Stockwinners Market Radar for April 25, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:02 EDT Fly Intel: After Hours Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: eHealth (EHTH) up 12.6%... Mattel (MAT) up 11.8%... Knoll (KNL) up 9.6%... Grubhub (GRUB) up 7.8%... PROS Holdings (PRO) up 7.7%... Ford (F) up 7.6%... Capital One (COF) up 4.5%... Shutterfly (SFLY) up 4.2%... Columbia Sportswear (COLM) up 3.3%... Southwestern Energy (SWN) up 3.2%... Discover Financial (DFS) up 2.2%.... LogMeIn (LOGM) up 2.0%... Natus Medical (BABY) up 1.2%... Amazon.com (AMZN) up 0.8%... T-Mobile (TMUS) up 0.5%... Starbucks (SBUX) up 0.3%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: A10 Networks (ATEN) down 11.5%... Proofpoint (PFPT) down 7.5%... Federal Investors (FII) down 7.3%... Intel (INTC) down 7.1%... BioTelemetry (BEAT) down 7.0%... Briggs&Stratton (BGG) down 6.0%... SkyWest (SKYW) down 5.0%... Seattle Genetics (SGEN) down 4.5%... Vocera Communications (VCRA) down 3.6%... Illumina (ILMN) down 3.5%... World Fuel Services (INT) down 3.4%... Biomarin Pharma (BMRN) down 2.9%... Mohawk Industries (MHK) down 1.9%. Movers as of 18:30ET.

18:23 EDT Green Growth Brands says offer for Aphria has expired - Green Growth Brands announced that its formal offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Aphria Inc. has expired. The company will not be taking up any Aphria Shares as the conditions of the Offer have not been met. As announced on April 15, 2019, the company entered into an agreement with Aphria to shorten the expiry time for acceptance of the Offer from 5:00 p.m. Toronto time on May 9, 2019 to 5:00 p.m. Toronto time on April 25, 2019; the company has determined not to extend the expiry date of the Offer. All Aphria Shares that have been tendered to the Offer will be promptly returned to Aphria shareholders.

18:18 EDT Canadian agency says probe shows Facebook broke privacy law - Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner said that Facebook committed serious contraventions of Canadian privacy laws and failed to take responsibility for protecting the personal information of Canadians, an investigation has found. Despite its public acknowledgement of a "major breach of trust" in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook disputes the investigation findings of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia. The company also refuses to implement recommendations to address deficiencies, the agency said. "Facebook's refusal to act responsibly is deeply troubling given the vast amount of sensitive personal information users have entrusted to this company," says Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien. "Their privacy framework was empty, and their vague terms were so elastic that they were not meaningful for privacy protection. The stark contradiction between Facebook's public promises to mend its ways on privacy and its refusal to address the serious problems we've identified - or even acknowledge that it broke the law - is extremely concerning." Reference Link

18:15 EDT NY AG to investigate Facebook's collection of user email contact databases - New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced an investigation into Facebook's unauthorized collection of 1.5M Facebook users' email contact databases. While Facebook claims that 1.5M contact databases were directly harvested by its email password verification process for new users, the total number of people whose information was improperly obtained may be hundreds of millions. "It is time Facebook is held accountable for how it handles consumers' personal information," said Attorney General Letitia James. "Facebook has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of respect for consumers' information while at the same time profiting from mining that data. Facebook's announcement that it harvested 1.5 million users' email address books, potentially gaining access to contact information for hundreds of millions of individual consumers without their knowledge, is the latest demonstration that Facebook does not take seriously its role in protecting our personal information."

18:03 EDT Ford says improving metrics that Moody's considers in its rating review

17:55 EDT Amazon.com says will spend $800M in Q2 to move to one-day Prime delivery - Says: Need to build out one-day capacity... Seeing good advertising growth in North America and Internationally... Investing meaningfully in digital video... Seeing good order trends month to date. Comments from company's Q1 earnings conference call.

17:48 EDT Ford CFO says Q1 market share declined to 5.9% from 6.5% - Says EBIT and EBIT margin improved for the first time in 6 quarters. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

17:35 EDT Ford backs long-term revenue growth target view exceeding global GDP - Backs FY19 long-term adjusted EBIT margin at over 8% vs. 4.4% in FY18, cash conversion at over 65% vs. 40% in FY18, and adjusted Debt to EBITDA at less than 2.5-times vs. 3.0-times in FY18. Outlook coming from Ford's investor presentation slides accompanying Q1 earnings. Reference Link

17:29 EDT Gannett still urges holders to vote 'FOR ALL' of its director nominees - Gannett issued a statement regarding the revised slate of three highly conflicted director candidates now put forth by MNG Enterprises, Inc. for election to Gannett's board in connection with Gannett's 2019 annual meeting of shareholders scheduled to be held on May 16, 2019: "The number of candidates put forth by MNG does not change the fact that each of MNG's director nominees has irreconcilable conflicts of interest (given each nominee's close affiliations with MNG and/or its majority shareholder, Alden Global Capital) and cannot be expected to act in the best interests of all Gannett shareholders. Furthermore, all three of the candidates now put forth by MNG are on the board of Fred's, Inc., which has seen a 92% share price decline since Alden invested in December 2016." Gannett added, "The Gannett board of directors unanimously recommends that shareholders vote "FOR ALL" of the company's actively engaged, highly experienced and independent director nominees on the WHITE proxy card today."

17:22 EDT Merck provides update on Phase 3 KEYNOTE-062 trial - Merck announced topline findings from the final analysis of the pivotal Phase 3 KEYNOTE-062 trial evaluating KEYTRUDA, Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. In the monotherapy arm of the study, KEYTRUDA met a primary endpoint by demonstrating noninferiority to chemotherapy, the current standard of care, for overall survival in the entire intention-to-treat population of patients whose tumors expressed PD-L1. In the combination arm of KEYNOTE-062, KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy was not found to be superior for OS or progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy alone. The safety profile of KEYTRUDA was consistent with that previously observed in gastric cancer. Results will be presented during an oral session at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago on June 2, and will be discussed with regulatory authorities.

17:17 EDT Starbucks says 'well-positioned' for long-term growth in China - Sees 6,000 China stores in fiscal 2022. Says expanding China delivery to 3,000 stores by the end of fiscal 2019. Says "very pleased" with continued success in China. Says plans to bring mobile order and mobile pay to China by the end of the year. Says "well-positioned" for long-term growth in China.

17:13 EDT Lockheed Martin awarded $723.55M Army contract modification - Lockheed Martinhas been awarded a $723.55M modification to a domestic and foreign military sales contract to procure a variety of Hellfire II missile variants. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, with an estimated completion date of September 30, 2022. FY17, FY18 and FY19 other procurement, Army funds in the amount of $723.55M were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command is the contracting activity.

17:10 EDT Agnico Eagle Q1 payable gold production of 398,217 oz versus 389,278 oz in 1Q18 - In the first quarter of 2019, solid operational performance continued at the company's mines, which led to payable gold production of 398,217 ounces, compared to 389,278 ounces in the first quarter of 2018.

17:06 EDT Starbucks says expanded retail in Q2 with Nestle deal - Starbucks (SBUX) says Q2 "another solid quarter." Says sustained "positive" sales momentum in the U.S. in Q2. Says maintaining pace of 7% store growth globally. Says expanded retail in Q2 with Nestle (NSRGY) deal. Comments taken from Q2 earnings conference call.

17:01 EDT Parker-Hannifin raises quarterly dividend 16% to 88c from 76c per share - The dividend is payable June 7 to shareholders of record as of May 10.

16:55 EDT Allegiant says IBT dispatchers vote to ratify first CBA with the company - Allegiant announced that dispatchers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have voted to ratify their first collective bargaining agreement with the company. "We applaud the efforts of all who came to the negotiating table to craft this agreement," said Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., Allegiant chairman and chief executive officer. "This is an excellent example of all parties collaborating effectively and with great dedication, resulting in a contract that supports our team members, keeps us competitive across the industry and enables company goals." The contract is effective on May 1, 2019 for a five-year term. Allegiant currently employs 34 flight dispatchers.

