16.9B, about $300M higher than the fourth quarter of 2018. The increase was in Construction Industries and Energy & Transportation, partially offset by a decrease in Resource Industries due to higher dealer inventories.

07:34 EDT Boeing reports total backlog of $487B - Including more than 5,600 commercial airplanes.

07:33 EDT Boeing: Previously issued 2019 guidance does not reflect 737 MAX impacts - "The previously issued 2019 financial guidance does not reflect 737 MAX impacts. Due to the uncertainty of the timing and conditions surrounding return to service of the 737 MAX fleet, new guidance will be issued at a future date. Boeing is making steady progress on the path to final certification for a software update for the 737 MAX, with over 135 test and production flights of the software update complete. The company continues to work closely with global regulators and our airline partners to comprehensively test the software and finalize a robust package of training and educational resources." "Across the company, we are focused on safety, returning the 737 MAX to service, and earning and re-earning the trust and confidence of customers, regulators and the flying public," said Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg. "As we work through this challenging time for our customers, stakeholders and the company, our attention remains on driving excellence in quality and performance and running a healthy sustained growth business built on strong, long-term fundamentals."

07:31 EDT Boeing: Previously issued 2019 guidance does not reflect 737 MAX impacts - Says new guidance to be issued at a future date.

07:19 EDT Nasdaq inreases quarterly dividend 7% to 47c per share - The Board of Directors of Nasdaq has declared a regular quarterly dividend of 47c per share on the company's outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on June 28, 2019 to shareowners of record at the close of business on June 14, 2019, Nasdaq said.

07:17 EDT Provention Bio completes enrollment of Phase 2a Crohn's Disease candidate trial - Provention Bio has completed the enrollment in its Phase 2a PRINCE - PRovention Investigation in Crohn's DiseasE - clinical trial evaluating PRV-6527 in patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease. "The on-schedule completion of enrollment in the PRINCE study for PRV-6527 is yet another significant executional achievement and operational milestone in our mission to develop therapeutics that intercept or prevent immune-mediated diseases," said Ashleigh Palmer, CEO of Provention Bio. "In prior studies, PRV-6527 demonstrated proof of mechanism with evidence of tolerability and favorable pharmacology. The results from the PRINCE study may establish the potential of this oral candidate in Crohn's disease, an indication which is currently dominated by biologics that offer limited benefit over the long-term. We look forward to reporting top-line data in Q4." The primary endpoint will assess clinical effect as measured by the Crohn's Disease Activity Index score at week 12. PRV-6527 was developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals and has been evaluated in over 200 subjects to date.

07:15 EDT Silgan announces shutdown of metal closures manufacturing facility in Spain - Segment income of the closures business for Q1 decreased $8M to $40.2M as compared to $48.2M in 1Q18 primarily due to rationalization charges of $5.7M principally related to the announced shutdown of a metal closures manufacturing facility in Spain. The decrease in segment income was also attributable to lower unit volumes, the impact of unfavorable foreign currency translation and lower pension income and was partially offset by the favorable impact from the lagged pass through to customers of lower raw material costs and a favorable mix of products sold. Segment income margin decreased to 11.3% for Q1 from 13% in 1Q18.

07:11 EDT Teekay LNG increases quarterly cash distribution 36% to 19c per share - Teekay LNG has declared a cash distribution of 19c per common unit for the quarter ended March 31, representing a 36% increase over the previous quarter's distribution. The cash distribution is payable on May 15 to all common unitholders of record on May 7.

07:10 EDT Cango announces special cash dividend of 12.5c per ordinary share - To be paid on May 28 shareholders of record as of the close of trading on May 10.

07:08 EDT Silicon Labs see Q2 adjusted gross margin approximately 60.5%

07:06 EDT Occidental Petroleum makes $76 per share offer for Anadarko - Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) delivered a letter to the Board of Directors of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) setting forth the terms of a superior proposal by Occidental to acquire Anadarko for $76.00 per share, in which Anadarko shareholders would receive $38.00 in cash and 0.6094 shares of Occidental common stock for each share of Anadarko common stock. Occidental's proposal represents a premium of approximately 20% to the value of Anadarko's pending transaction as of April 23, 2019. Occidental said in a statement that it believes its proposal is "superior both financially and strategically for Anadarko's shareholders, creating a global energy leader with the scale and geographic diversification to drive growth and deliver compelling value and returns to the shareholders of both companies. The combined company will be uniquely positioned to leverage Occidental's demonstrated operational and technical expertise, producing greater anticipated synergies than Anadarko's pending transaction. The 50-50 cash and stock transaction is valued at $57 billion, based on Occidental's closing price on April 23, 2019, including the assumption of net debt and book value of non-controlling interest." "Occidental is a leader in using technological innovation to create value, and we will deploy our expertise to enhance the performance and productivity of Anadarko's assets not only in the Permian, but globally," said Vicki Hollub, President and CEO of Occidental. "Occidental and Anadarko have a highly complementary asset portfolio, providing us with a unique opportunity to realize significant operating, cost, and capital allocation synergies and achieve near-term cash flow accretion."