16:51 EDT Ribbon Communications, Metaswitch reach agreement resolving lawsuits - Ribbon Communications announced that Ribbon, Metaswitch Networks and Metaswitch Networks Ltd. have agreed to a mediation agreement that resolves the six previously disclosed lawsuits between Ribbon and Metaswitch. Ribbon and Metaswitch will be memorializing the mediation agreement in final settlement documents. Pursuant to the terms of the mediation agreement, Metaswitch has agreed to pay Ribbon an aggregate amount of $63M, which includes cash payments of $37.5M during the second quarter of 2019 and $25.5M payable in three installments annually, beginning in 2020, and such installment payments by Metaswitch will accrue interest at a rate of four percent per year. Ribbon and Metaswitch have also agreed to global cross-license all of their respective patents.

16:48 EDT Ford up 8.5% at $10.20/shr after Q1 earnings beat

16:46 EDT Ford CFO: Q1 EBIT to be strongest of year, in position for 2019 to exceed 2018 - Ford CFO Bob Shanks stated: "This quarter was a really good start for the year. We expect first quarter EBIT to be the strongest of the year due to seasonal factors and major product launches ahead. It does, however, put us on track to deliver better company results in 2019 than last year."

16:44 EDT Bonanza Creek sees Q1 estimated sales volumes increased 17% sequentially - Bonanza Creek Energy issued preliminary first quarter 2019 results, provided an operations update: Highlights include: First quarter 2019 estimated sales volumes increased 17% sequentially to 20.7 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, with oil representing 65% of total. First quarter 2019 estimated lease operating expenses decreased 11% to $2.91/boe, compared to $3.27/boe for Wattenberg in the fourth quarter 2018. For the full year 2019, the company is lowering LOE guidance to $2.75 - $3.25/boe from $3.00 - $3.50/boe to reflect ongoing focus on cost control. For the full year 2019, the company is setting cash general and administrative expense guidance to $3.70 - $4.20/boe, a significant improvement compared to 2018.First quarter 2019 estimated RMI operating expenses equaled $1.24/boe, in line with company expectations . The company exited the first quarter 2019 with over $315 million in liquidity and net debt of approximately $35M. Construction of the company's new oil gathering line to Riverside Terminal is underway and, as reflected in our annual guidance, is expected to lower corresponding oil differentials in the second half of 2019 by $1.25 - $1.50.

16:43 EDT Ford reports Q1 North America revenue $25.4B, up $0.6B from last year - Reports Q1 South America revenue $0.9B, down $0.4B from last year. Reports Q1 Europe revenue $7.6B, down $1.3B from last year. Reports Q1 MEA revenue $0.6B, flat from last year. Reports Q1 APAC revenue $1.8B, down $0.3B from last year.

16:40 EDT CrossAmerica maintains quarterly distribution, updates impact of FASB accounting - CrossAmerica Partners announced that the Board of Directors of its general partner has approved a quarterly distribution of $0.5250 per unit attributable to the first quarter of 2019. The distribution attributable to the first quarter is payable on May 13, 2019 to all unitholders of record on May 6. Since we are not restating prior periods as part of adopting this guidance, the results in 2019 will not be directly comparable to our results for periods before 2019. Specifically, payments on these sale-leaseback obligations were characterized as principal and interest expense in periods prior to 2019. Starting in 2019, these payments will be characterized as rent expense and thus will reduce gross profit from the wholesale segment, operating income, income before income taxes, and net income relative to the results reported for periods prior to 2019.

16:36 EDT Covanta still sees 2019 adjusted EBITDA $440M-$465M - Sees 2019 free cash flow $120M-$145M.

16:35 EDT Mattel reports Q1 adjusted gross margin 38%, up 670 bps

16:35 EDT Twinlab appoints Carla Goffstein CFO - Twinlab Consolidated Holdings promoted senior VP of Finance, Carla Goffstein to CFO. For the past seven months she has been serving as the company's interim CFO, following Al Gever's term.

16:32 EDT Saint Joe Co. executed lease for new office in Panama City Beach, FL - The St. Joe Company announces an executed lease with Capital City Bank Group for a new banking office to be built on the corner of Panama City Beach Parkway and North Glades Trail in Panama City Beach, Florida. This will be its first full-service banking location in Bay County. Construction began this spring with plans calling for the bank to be open to customers in 2020.

16:27 EDT Vermilion Energy sees 2019 production 101,000-106,000 Boe/d - Sees 2019 CapEx $530M.

16:25 EDT ProsHoldings reports Q1 adjusted EBITDA ($4.6M) vs. ($6.7M) last year - Reports Q1 subscription margin of 71%, up more than 750 basis points year-over-year.

16:20 EDT Mattel up 13% to $13.90 after Q1 results beat estimates

16:14 EDT Mattel CEO says 'this was another strong quarter' - Ynon Kreiz, Chairman and CEO, Mattel said: "This was another strong quarter, demonstrating meaningful progress in the execution of our strategy, a significant improvement in profitability and a solid performance in our topline. The positive momentum exiting 2018 has continued and is reflected in our operating results. While we are in a multi-year turnaround, we remain on-track to achieve our goals to restore profitability and regain topline growth in the short-to-mid-term and capture the full value from our IP in the mid-to-long term. I continue to be inspired by the commitment and capabilities of our organization as we build shareholder value and transform Mattel into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company." Joseph Euteneuer, CFO, Mattel said: "This represents the third consecutive quarter of improvement in our key profitability metrics, including Gross Margin, Operating Income, EBITDA and EPS. We have achieved $610 million of run-rate savings from our Structural Simplification program and expect to exceed our goal of $650 million exiting 2019. We have begun implementing our Capital Light model and look forward to starting to realize additional savings in 2020."

16:13 EDT Avnet CEO says Q3 saw 'continued strength in Americas, EMEA' - CEO Bill Amelio says: "We saw continued strength in our Americas and EMEA regions and solid performance in the higher margin interconnect and passives segment. Overall, we improved operating income and earnings per share and expanded our operating margins compared to a year ago. These results demonstrate the progress of our transformation and the value our unique ecosystem is delivering to our customers. With continued increases in our solutions pipeline and strong execution momentum, we are well positioned to achieve our long-term growth targets and deliver sustained shareholder returns."

16:12 EDT Starbucks reports rewards loyalty program in U.S. up 13% to 16.8M users - Starbucks says its rewards loyalty program grew to 16.8M active members in the U.S., up 13% year-over-year, in Q2.

16:11 EDT Agree Realty raises quarterly dividend 2.7% to 57c per share - The dividend is payable July 12 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 28.

16:10 EDT Amazon.com reports Q1 AWS net sales $7.7B vs. $5.44B last year - Reports Q1 AWS operating income $2.22B vs. $1.4B a year ago.

16:10 EDT Yuma Energy trading resumes

16:09 EDT Intel reports Q1 DCG revenue down 6% to $4.9B, CCG revenue up 4% to $8.6B - In the first quarter, Intel achieved 4% growth in the PC-centric business while data-centric revenue declined 5%. The PC-centric business, or CCG, was up 4% in the first quarter due to a strong mix of Intel's higher performance products and strength in gaming, large commercial and modem. Intel's first high-volume 10nm processor, code-named Ice Lake, remains on track to be in volume systems on retail shelves for the 2019 holiday selling season. Collectively, Intel's data-centric businesses declined 5% YoY in the first quarter. In the Data Center Group, or DCG, the cloud segment grew 5% while the communications service provider segment declined 4% and enterprise and government revenue declined 21%.

16:07 EDT Capital One reports Q1 net interest margin 6.86%, down 10 bps - Reports efficiency ratio of 51.83%; Efficiency ratio excluding adjusting items of 51.48%.

16:05 EDT Shutterfly continues review of strategic alternatives - The company said, "Earlier this year, the Company announced that its Board of Directors had formed a Strategic Review Committee and retained Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor. The Committee continues its ongoing review of strategic alternatives and has no further update at this time. The Board has not set a timetable for the conclusion of its review of strategic alternatives. There can be no assurance that the review of strategic alternatives will result in a transaction or other outcome. "

16:04 EDT CareDx to acquire OTTR Complete Transplant Management - CareDx announced it has agreed to acquire OTTR Complete Transplant Management, a provider of organ transplant patient tracking software. OTTR provides "comprehensive solutions for transplant patient management, which are currently used in over 60 leading transplant centers in the US." CareDx will pay approximately $16.0M to acquire OTTR and intends to fund the transaction with cash on hand. For the FY19, OTTR's revenue is projected to be in the range of $6.0M-$8.0M, and its net income is expected to be breakeven. The transaction is expected to close in May.

16:00 EDT Intuit says TurboTax Online units rose 7% season-to-date through April 20 - Intuit Inc. released the second and final update for its fiscal year 2019 consumer tax offerings. Season-to-date through April 20, total TurboTax Online units increased 7 percent and overall TurboTax units increased 5 percent versus the comparable prior-year period. "We had a great season. As the category leader, we grew the category, grew our share and are proud of the experiences we delivered for our customers," said Greg Johnson, executive vice president and general manager of Intuit's TurboTax business. "We delivered our best free offering yet and made significant progress in our effort to transform the assisted category. We've generated strong momentum heading into next year," said Johnson. "We improved the experience for customers with simple returns by providing year-over-year data transfer for no charge and extending state filings for free the entire season," said Michelle Clatterbuck, Intuit's chief financial officer. "We now expect full-year fiscal 2019 Consumer Group revenue growth of approximately 10 percent, at the high end of our previous guidance range of 9 to 10 percent. We look forward to sharing our full company fiscal third quarter results when we report earnings in May."

15:50 EDT Agco raises quarterly dividend to 16c per share from 15c - Agco announced that it has increased the company's quarterly dividend to 16c per outstanding share, up 1c from 15c per outstanding share paid last quarter. Payment will be made on June 14, 2019 to all stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 15, 2019.

15:20 EDT GM adds second shift, over 400 hourly jobs to Kentucky assembly plant - General Motors said in a newsroom release that it "is adding a second shift and more than 400 hourly jobs at its Bowling Green, Kentucky Assembly plant to support production of the Next Generation Corvette, which will be revealed on July 18." The addition of the second shift will increase the plant's workforce to more than 1,300. Reference Link

14:47 EDT Glencore says being investigated by CFTC over 'corrupt practices' - Glencore said it has been informed by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission that the CFTC is investigating whether Glencore and its subsidiaries may have violated certain provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and/or CFTC Regulations through "corrupt practices" in connection with commodities. Glencore understands that the CFTC's investigations are at an early stage and have a similar scope in terms of subject matter as the current ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Glencore said it will cooperate with the CFTC. Reference Link

14:22 EDT Yuma Energy trading halted, news pending

13:21 EDT Zoom, Slack announce new partnership - Zoom and Slack have announced a new partnership, building "on the success" of the current Zoom integration for Slack, the latter said in a statement. In a blog post, Slack added that, "We've developed a joint roadmap to make meetings with your teams less of a hassle. Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield and Zoom CEO Eric Yuan shared the stage at Slack's Frontiers conference to lay out what's ahead. Some features have already been released, and some brand new ones are arriving later this year - [such as] hello, Zoom Phone -, which means you'll spend less time on meeting logistics and more time on the important business of decision-making and problem-solving. With the next version of the Zoom app for Slack, users will gain more context into team meetings and discussions. You can already launch a Zoom Meeting from Slack-just type/zoom. Soon you'll not only be able to start or join a meeting but you'll also see meeting details and who's in the call before joining-all from within Slack." Reference Link

13:06 EDT Southwest continues to expect 'solid' margins in 2019

13:02 EDT Air Products to supply Posco's cathode material manufacturing site in Gwangyang - Air Products (APD) announced it has been awarded the on-site oxygen and nitrogen supply for POSCO Chemical's new cathode material manufacturing complex being built in Gwangyang, South Korea. POSCO Chemical is an affiliate of POSCO Group (PKX). Air Products has been supplying pipeline oxygen to POSCO Chemical's existing site in Gumi for producing cathode materials used in secondary batteries. To support POSCO Chemical's new production line, Air Products will build, own and operate two air separation units, which are scheduled to come on-stream in 2020.

12:58 EDT Veritex CFO Terry Earley buys almost 7K shares of company stock - Veritex CFO Terry Earley disclosed in a filing that he had purchased 6,800 shares of company stock at an average price of $25.88 per share on April 25, for a total transaction value of $176,013.

12:56 EDT Southwest says seeing strong demand for Hawaii flights - Says starting to raise Hawaii fares. Says continues to generate strong cash flow and return to shareholders.

12:49 EDT Southwest says seeing 'very strong' demand in booking - Says impact of government shutdown was approx. $60M. Says grounding of MAX fleet was a slight benefit to Q1 RASM. Says seeing leisure demand and yield strength in Q2. Says business travel demand continued to be strong. Says revenue management capabilities continue to perform well. Says Rapid Rewards program is continuing to grow double-digits. Says seeing "tremendous strength" across every metric of Rapid Rewards. Says lot of runway for continued growth for Rapid Rewards. Says will continue to invest in direct-to-consumer Southwest platforms.

12:36 EDT Noble Midstream increases cash distribution to 61.32c per unit - Noble Midstream Partners announced that the board of directors of its general partner, Noble Midstream GP LLC, declared a cash distribution of 61.32c per unit for the first quarter 2019, a 20% increase compared to the prior year quarter and a 4.7% increase sequentially. The first quarter 2019 distribution will be payable on May 13 to unitholders of record as of May 6.

12:18 EDT JPMorgan's Tusa says 'no way' 3M can be broken up - JPMorgan analyst Stephen Tusa is speaking on CNBC.

12:15 EDT JPMorgan's Tusa says 3M should trade at discount to Honeywell - JPMorgan analyst Stephen Tusa is speaking on CNBC.

12:07 EDT Polygon discloses 7.97% stake in Nightstar, sends letters to board - Polygon Global Partners disclosed a 7.97% stake in Nightstar Therapeutics (NITE) in a filing that allows for activism. On April 17, UK Investment Manager, on behalf of itself and in its capacity as investment advisor to clients and accounts, including Polygon, sent a letter to Nightstar;s requesting that the company reset its timeline for the shareholders' ability to vote on the proposed acquisition by Biogen (BIIB) so that the voting record time is set for a date no earlier than May 3. On April 24, 2019, the noard sent a response to UK Investment Manager. Also on April 24, UK Investment Manager responded to the company with another letter to the board, reaffirming certain points and seeking confirmations from the board regarding the transaction and its timeline. The letter stated in part, "First, we read your letter as a commitment of the Board of Directors - having taken cognisance of our specific concerns - in the event that any material information is contained in the updated six-month data in X-linked retinitis pigmentosa to be presented by Dr. Robert Maclaren at the ARVO conference at 11:45 a.m. (New York time) on April 29, 2019 (or otherwise in advance of the shareholder meetings set for May 8, 2019), to procure an adjournment, postponement or reconvention of such meetings to ensure that shareholders and ADS holders are given sufficient time to assess such information before voting. Implicit in your response is an acknowledgment that the existing schedule would not give sufficient time in such circumstances. If we have read your letter incorrectly in these respects, please let us know."

12:00 EDT California Resources falls -13.4% - California Resources is down -13.4%, or -$3.52 to $22.76.

12:00 EDT Celestica falls -16.7% - Celestica is down -16.7%, or -$1.44 to $7.17.

12:00 EDT Oil States rises 12.4% - Oil States is up 12.4%, or $2.28 to $20.70.

11:26 EDT Celadon Group announces resolutions of DOJ, SEC investigations - Celadon Group announced that it has reached resolutions with the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to previously disclosed investigations. The investigations related to conduct that occurred prior to the hiring of the company's current CEO, CFO, and Chief Accounting Officer, the company said. CEO Paul Svindland, commented: "The settlements with DOJ and SEC mark an important milestone. We have now settled the governmental investigations and other legal proceedings related to the events that arose under prior management. We appreciate the government's recognition of the significant changes we have made, our ongoing commitment to legal and regulatory compliance, and our significant cooperation in the investigations. With these legal issues resolved, we will focus on continuing to strengthen our corporate controls and procedures and pursuing a long-term capital structure and the operational turnaround of our core, asset-based truckload transportation business." The company has agreed over the course of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement term to pay restitution in the amount of $42,245,302 and related administration expenses. The company also said will receive credit toward the restitution amount for amounts paid directly to shareholders pursuant to the company's prior settlement of civil shareholder class action litigation. The company expects such amount to range between $3.5M-$3.75M, depending on administrative costs, leaving an approximately $38.5M expected balance of the restitution amount.