06:59 EDT Universal Stainless & Alloy sees top-line growth by Q2 - Universal Stainless & Alloy CEO Dennis Oates stated, "Even with the slower than anticipated start, we expect 2019 to be another positive year for Universal Stainless with strong top-line growth and margin improvement forecasted as soon as Q2. We believe that our record backlog and the increasing benefits of our new bar cell in our Dunkirk facility support our positive outlook."

06:56 EDT Avery Dennison transferring $750M in pension obligations to AIG - AIG (AIG) announced that Avery Dennison (AVY) has signed an agreement transferring approximately $750M of pension obligations to American General Life Insurance Company, part of AIG's Life & Retirement business. The agreement covers approximately 8,500 retirees, beneficiaries, and deferred and active members.

06:54 EDT AT&T CEO says 'we're delivering on what we promised' - "Our first-quarter results show that we're delivering on what we promised," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. "We're on plan to meet our de-leveraging goals with strong free cash flow and asset sales. We grew Entertainment Group EBITDA in the quarter and are confident we'll meet or exceed our full-year target. FirstNet deployment continues ahead of schedule. And we are recognized for having the nation's best wireless network1, as well as the fastest network. All this speaks volumes about our focus on our strategic priorities and our ability to grow our Mobility, WarnerMedia and emerging Xandr businesses. Our teams are executing well and have turned in a good performance to start the year."

06:53 EDT AT&T reports Q1 mobility service revenues up 2.9% - In Q1: Mobility: Service revenues up 2.9%; operating income and EBITDA growth with postpaid phone and prepaid net adds... 179,000 postpaid smartphone net adds in the U.S... 80,000 postpaid phone net adds... 96,000 prepaid net adds of which 85,000 are phones Entertainment Group: 13% operating income growth with solid ARPU gains... 6.9% EBITDA growth as company targets stability Focus on long-term value customer base... 22.4M premium TV subscribers - 544,000 net loss... 1.5M DIRECTV NOW subscribers - 83,000 net loss... Nearly 300,000 AT&T Fiber gains; 45,000 broadband net adds with broadband revenue growth of more than 8% 12.4M customer locations passed with fiber.

06:49 EDT Lululemon launches strategic five-year growth plan - Lululemon is outlining its growth strategy for the next five years. The company plans to fuel growth through its Power of Three strategic plan to drive product innovation, create integrated Omni guest experiences, and to expand deeper in key markets around the world. The growth strategy includes a plan to double men's and digital revenues, and to quadruple international revenues. The company's core women's business and its agile store formats in North America will also remain focus areas and are expected to generate revenue growth in the low double digits annually for the next five years. The strategic plan also includes contributions from new product categories and offerings, such as its membership program which is currently in pilot. The company expects to more than double the size of its men's revenues by 2023. In addition, its plans call for continued expansion in the women's and accessories businesses. Both existing and new product categories are planned to grow, with lines supporting yoga, running and training. The company expects to more than double its digital revenues by 2023. Expanding across China, as well as the APAC and EMEA regions, will be continued areas of focus for the company. The company also believes that considerable growth potential remains in both the U.S. and Canada. Aims to achieve total annual revenue growth in the low teens for the next five years; modest gross margin expansion annually; modest SG&A leverage annually; operating income growth to exceed revenue growth annually; EPS growth to equal or exceed operating income growth annually; annual capital expenditures of 6-8% of revenues; and annual square footage growth in the low double-digits.

06:46 EDT Biogen CEO 'deeply disappointed' with discontinuation of aducanumab for AD - "Biogen delivered strong financial results in the first quarter driven by the solid operational performance of our MS, SMA, and biosimilars franchises," said Michel Vounatsos, Biogen's CEO. "However, we are deeply disappointed with the discontinuation of aducanumab for Alzheimer's disease. We followed the science, and unfortunately the outcome was not as we had hoped. We continue to believe we can create value for patients and investors by capitalizing on opportunities in neuroscience, and we remain focused on allocating capital to the areas we believe have the highest potential return for shareholders."