11:06 EDT SEC charges Celadon Group with accounting fraud - The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Celadon Group Inc. with an accounting fraud that allowed the truckload freight company to avoid disclosing substantial losses and misrepresent its financial condition. In a complaint filed in federal court in Indianapolis, the SEC charged that between mid-2016 and April 2017, Celadon avoided recognizing at least $20M in impairment charges and losses - almost two-thirds of its 2016 pre-tax income - by selling and buying used trucks at inflated prices from third parties. According to the complaint, as a result of the alleged scheme, Celadon overstated its pre-tax and net income and earnings per share in its annual report for the period ending June 30, 2016, and in its subsequent public filings for the first two fiscal quarters of 2017. The SEC's complaint charges Celadon with fraud and with reporting, books and records, and internal control violations. Celadon admitted to those violations and agreed to a permanent injunction and to remediate the material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting. Celadon has also agreed to pay $7M in disgorgement, which will be deemed satisfied by Celadon's payment of restitution in an action announced today by the Department of Justice. The settlement is subject to court approval. Reference Link

10:49 EDT Comcast CEO says 'exploring' launch of NBC News-Sky network this year - Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said earlier on the company's Q1 earnings conference call that the company is "exploring" the launch of a global news channel co-branded with NBC and Sky by the end of 2019. Roberts commented that "We look at it as a real opportunity. Given all the content we have and the real strengths we have, we look at this as a way to grow our company and empower our company for decades to come."

10:42 EDT Cleveland-Cliffs sees long-term copper structural deficit remaining in 2028 - Guidance provided in Q1 earnings presentation slides.

10:35 EDT Freeport McMoRan CEO says company will maintain dividend - Freeport McMoRan CEO Richard Adkerson said the company will maintain its dividend for the time being but the company looks forward to being able to increase it.

10:31 EDT Freeport McMoRan CEO says he 'feels good' about demand for copper

10:26 EDT Magellan Midstream increases quarterly cash distribution to $1.005 - The board of directors of Magellan Midstream Partners has increased the partnership's quarterly cash distribution to $1.005 per unit for the period Jan. 1 through March 31. The first-quarter 2019 distribution is 7% higher than the first-quarter 2018 distribution of 93.75c per unit and represents a 1% increase over the fourth-quarter 2018 distribution of 99.75c. The new distribution will be paid May 15 to unitholders of record at the close of business on May 8.

10:17 EDT Amgen to pay $24.75M in settlement over patient assistance programs - Amgen announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with the federal government to resolve civil claims relating to certain financial donations made by the company to certain independent charity patient assistance foundations prior to 2017. Under the agreement, Amgen will pay $24.75M to the government to resolve these claims. "Amgen is among a number of companies that previously disclosed receiving subpoenas in connection with a government inquiry related to organizations that provide financial assistance to Medicare patients. The conduct covered by Amgen's settlement involves allegations by the government that Amgen's donations to independent charitable organizations that provide patients with financial assistance to access their medicines did not comply with federal law. Amgen does not agree with the government's view of the relevant facts or that its conduct was inappropriate; accordingly, the settlement does not contain or constitute an admission of liability. As part of the settlement, Amgen has also entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Corporate Integrity Agreement sets certain requirements for Amgen, most of which have already been incorporated into our existing compliance program," the company said.

10:11 EDT Zayo Group drops sharply, down 10% in early trading

10:00 EDT BBVA Banco Frances falls -13.3% - BBVA Banco Frances is down -13.3%, or -$1.02 to $6.65.

10:00 EDT MarineMax falls -15.4% - MarineMax is down -15.4%, or -$3.04 to $16.77.

10:00 EDT Aspen Aerogels rises 9.5% - Aspen Aerogels is up 9.5%, or 30c to $3.46.

09:58 EDT AbbVie says 'feels very good' about progress with gross margin - Says: Sees FY adjusted gross margin approaching 83%... Skyrizi has multi-billion dollar peak potential... Expects Skyrizi to ramp in very significant way... Pretty comfortable with how biosimilars are sorting themselves out... Comfortable with Humira erosion.

09:51 EDT Cleveland-Cliffs CEO says 'not going to talk about 2nd HBI plant' until 1st runs - Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said he's not going to talk about a second HBI plant until the first HBI plant is up and running. Goncalves said a better use of his capital, and his primary focus, is to buy back stock. Another better use for capital would be to pay down debt, but notes a better use would be to buy back stock.

09:47 EDT Spirit Airlines falls -12.3% - Spirit Airlines is down -12.3%, or -$7.20 to $51.10.

09:47 EDT Shutterstock falls -15.1% - Shutterstock is down -15.1%, or -$6.92 to $38.85.

09:47 EDT Boston Beer rises 8.3% - Boston Beer is up 8.3%, or $22.96 to $299.39.

09:44 EDT Cleveland-Cliffs said world shortage of iron ore is 'new normal' - Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said a world shortage of iron ore is the "new normal" and welcomed the conference call listeners to the new normal. Goncalves noted that Brazil spill caused a "radical change" in the iron ore market.

09:42 EDT Cleveland-Cliffs CEO says Vale is affected most by Atlantic pellet premium

09:38 EDT Spirit Airlines says macro trends 'look strong' for Q2 - Says pricing softness in March "largely transitory."

09:37 EDT Spirit Airlines sees FY19 capacity growth 15% - Sees capacity up 13% for Q2, 14% for Q3, 14%-16% for Q4. Comments from Q1 earnings conference call.

09:34 EDT Cleveland-Cliffs says fear of supply glut is over-exaggerated

09:33 EDT Cleveland-Cliffs CEO says Brazil is 'totally unreliable' as iron ore supplier - Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said we are entering a "multi-year shortage" of iron ore and pellets.

09:31 EDT Cleveland-Cliffs CEO says imported steel from China 'will be treated as poison' - Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said, the market is adapting to impact the cheaters and as main street begins to understand how badly China's steel producers are polluting the world, Chinese imported steel "will be treated as poison!"

09:28 EDT First Financial Northwest increases quarterly dividend 12.5% to 9c per share - First Financial Northwest announced that its board has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 9c per share on the company's outstanding common stock, an increase of 12.5% compared to the 8c per share dividend paid in the previous four quarters. The cash dividend will be payable on June 21 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 7.

09:22 EDT AbbVie says 'extremely pleased' with progress of R&D program

09:21 EDT Odyssey Marine provides update on Mexican phosphate project - Odyssey Marine Exploration provided an update on subsidiary Exploraciones Oceanicas's phosphate project in Mexico and the steps being taken to defend shareholder interests in the development of the project. "Further to its filing on January 4, 2019 of a Notice of Intent under Chapter Eleven of the North American Free Trade Agreement, in early April 2019 Odyssey management and representatives of the ExO project participated in face to face consultations in Mexico City with representatives of the Mexican Secretaria de Economia and SEMARNAT. Consultations are mandated under NAFTA to promote amicable resolution of notified claims. The meeting provided Odyssey an opportunity to review its careful environmental due diligence, the benefits of the phosphate project for Mexico and its concerns about governmental decision-making relating to the project to date. The NAFTA process permits continued dialogue notwithstanding full engagement in the dispute resolution process. Odyssey will take advantage of this opportunity to continue to press its case, confident that pursuit of the project is fully aligned with key Mexican Government policy objectives. Although Odyssey was pleased with the tenor and direction of these initial consultations, consistent with its efforts to secure the success of the project through appropriate legal action, Odyssey on April 5, 2019 filed its Notice of Arbitration under Chapter Eleven of NAFTA. NAFTA mandates that a NOA may be filed 90 days after the filing of a NOI, and following the conduct of consultations. Through this most recent filing, Odyssey formally has initiated the arbitration process under Chapter Eleven of the NAFTA. Odyssey provided a public version of the NOA to the Mexican Government which will be posted on Mexico's public access website. Should the claim proceed to a full hearing on the merits, Odyssey is confident that its position will prevail and that the company and ExO will be granted substantial damages, equivalent to the fully realized value of the project."