06:39 EDT Northrop Grumman CEO says 'captured substantial new awards' in Q1 - "In first quarter 2019, we achieved higher sales, improved performance and captured substantial new awards," said Kathy Warden, CEO and president. "These results are a good start to the year and provide the building blocks for our future growth. With a continued emphasis on performance, we are sharpening our focus on operational efficiency and agility to bring the power of our portfolio to solve our customers' rapidly evolving needs."

06:34 EDT Sonic Financial proposes to acquire Speedway Motorsports for $18.00 per share - Speedway Motorsports announced that on April 23, its Board of Directors received a non-binding proposal from Sonic Financial, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the company, other than the shares held by Sonic Financial, O. Bruton Smith, his family and entities controlled by Smith and his family, for cash consideration of $18.00 per share. The proposal letter indicates that the proposal by Sonic Financial is expressly subject to (i) a non-waivable condition requiring the approval of the holders of a majority of the shares of common stock that are not owned by the Smith Group and (ii) the approval of any transaction by a special committee consisting of independent and disinterested directors. Unless and until the transactions contemplated thereby have been consummated, SMI will continue to operate in the same manner as it operated prior to the receipt of the proposal letter.

06:24 EDT Credit Suisse says 'cautiously optimistic' about prospects for Q2 - Credit Suisse said: "The positive momentum we observed towards the end of the first quarter has broadly continued into April. However, it is still too early in the quarter to draw definitive conclusions about our performance for the rest of 2019. While geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns remain, we believe that their impact has begun to recede, with client confidence returning progressively. Our pipeline of transactions across both wealth management and investment banking is strong, and end markets have become more constructive as the year has progressed. Our strategy of focusing on growing our leading wealth management franchise, combined with strong investment banking capabilities, is working. We remain focused on increasing our returns and creating growing value for our shareholders over the course of 2019 and beyond. We are cautiously optimistic about our prospects for the second quarter of 2019."

06:22 EDT Cenovus Energy lowers FY19 total production view to 472-500 from 350-370 MBOE/d - This marks a 7% reduction at the midpoint of the range compared with the company's December 10, 2018 Guidance. Cenovus has increased its guidance for the fuel portion of its per-barrel oil sands operating costs to reflect its decision to maintain normal steam levels while reducing production volumes. Fuel costs are now expected to range between $1.75/bbl and $2.25/bbl in 2019 at both Foster Creek and Christina Lake, compared with $1.50/bbl to $2.00/bbl in the December 10, 2018 Guidance. The company expects operating costs to return to more normalized levels once mandatory curtailment has been lifted. Cenovus's guidance for 2019 capital investment remains unchanged. Including the anticipated impact of curtailment, Cenovus expects its Q2 bitumen and crude oil production will be a maximum of 355,000 bbls/d.

06:16 EDT Anthem backs FY19 operating cash flow view greater than $5.2B

06:14 EDT WidePoint secures contracts worth more than $1.3M - WidePoint has secured new contract awards valued at more than $1.3M. "These awards span our entire TM2 solution suite, with the majority being high-margin revenues in the commercial market," said WidePoint CEO Jin Kang. "A key component of our growth strategy is aimed at further penetrating the bourgeoning commercial market and these new awards are another proof point of the effectiveness of our strategy. It also demonstrates our team's ability to not only secure new commercial clients but also our ability to expand our share of wallet within existing clients across our platform of solutions and services."

06:13 EDT Tesla announces improved battery ranges for some Model S, Model X vehicles - Tesla announced a series of improvements to the Model S sedan and Model X SUV on Tuesday. According to a blog post, both vehicles received drivetrain upgrades that Tesla said would improve the battery performance on the long-range version of both cars to 370 miles for the Model S, and 325 miles for the Model X. Previously, the Model S and Model X had maximum battery ranges of 335 miles and 295 miles, respectively. "Using the same 100 kWh battery pack, these design and architecture updates will allow drivers to travel farther than ever before, charging less frequently and getting more range out of every dollar spent on charging," Tesla said. "We're also introducing a brand-new adaptive suspension system for Model S and Model X, along with a few other improvements for the best range, acceleration, and ride comfort ever, plus a Ludicrous Mode upgrade for our most loyal customers," adding that "Paired with the new more efficient drivetrain design, Model S and Model X are now capable of achieving 200 kW on V3 Superchargers and 145 kW on V2 Superchargers. Together, these improvements enable our customers to recharge their miles 50% faster." Reference Link