09:17 EDT W.R. Grace says China coatings market has stabilized - Says materials technologies team continues to execute. Says comfortable about where the company is in search for a new CFO. Says Q1 EPS was slightly above expectations due to order timing. Says confident capital allocation will deliver profitable growth. Says on track to invest $210M in facilities. Says has limited exposure to tariffs. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call,

09:12 EDT Acadia initiates Phase 3 CLARITY program with pimavanserin - ACADIA Pharmaceuticals announced the initiation of the Phase 3 CLARITY-2 study and plans to initiate the Phase 3 CLARITY-3 study in the upcoming months. These studies will evaluate the efficacy and safety of pimavanserin as adjunctive treatment in patients with major depressive disorder who have an inadequate response to standard antidepressant therapy with either a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or a serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. Pimavanserin is a selective serotonin inverse agonist preferentially targeting 5-HT2A receptors, which may play a role in depression.

09:10 EDT AbbVie says seeing strong momentum across all aspects of organization - Says: Late stage pipeline continues to deliver... Well-positioned to deliver double digit earnings growth in 2019... Making significant progress in developing pipeline. Comments from Q1 earnings conference call.

09:09 EDT IBM signs agreement with Lenovo Data Center Group - IBM (IBM) announced that it will support the customer experience of Lenovo's (LNVGY) Data Center Group with Cognitive and Blockchain-powered field service solutions in over 200 countries worldwide. The multi-year agreement continues to build on the IBM-Lenovo relationship that began in 2005. The agreement between IBM and Lenovo was signed in December 2018.

09:08 EDT 3M: Growth conditions in certain markets have been slower than expected - Comments from Q1 earnings conference call.

09:05 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - UP AFTER EARNINGS: Facebook (FB), up 9%... Microsoft (MSFT), up 5%... Comcast (CMCSA), up 2%... Southwest (LUV), up 2%... AbbVie (ABBV), up 2%...Hershey (HSY), up 3%...International Paper (IP), up 4%... Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), up 6%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: 3M (MMM), down 8%... UPS (UPS), down 3%... Xilinx (XLNX), down 10%... Rockwell Automation (ROK), down 2%... D.R. Horton (DHI), down 4%... Altria Group (MO), down 4%... Consolidated Communications (CNSL), down 27%... Masco (MAS), down 3%.

09:01 EDT Ball Corp. signs agreements for 100% renewable energy in North America by 2021 - Ball Corporation has executed two virtual power purchase agreements, one wind and one solar, for 388 MW of new renewable energy. These agreements will allow the company to address 100% of the North American electricity load utilized in its corporate, packaging and aerospace operations by the end of 2021. Together, the wind and solar developments in Oklahoma and Texas will allow Ball to reduce its global Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50%. The long-term VPPAs for the new wind and solar developments significantly expand upon Ball's previous success. With a combined annual estimated energy production of 1,200,000 MWh-equivalent to the volume of electricity used by 100,000 U.S. homes each year-these projects will contribute nearly 5,000% more renewable energy to Ball's North American electricity portfolio.

08:57 EDT 3M sees FY19 Health Care organic local-currency sales growth 2%-4% - Sees FY19 Safety & Industrial organic local-currency sales down 1% to up 2%; Transportation & Electronics down 3% to flat; Consumer up 1%-3%.

08:52 EDT Aspen Group announces accreditation for Family Nurse Practitioner degree - Aspen Group announced the California Board of Registered Nursing Committee on Education voted earlier this month to continue the approval of United States University's MSN Family Nurse Practitioner degree program for a period of five years. The California Board of Registered Nursing is a state governmental agency established to protect the public by the implementation and enforcement of the California Nursing Practice Act.

08:44 EDT D.R. Horton expects Forestar Group to remain profitable - D.R. Horton (DHI) management expects Forestar (FOR) to remain profitable and achieve pre-tax gross margins of approximately 10% by FY20.

08:41 EDT Navios Maritime Partners announces 1:15 reverse split, effective May 21 - Navios Maritime Partners announced that its Board of Directors has approved a one-for-fifteen reverse split of its common units. The reverse split will be effected before the market opens on May 21, 2019. Common units will begin trading on May 21 on a split-adjusted basis on the New York Stock Exchange, under the same ticker symbol, NMM. Following the reverse split, the company expects to have approximately 11.1 million common units issued and outstanding.

08:40 EDT Marathon Patent Group regains compliance with Nasdaq - Marathon Patent Group announced that it received formal notification from Nasdaq that the company has regained compliance with Listing Rule 5450, which requires the company's common stock to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share. The Nasdaq staff made this determination of compliance after the closing bid price of the company's common stock was at $1.00 per share or greater for the prior 10 consecutive business days.

08:39 EDT Shell Midstream increases quarterly distribution 3.75% to 41.5c per unit - Shell Midstream announced that the board of directors of its general partner declared a cash distribution of 41.5c per limited partner unit for Q1. This represents an increase of 3.75% over the previous quarterly distribution of 40c per unit and a 19.3% increase over the distribution paid with respect to the Q1 of 2018. The distribution will be paid May 15 to unitholders of record as of May 6.

08:36 EDT Consolidated Water reports water desalination project advances in Mexico - Consolidated Water reported that the Congress of the State of Baja California, Mexico has renewed key authorizations required for the company's planned Rosarito Beach desalination plant. The plant is expected to be the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The project involves the construction of seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant with a capacity of 100 million gallons per day, and to be implemented in two phases of 50 million gallons each. Consolidated Water has secured a minority ownership in the company that will own the facility. It will also own 50% of the company that will operate the plant and pipeline during the term provided in the public-private partnership agreement between Consolidated Water and certain State entities. The congressional session renewed authorizations for various payment trusts, guaranties and bank credit lines to be established for the project by the State entities. The company had secured a bank credit facility for up to $200M to be used for construction and project development. This represents a substantial portion of the financing required to complete the first phase, and the company expects the remaining to follow according to schedule.

08:34 EDT Apple announces recall of AC wall plug adapters designed for travel - Apple announced a voluntary recall of AC wall plug adapters designed for use primarily in Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom. In very rare cases, affected Apple three-prong wall plug adapters may break and create a risk of electrical shock if touched. These wall plug adapters shipped with Mac and certain iOS devices between 2003 and 2010 and were also included in the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit. Apple is aware of six incidents worldwide. The recall does not affect any Apple USB power adapters.

08:30 EDT Southwest sees FY19 CapEx $1.9B-$2B - Based on aircraft commitments as of March 31, 2019, and assuming no prolonged grounding of the MAX aircraft that could impact the Company's aircraft capital spending, the Company continues to estimate its 2019 capital expenditures to be in the range of $1.9B to $2B.

08:28 EDT Southwest sees Q2 CASM ex-fuel up 10.5%-12.5% - The company said, "Based on current cost trends and flight schedule adjustments through August 5th, the Company estimates second quarter 2019 CASM, excluding fuel and oil expense and profitsharing expense, to increase in the 10.5 to 12.5 percent range, compared with second quarter 2018. The year-over-year increase is driven largely by the Company's underutilization of its fleet in second quarter 2019 due to the delay in starting service to Hawaii, one-time Hawaii start-up costs, and flight cancellations due to the MAX groundings. The Company's operating costs are largely fixed once flight schedules are published; therefore, the volume of flight cancellations in second quarter 2019 due to the MAX groundings is expected to result in an estimated five-point year-over-year headwind to second quarter 2019 CASM, excluding fuel and oil expense and profitsharing expense. Other primary drivers of the second quarter 2019 estimated unit cost increase are higher airport costs; higher depreciation and ownership costs; the timing of maintenance events and technology investments; and shifting of expenses from first quarter into second quarter 2019."

08:25 EDT Southwest expects Q2 RASM to increase 5.5%-7.5% - The company said, "Presently, leisure passenger booking and yield trends have improved since first quarter, and close-in bookings and corporate travel remain strong. Based on current bookings and revenue trends, the Company expects second quarter 2019 RASM to increase in the 5.5 to 7.5 percent range, compared with second quarter 2018. The Company's outlook for second quarter 2019 includes an estimated one-point year-over-year benefit from its revenue management enhancements implemented in 2018, as well as an estimated three-point year-over-year tailwind-approximately one point is related to the Company's second quarter 2018 suboptimal schedule from the 2017 accelerated retirement of its 737-300 fleet, and approximately two points are due to the revenue effects from the Flight 1380 accident in April 2018. Further, second quarter 2019 year-over-year RASM is expected to benefit by approximately one-half point due to the timing shift of Easter to second quarter 2019, and by approximately one point due to lower second quarter 2019 capacity as a result of the MAX groundings."

08:18 EDT Mission Advisors urges Texas Pacific Land shareholders to vote for Donald Cook - Mission Advisors, the second largest shareholder of Texas Pacific Land Trust, issued an open letter to TPL shareholders in connection with the company's upcoming 2019 Special Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled for May 22, 2019. The letter read, in part, "We urge you to elect Four-Star General Donald G. Cook, as Trustee to lead Texas Pacific Land Trust. Complete, sign and return the BLUE proxy card, or by voting online by following the instructions at www.TrustTPL.com. We must avoid the rogue activist nominee, Eric Oliver, of dissidents Horizon Kinetics/Softvest/ART-GFT et al. Mr. Oliver is naive and reckless. His incompetent recommendations and schemes will undermine the value of everyone's TPL holdings. Our investment is at grave risk. Texas Pacific Land Trust has been very good to its shareholders. TPL's Investor Presentation, April 2019 speaks for itself. We are the second largest shareholder, and an energy investor for over 40 years. As an investment, TPL is unparalleled. It continues to give us remarkable and valuable reasons to believe the future of TPL is bright indeed. Since its formation in 1888, and throughout the years under the leadership of Mr. Maurice Meyer, TPL continues to be a jewel in our portfolios, in the State of Texas and the energy business. We must elect Four-Star General Donald G. Cook as trustee to lead TPL... The dissident group, spearheaded by Horizon Kinetic/Softvest/ART-GFT Family Partners, seeks to force its way into the seat on the board, vacated by the death of Mr. Meyer. Their rogue nominee, Eric Oliver, has demonstrated to me with his offbeat suggestions and his pressuring of the trustees that he is not qualified for the position. Nonetheless he is presently on a self-promoting marketing campaign, attempting to convince us, the shareholders, to choose him as trustee. Eric Oliver is a big mistake. As a long term holder of TPL shares, and the second largest shareholder (behind the activist group), I support Texas Pacific Land Trust's management. I am an experienced MLP investor as well and know TPL was right to rebuff all of Mr. Oliver's naive recommendations concerning MLPs. We all want TPL to continue doing what they have been doing and to do so well into the future. This dissident consortium wants to interrupt the momentum. They want to change the proven, steady momentum that has made us outstanding returns. To what aim? Changing a long-proven successful business like TPL, without any clear reason - because there are none - is reckless. Worse yet, the dissidents and its nominee suggest they want to "fix" TPL and thereby add to its success. In our view, the dissident's complaints are lacking perspective and reason. TPL is doing just fine...So, I ask again that shareholders read the investor presentation, call management or even me, if you like, to discuss any of the material at your disposal. It is in my best interest to capture all of the upside that shareholders are sure to experience if the past excellent management and strategy continues into the future. I want all shareholders to have the best returns possible. Eric Oliver is wrong for TPL. Support Texas Pacific Land Trust. Vote with Management. Vote for Four-Star General Donald G. Cook."

08:11 EDT Hess Midstream reaffirms FY19 consolidated adjusted EBITDA view $550M-$575M - Hess Midstream is targeting long-term 15% annual distribution growth per unit with at least a 1.1x distribution coverage ratio. Hess Midstream anticipates a distribution coverage ratio closer to its 1.1x long-term target through the third quarter of 2019, followed by higher coverage in the fourth quarter of 2019, in line with the expected volume ramp-up of the LM4 gas processing plant.

08:06 EDT Oneok investing $100M for construction of Bakken NGL pipeline extension - Oneok plans to invest approximately $100M to construct a 75-mile natural gas liquids pipeline lateral connecting the northern portion of the Bakken NGL Pipeline with a third-party natural gas processing plant in eastern Williams County, North Dakota. The lateral is expected to be complete in 4Q20 and is supported by long-term dedicated NGL production, including a minimum volume commitment, which will provide NGLs to ONEOK's Elk Creek Pipeline. ONEOK continues discussions with producers and processors in the area for additional potential volume commitments.

08:06 EDT Twist Bioscience announces synthetic DNA biosecurity publication in Frontiers - Twist Bioscience announced a new biosecurity publication titled 'Next Steps for Access to Safe, Secure DNA Synthesis', highlighting specific steps, in part derived from successes in the cybersecurity community, that ensure DNA synthesis screening stays well ahead of emerging challenges and continues to enable responsible research advances. The publication was featured in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, an open-access, peer-reviewed publication.

08:00 EDT Hess Midstream Partners plans to expand natural gas processing capacity - Hess Midstream Partners announced plans to expand natural gas processing capacity at the Tioga Gas Plant by 150 million cubic feet per day creating a total of 400 MMcf/d processing capacity north of the Missouri river. The 150 MMcf/d Tioga expansion is expected to add residue and y-grade liquids processing capacity to the existing full fractionation and ethane extraction capability of the current plant, and product takeaway has been secured. The expansion is expected to be in service in mid-2021 and cost approximately $150M gross, or $30M net to Hess Midstream.

07:53 EDT Huntington Bancshares reaffirms three-year target of 4%-6% revenue growth - For 2019, sees FY19 revenue growth up 4%-7%, noninterest expense growth 2%-4%, average loan growth of 4%-6%, average deposit growth of 4%-6%, net charge-offs less than 35 bp. Sees 2019-2021 long-term financial goals: revenue growth 4%-6%, noninterest expense growth with positive operating leverage, efficiency ratio 53%-56%, ROTCE 17%-20% and net charge-offs 35bp-55bp. Comments taken from slides to be presented on Q1 earnings conference call.

07:47 EDT AbbVie CEO says 'we are off to another excellent start' - "We are off to another excellent start, including first quarter sales and earnings above expectations," said Richard Gonzalez, chairman and CEO, AbbVie. "Additionally, we have made tremendous progress advancing our pipeline, including the recent approval of SKYRIZI, which has the potential to set a new standard of care in psoriasis and represents a significant long-term opportunity for AbbVie. We are extremely pleased with our strong performance and based on the continued business momentum, are increasing our full-year EPS guidance."

07:44 EDT Colliers International acquires affiliate in Sweden - Colliers International announced that it has acquired Colliers Sweden, adding another company-owned operation in the Nordics market to further strengthen its European platform. Colliers Sweden operates from offices in Stockholm and Goteborg and provides capital markets, leasing, corporate solutions and real estate management services to local, national and international clients.

07:42 EDT AbbVie raises FY19 outlook

07:35 EDT Navigant Consulting CEO says 'poised to deliver' 2019 cont ops. guidance targets - CEO Julie Howard said, "We are off to a great start in 2019 led by continued growth in our Energy segment and a return to growth in Healthcare consulting. Our managed services business also produced strong results including exceptional performance from our joint venture, Health System Solutions, which is driving significant value for our partner client. Our talented professionals delivered this robust first quarter performance while also maintaining focus on strengthening our culture, expanding our digital and technology-enabled capabilities, and executing against our accelerated capital return initiative. Looking forward, we see continued momentum and remain poised to deliver on our 2019 continuing operations guidance targets."

07:24 EDT Geo Group signs contract modification with ICE for Louisiana processing center - GEO Group signed a contract modification with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the reactivation of the existing company-owned, 1,000-bed South Louisiana ICE Processing Center located in Basile, Louisiana. The currently idle Center will house federal immigration detainees under an existing intergovernmental service agreement between Evangeline Parish, Louisiana and ICE. The Center will begin the intake process during Q3 and is expected to generate approximately $25M in incremental annualized revenues for GEO.