06:11 EDT Cnooc signs Petroleum Contract with PetroChina - Cnooc announced that its subsidiary, CNOOC China Limited, has signed a Petroleum Contract with PetroChina for Beibu Gulf 23/29 Block and Beibu Gulf 24/11 Block. Beibu Gulf 23/29 Block and Beibu Gulf 24/11 Block are located in the Fushan sag and Leidong sag of Beibu Gulf Basin in South China Sea respectively. According to terms of the Petroleum Contract, PetroChina shall act as the operator during the exploration period in the Contract Area and bear 70% of direct exploration expenditures; CNOOC China Limited bears the other 30% of direct exploration expenditures. The other exploration expenditures shall be borne by each party separately and shall not be credited to the relevant joint account. Once entering into the development and production phase, the two parties, each with 50% participating interests of the Contract Area, shall set up a joint operation organization to act as joint operators.

06:08 EDT Evercore Partners raises quarterly dividend to 58c per share - On April 23, the board of Evercore declared a quarterly dividend of 58c per share to be paid on June 14, to common stockholders of record on May 31.

06:06 EDT Owens Corning provides market outlook - In Insulation, the company expects growth in global construction and industrial insulation markets as well as improved operating performance will drive earnings growth in the technical and other building insulation businesses. As a result of a softer macro outlook, the company now expects positive price to be more than offset by lower volumes and production curtailments in the North American residential fiberglass insulation business. In Composites, the company continues to expect growth in the glass fiber market, although the global industrial production growth outlook has softened, primarily in Europe. Expects volume growth and improved operating performance to be offset by inflation. In Roofing, the company continues to expect relatively flat U.S. shingle end-market demand with industry shipments slightly below last year, assuming average storm demand. For Owens Corning, the company anticipates a favorable geographic mix comparison with the prior year and a higher share of shipments. Contribution margins through the Q1 position the business for continued strong performance. Estimates an effective tax rate of 26% to 28%, and a cash tax rate of 10% to 12% on adjusted pre-tax earnings, due to the company's U.S. tax net operating loss and foreign tax credit carryforwards. The company expects general corporate expenses to be between $140 million and $150 million. Capital additions are expected to total approximately $500M, with an increased focus on productivity improvements. Interest expense is expected to be approximately $130M . The company anticipates sustaining strong conversion of adjusted earnings into free cash flow.

06:04 EDT Samsung says to invest KRW133T in logic chip businesses by 2030 - Samsung Electronics announced that it will invest KRW 133 trillion by 2030 to strengthen its competitiveness in System LSI and Foundry businesses. The investment plan is expected to help the company to reach its goal of becoming the world leader in not only memory semiconductors but also logic chips by 2030. The company also plans to create 15,000 jobs in R&D and production to bolster its technological prowess. The investments through 2030 will be composed of KRW 73 trillion for domestic R&D and KRW 60 trillion for production infrastructure. Per this plan, investments in R&D and facilities for logic semiconductors are expected to amount to an average KRW 11 trillion per year until 2030.

05:32 EDT TransAlta comments on Mangrove Partners release, urges holders to vote BLUE card - TransAlta commented on the latest news release from Mangrove Partners. "Mangrove's latest claim is without merit and is simply the latest complaint in a string of frivolous tactics. We will defend TransAlta and the interests of our shareholders vigorously," said Ambassador Gordon Giffin, Chair of the board of TransAlta. "A majority of our shareholders have already voted overwhelmingly in support of the board at our upcoming Meeting. We look forward to moving ahead with our value creation plan supported by our partnership with Brookfield." As previously disclosed, TransAlta secured a strategic partnership and $750M financing with Brookfield Renewable which will enable TransAlta to advance its strategy. TransAlta's strategy is focused on converting coal units to gas, investing in renewables and accelerating returns to shareholders. TransAlta's 2019 annual and special meeting will take place on April 26 in Calgary, Alberta. TransAlta asks those shareholders that have not already voted to read the company's management proxy circular dated March 26 carefully and to vote the BLUE proxy FOR all 12 TransAlta director nominees at the upcoming annual and special shareholders' meeting on April 26. "Shareholder support is critical as we work to build a foundation for long-term, sustainable value creation as a leading clean energy company."

05:08 EDT iClick enters marketing technology joint venture with VGI - VGI Global Media and iClick Interactive Asia have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture "that will enable brands in Southeast Asia to capture the multi-billion dollar Chinese consumer market through a range of technology-driven marketing solutions. The new partnership will leverage the respective strengths of VGI and iClick to provide brands across Southeast Asia tremendous business opportunities and deepen their engagement with the large and growing customer base in China."