07:22 EDT Liquidity Services announces new organizational structure and appointments - Liquidity Services announced a new organizational structure led by John "JD" Daunt, appointed Executive VP and Chief Commercial Officer. Daunt has served in Liquidity Services' sales, operations and global account management leadership roles since 2014 and will now oversee revenue growth and solution delivery for all Liquidity Services marketplaces. Daunt succeeds James Rallo, President of the Capital Assets Group and Retail Supply Chain Group, and Roger Gravley in his capacity as President of GovDeals. Gravley intends to retire on May 13 and will consult with the company as a senior advisor from time to time. In support of the new organization, Liquidity Services is also promoting several team members: Jeff Rechtzigel, who has served Liquidity Services in e-commerce product management, service delivery and operations leadership roles since 2007, has been appointed VP and General Manager, Retail, and will support the expansion of the retail vertical; Steve Kranzusch, who has served in sales and business development leadership roles since 2004 in our GovDeals marketplace, has been appointed VP and General Manager, GovDeals, and will support the expansion of the public sector vertical; Elizabeth Maxted, who has served Liquidity Services in sales, client account management and business development leadership roles since 2009, has been appointed VP, Field Sales to manage external new business development and the sales performance management process; Girish Jaguste, who has served Liquidity Services in sales and account management leadership roles for the small and medium sized business clients since 2009, has been appointed Senior Director, eCommerce and Inside Sales; Scott Starcher, who has served in client account management roles since 2006 in our GovDeals marketplace, has been appointed Senior Director, Client Success to support all self-directed accounts.

07:17 EDT Masco expects decision on Cabinetry, Windows strategic review by end of June

07:15 EDT Orchard Therapeutics announces first patient dosed with OTL-103 gene therapy - Orchard Therapeutics announced that the first patient with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, or WAS, has been dosed in a open label study designed to evaluate engraftment of the cryopreserved formulation of OTL-103, its ex vivo autologous hematopoietic stem cell, or HSC, gene therapy. While the registrational trial for OTL-103 for WAS used a fresh cell formulation, Orchard plans to commercialize this and other HSC gene therapies, if approved, using a cryopreserved formulation. In total, nearly 40 patients have been treated with a cryopreserved product across the company's portfolio. The WAS cryopreserved formulation trial will enroll up to six patients, with the number of patients with successful engraftment measured at six months as the primary endpoint. This patient data will be used to supplement the company's in vitro CMC comparability work between the fresh and cryopreserved formulation.

07:13 EDT Sandy Spring Bancorp increases quarterly dividend to 30c per share - Sandy Spring Bancorp announced that the board of directors declared a quarterly common stock dividend of 30c per share payable on May 15 to shareholders of record on May 8. This dividend is a 2c per share increase over the dividend paid in Q1.

07:11 EDT Bristol-Myers says Phase 2 CheckMate -714 trial did not meet primary endpoints - The company announced topline results from the Phase 2 CheckMate -714 trial evaluating Opdivo versus Opdivo plus Yervoy in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The study did not meet its primary endpoints.

07:10 EDT Aclaris Therapeutics submits INDA to FDA for ATI-450 for treatment of RA - Aclaris Therapeutics announced that it has submitted an Investigational New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for ATI-450, an oral MK2 inhibitor, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. If the IND is allowed by the FDA, Aclaris plans to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial of ATI-450 in the second half of 2019. "We are very pleased to have this IND under review by the FDA," said Dr. Neal Walker, President & CEO of Aclaris. "We look forward to beginning the development of ATI-450 as a potential treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other potential indications driven by TNFalpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, or IL-8. We believe there is an important need to provide additional treatment options for rheumatoid arthritis to improve overall patient care." ATI-450, an investigational medicine formerly known as CDD-450, would be the first novel compound created by Confluence Discovery Technologies, Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary, to enter the clinical phase of development. Aclaris plans to initiate a Phase 1 single ascending dose study of safety, tolerance, and pharmacokinetics followed by several cohorts of multiple ascending doses. Aclaris is actively considering additional indications for clinical testing in the future

07:09 EDT Comcast reports Q1 NBCUniversal revenue down 12.5% to $8.3B - Revenue for NBCUniversal in the first quarter of 2019 decreased 12.5% to $8.3B, compared to last year's results, which included an incremental $1.6 billion of revenue generated by the broadcasts of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the NFL's Super Bowl LII at its TV businesses. Cable Networks revenue decreased 9.2% to $2.9B in the first quarter of 2019, primarily reflecting decreases in distribution and advertising revenue. Excluding $378M of revenue generated by the broadcast of the PyeongChang Olympics in the first quarter of 2018, revenue increased 3.2%. Broadcast Television revenue decreased 29.4% to $2.5B in the first quarter of 2019, primarily reflecting lower advertising revenue. Excluding $770M of revenue generated by the broadcast of the PyeongChang Olympics and $423 million of revenue generated by the broadcast of the NFL's Super Bowl LII in the first quarter of 2018, revenue increased 7.1%.

07:07 EDT Comcast reports Cable Communications customer relationships up 3.6% to 30.7M - Revenue for Cable Communications increased 4.2% to $14.3B in the first quarter of 2019, driven primarily by increases in high-speed internet and business services revenue. Total Customer Relationships increased by 300,000 to 30.7M in the first quarter of 2019. Residential customer relationships increased by 276,000 and business customer relationships increased by 25,000. At the end of the first quarter, 67.3% of residential customers received at least two Xfinity products. Total high-speed internet customer net additions were 375,000, total video customer net losses were 121,000, total voice customer net losses were 53,000 and total security and automation customer net additions were 17,000. In addition, Cable Communications added 170,000 wireless lines in the quarter, the company said.

07:06 EDT Aaron's reiterates its outlook for 2019

07:03 EDT International Paper CEO sees 'improved seasonal demand' in Q2 - "International Paper delivered solid earnings and generated strong cash from operations in the first quarter," said Mark Sutton, Chairman and CEO. "Operational performance was strong; we managed costs well and leveraged the strength and flexibility of our manufacturing system. In the first quarter, we also returned nearly $400 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Looking ahead to the second quarter, we anticipate improved seasonal demand and we are well positioned to continue generating strong cash flows in 2019."

06:57 EDT Newmont Mining sees 2019 attributable gold production 5.2M ounces

06:55 EDT Exelixis: Takeda files NDA in Japan for CABOMETYX - Exelixis announced that Takeda Pharmaceutical, its partner responsible for the clinical development and commercialization of cabozantinib in Japan, has applied to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for approval to manufacture and sell CABOMETYX as a treatment for unresectable and metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the country. As a result of the submission, Exelixis will receive a $10M milestone payment from Takeda, anticipated to be received in the second quarter.

06:49 EDT Eli Lilly facilitating withdrawal of Lartruvo after ANNOUNCE trial failure - Eli Lilly announced that the company has been working to facilitate the withdrawal of Lartruvo from the market for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma, or STS. Lilly's actions to withdraw Lartruvo from the market follow the failure of the Phase 3 ANNOUNCE clinical trial, in which Lartruvo did not improve survival for patients. Lilly is establishing a program to ensure current patients will have access to Lartruvo with limited interruption after it is withdrawn from the market. The program will be established as allowed by local country regulations. Lilly is working to ensure that patients who are currently receiving Lartruvo may, in consultation with their physician, continue their course of therapy if they have been informed of the risks of Lartruvo and the results of the ANNOUNCE study and wish to continue, subject to local laws and regulations. No new patients should receive Lartruvo outside of participation in ongoing clinical trials. Lilly also is working to establish a program to allow patients who are currently receiving Lartruvo to continue treatment with limited interruption after Lartruvo is withdrawn from the market, subject to local laws and regulations. More information regarding this program will be provided directly to healthcare professionals in the coming weeks.

06:39 EDT 3M drops 6% to $205.00 following Q1 miss, guidance cut

06:35 EDT 3M CEO says 'the first quarter was a disappointing start to the year' - "The first quarter was a disappointing start to the year for 3M," said Mike Roman, 3M CEO. "We continued to face slowing conditions in key end markets which impacted both organic growth and margins, and our operational execution also fell short of the expectations we have for ourselves. As a result, we have stepped up additional actions - including restructuring - to drive productivity, reduce costs, and increase cash flow as we manage through challenges in some of our end markets. While we take actions to manage through the near-term, we also continue to invest in growth to position 3M for the future," Roman continued. "We recently implemented a significant portfolio realignment from five to four business groups, which will enable us to better serve our customers and global markets. Moving forward, I am confident that we are making the necessary changes and focused on the right priorities to accelerate 3M into a stronger future."

06:33 EDT Nintendo says sold 16.95M Switch units in FY19 - Nintendo said: "The results for this fiscal year showed strong software sales for Nintendo Switch, which contributed to the expansion of hardware sales. In particular, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate recorded sales of 13.81 million units, while Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokemon Let's Go, Eevee! sold 10.63 million units and Super Mario Party sold 6.4 million units, making them all major worldwide hits. In addition, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 7.47 million units. Combined with steadily-growing sales of titles released during previous fiscalyears and titles released by other software publishers, the total number of million-seller titles during this fiscal year recorded 23. As a result, hardware sales for this fiscal year totaled 16.95 million units, while 118.55 million software units were sold. Hardware sales of Nintendo 3DS, eight years from launch, totaled 2.55 million units, while 13.22 million software units were sold. Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition and Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition recorded total sales of 5.95 million units."

06:32 EDT Lilis Energy reports Q1 oil production 3,530 Bop/d - Reports Q1 oil production of 3,530 Bop/d above the mid-point of Lilis guidance range of 3,400 -3,600 Bop/d, NGL production of 827 Bbls/d compared to guidance of 800-1,000 Bbls/d, Boep/d production of 6,058, 75% total production increase year-over-year, with a 52% increase in oil production. Commodity mix was 58% oil and 72% liquids.

06:28 EDT Barclays continues to target 2019 RoTE of greater than 9% - Barclays continues to target 2019 and 2020 RoTE of greater than 9% and greater than 10% respectively. The Group cost guidance for 2019 remains GBP 13.6-13.9bn. However, should the challenging income environment experienced in Q119 persist, management expects to reduce 2019 costs below GBP 13.6bn.

06:23 EDT Precision Drilling sees 2019 CapEx $169M - 2019 CapEx view includes $54M for sustaining, infrastructure and intangibles and $115M for upgrade and expansion. Expects that the $169M will be split $161M in the Contract Drilling Services segment, $6M in the Completion and Production Services segment and $2M to the Corporate segment.

06:20 EDT Bayer says 'on track' with plans to exit animal health business - The company said it is on track with its plans to exit the animal health business. Following a strategic review of exit options over the past months, the primary focus is now on a sale. However, Bayer also continues to consider all value-maximizing options. Carve-out and further preparation work is ongoing, Bayer said.

06:14 EDT Dana, Motiv announce collaboration on Ford F-550 for commercial fleet use - Dana (DAN) and Motiv Power Systems announced a collaboration to integrate Dana's Spicer Electrified eS9000r e-Axle on the Ford (F) F-550 chassis for use in commercial fleet applications. By replacing the traditional mechanical driveline with an electric motor integrated directly into the vehicle's differential housing, the e-Axle provides design flexibility for battery placement and truck body attachment. In addition to Dana's e-Axle technology, the chassis features Motiv's proprietary electric powertrain controls. The Spicer Electrified eS9000r consists of an integrated motor, transmission, and axle system, and is designed as a replacement for existing axles used in medium-duty truck and bus applications. The vehicle is designed with a range of up to 90 miles and peak power of 226 kW for grade startability of 20%. Dana's e-Axle includes a patent-pending integrated parking mechanism that eliminates the need for an external solution. Dana and Motiv are collaborating to customize a Ford F-550 Chassis with an all-electric e-Axle. The vehicle can be used for box trucks, maintenance trucks, shuttle buses and more. The customized chassis features lithium-ion batteries.

06:07 EDT Butterfield to acquire ABN AMRO Channel Islands for approximately $208M - The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ABN AMRO (Channel Islands) Limited, the Channel Islands-based banking business of ABN AMRO Bank N.V. through its wholly owned subsidiary, Butterfield Bank Limited, a company incorporated in Guernsey. The aggregate purchase price is approximately $208M, subject to certain purchase price adjustments. The transaction is anticipated to close during the third quarter, subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions. After the Closing, ABN AMRO Channel Islands business and employees will be integrated with the existing Butterfield Guernsey operations and operate under the Butterfield name.

06:03 EDT W.R. Grace and TechnipFMC collaborating in high yield cracking process - W. R. Grace (GRA) has signed an agreement with TechnipFMC (FTI) to jointly develop improved catalyst and process technology related to TechnipFMC Deep Catalytic Cracking. TDCC is a high-severity fluid catalytic cracking process licensed by TechnipFMC and designed to produce very high yields of propylene and other petrochemical feedstocks. The collaboration will leverage Grace's knowledge as supplier of FCC catalysts and light-olefins additives as well as TechnipFMC's experience in Deep Catalytic Cracking including process and mechanical know-how.

06:01 EDT SoftBank subsidiary HAPSMobile invests $125M in Alphabet's Loon - SoftBank Corp.'s (SFTBF) HAPSMobile and Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Loon have formed a long-term strategic relationship to advance the use of high altitude vehicles, such as balloons and unmanned aircraft systems, to bring connectivity to more people, places, and things worldwide, SoftBank said in a statement. As part of the new relationship and HAPSMobile's financial and investment strategy, SoftBank said HAPSMobile has made a decision to invest $125M in Loon. Loon has obtained the right to invest the same amount in HAPSMobile in the future. Furthermore, to strengthen the relationship, the companies are actively exploring commercial collaborations to accelerate the deployment of high altitude network connectivity solutions, with a focus on expanding mobile internet penetration, enabling internet of things applications, and assisting in the deployment of 5G. HAPSMobile, SoftBank's subsidiary, is a joint venture with AeroVironment (AVAV).

05:47 EDT Avon Products comments on Avon North America transaction - Avon Products commented on the announcement by New Avon, Avon North America, that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by LG Household & Health Care, or LG H&H. In March 2016 Avon's North American business was separated into a privately-held company -- New Avon -- as a result of a strategic partnership transaction between Avon Worldwide and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. Avon North America is majority-owned and managed by Cerberus. Avon Worldwide retained a minority interest in Avon North America which LG H&H will acquire as part of its transaction. Jan Zijderveld, CEO of Avon Worldwide, said "We have built a strong relationship with LG H&H and know them to be a great partner. We believe this transaction is a testament to LG's belief in the strength of Avon's brand and business model, and are excited to see the progress that Avon North America makes as part of LG H&H. At Avon Worldwide, we remain focused on executing our strategy to 'Open Up Avon.' We are operating with urgency as we renew our focus on our Representatives, reboot direct selling, simplify our operations and digitise the business. We are seeing signs that our efforts are taking hold and are confident that we are on the right path to returning to growth and driving value for our shareholders." The transaction between the separate Avon North America business and LG H&H has no impact on Avon Worldwide's current operations or strategy. Further, this transaction is unrelated to Avon Worldwide's previously announced sale of its beauty manufacturing operation in Guangzhou, China to a subsidiary of LG H&H, and the subsequent manufacturing and supply agreement, which was completed in February, 2019.

05:41 EDT UBS sees higher recurring revenues in Global Wealth Management, Asset Management - UBS provided the following outlook: "The overall pace of growth has decreased as a result of a synchronized global slowdown. Economic growth and markets are expected to continue to recover and stabilize at different speeds across regions and asset classes. We are likely to benefit from this environment as a result of our regional and business diversification. Higher invested assets are expected to lead to an increase in recurring revenues in Global Wealth Management and Asset Management, compared with Q1. Further momentum would require a sustained improvement in market activity and client sentiment across our businesses. We will continue to execute our strategy with discipline, focusing on balancing efficiency and investments for growth, to deliver on our capital return objectives and to create sustainable long-term value for our shareholders."

04:55 EDT Commerzbank announces end of merger talks with Deutsche Bank - Commerzbank (CRZBY) announced that it and Deutsche Bank (DB) decided today to discontinue their discussions concerning a combination of their businesses the companies said in a statement. "After careful analysis it became apparent that such a combination would not be in the interests of either bank's shareholders or other stakeholders," the bank said. Martin Zielke, CEO of Commerzbank, added, "It made sense to evaluate this option for domestic consolidation in Germany. However, we were always clear: we needed to be convinced that any potential combination would generate higher and more sustainable returns for shareholders and allow us to enhance our value proposition to clients. After thorough analysis, we have concluded that this transaction would not have created sufficient benefits to offset the additional execution risks, restructuring costs and capital requirements associated with such a large-scale integration. I would like to thank Christian Sewing and everyone involved for the constructive discussions over the past few weeks. We will continue our strategy, grow together with our clients and invest in our future."