Stockwinners Market Radar for April 26, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:59 EDT MarketAxess CEO: Pleased with the trends we are seeing in Europe - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, MarketAxess CEO Richard Mcvey said: Liquidity in markets has increased... ETFs are an efficient way for investors to participate in the bond market... We're pleased about the trends we see in our business, especially in Europe.

18:38 EDT Bayer Supervisory Board 'unanimously stands behind' management after vote - Bayer announced that at its annual stockholders' meeting, Bayer passed the management's proposals on the agenda items by "large majorities" on Friday evening, although only 44.5% of votes were in favor of ratifying the actions of the board of management. "However, the vote not to ratify the actions of the Board of Management does not have any legal consequences for the appointments of the Board's members," Bayer said. The Supervisory Board's actions were approved by 66.4% of votes it added. At an extraordinary meeting convened that evening, the Supervisory Board "unanimously expressed its confidence in the Board of Management and clearly approved the company's strategy once again." Werner Wenning, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said, "While we take the outcome of the vote at the Annual Stockholders' Meeting very seriously, Bayer's Supervisory Board unanimously stands behind the Board of Management." The Supervisory Board will also remain committed to gaining the confidence of all shareholders, Wenning said, adding that he understands shareholders' disappointment over the performance of Bayer shares since the first glyphosate verdict in August 2018. Reference Link

17:40 EDT Western Alliance chairman sells 66.4K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Western Alliance disclosed that its Executive Chairman Robert Sarver sold 66.4K shares of common stock on April 24th at $46.71 per share. The total transaction size was $3.1M.

17:28 EDT Boeing awarded $127.63M Air Force contract modification for B61-12 program - Boeing has been awarded a $127.63M modification to a previously awarded contract for the B61-12 life extension program. This modification provides for the initiation of an undefinitized contract action for Lot 1 and Lot 2 long lead items. Work will be performed in Saint Charles, Missouri and is expected to be complete by August 31, 2020. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $131.93M. FY18 and FY19 procurement funds, and FY19 research and development funds, in the amount of $29.22M are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center is the contracting activity.

16:59 EDT AMREP sells its Fulfillment Services business for $1M - AMREP reported that it has sold its Fulfillment Services business operated by Palm Coast Data to Studio Membership Service. The closing of the sale occurred on April 26, 2019. The buyer paid the company $1.0M in cash on the closing and entered into two long-term triple net leases as tenant for the company's owned facilities in Palm Coast, Florida, which facilities aggregate approximately 204,000 square feet.

16:49 EDT Asbury Automotive director Deloach sells 15K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Asbury Automotive disclosed that its director Thomas Deloach sold 15K shares of common stock on April 24th at $80 per share. The total transaction size was $1.2M.

16:37 EDT Costco raises quarterly dividend to 65c from 57c per share - The dividend is payable May 24, 2019, to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 10, 2019.

16:31 EDT eBay CFO sells 89.7K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, eBay disclosed that its CFO Scott Schenkel sold 89.7K shares of common stock on April 25th at $38.50 per share. The total transaction size was $3.45M.

16:27 EDT Lennar acquires 1,602 homesite lot in Raleigh, NC - Lennar announced that it has closed on a lot purchase agreement with Level Homes. As a result of the transaction, Lennar now controls an additional 1,602 new homesites across seven communities throughout the Raleigh market including 5401 North, Willow Oak and Meadowbrook. An affiliate of Level Homes will develop and deliver these homesites to Lennar over the next several years.

16:23 EDT USD Partners raises quarterly distribution to 36.25c per unit - Representing an increase of 0.7% over the prior quarter and 2.8% over the first quarter of 2018. The distribution is payable on May 15 to unitholders of record at the close of business on May 7.

16:16 EDT Alliance Resource Partners raises quarterly dividend to 53.5c from 53c per share - The dividend is payable on May 15, 2019 to all unitholders of record as of the close of trading on May 8, 2019.

16:01 EDT EU grants marketing authorization for Zynquista - The European Commission has granted marketing authorization for Zynquista, developed by Sanofi (SNY) and Lexicon (LXRX). Zynquista is now approved in the European Union, at once-daily doses of 200 mg and 400 mg, for use as an adjunct to insulin therapy to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus and a body mass index greater than= 27 kg/m, who could not achieve adequate glycemic control despite optimal insulin therapy. "Millions of people across Europe who live with type 1 diabetes struggle to control their blood sugar, even with optimal insulin therapy," commented Thomas Danne, Professor of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital 'Auf der Bult,' Hannover, Germany. "For the many people living with type 1 diabetes who are overweight or obese, Zynquista will offer a new treatment option physicians can now consider in combination with insulin therapy for appropriate patients."

14:40 EDT Trump says spoke Saudi Arabia, others about increasing oil flow - President Trump just tweeted, "Spoke to Saudi Arabia and others about increasing oil flow. All are in agreement. The California tax on gasoline is causing big problems on pricing for that state. Speak to your Governor about reducing. Economic numbers, 3.2% GDP for what is often worst quarter, looking good!" Trump this morning said he called OPEC and told the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower oil prices. His tweet comes after a Wall Street Journal report saying OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said he has not spoken to President Trump. Publicly traded companies in the energy space include BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and Total (TOT).

14:04 EDT Horizon releases new data from Phase 3 Teprotumumab trial - Horizon Pharma announced that new data from the Phase 3 confirmatory clinical trial evaluating the investigational medicine teprotumumab for the treatment of active thyroid eye disease, or TED, were presented as part of a late-breaking oral presentation at the 2019 American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Scientific and Clinical Congress in Los Angeles. In addition to primary endpoint data previously announced on Feb. 28, the presentation includes new data from two secondary endpoints that show a dramatic reduction in proptosis -- eye bulging -- and a substantial improvement in overall response rate in patients treated with teprotumumab compared with placebo. These data demonstrate the potential for teprotumumab as a treatment for Active TED, which currently has no FDA approved treatments. Teprotumumab is an investigational medicine and its safety and efficacy have not been established.

14:02 EDT Neurocrine says Express Scripts formulary less than 1% of Ingrezza sales - Neurocrine Biosciences, disclosed that on April 25, Express Scripts (ESRX) published its updated 2019 National Preferred Formulary exclusions list, announcing changes to its formulary list that will exclude Ingrezza as a drug for its National Preferred formulary for commercial patients, effective July 1, 2019. "While Express Scripts National Preferred currently accounts for less than one percent of Ingrezza product revenue, we continue to engage with Express Scripts and value our relationship with them," Neurocrine said in a regulatory filing. It added, "Given that Ingrezza is the most preferred drug for tardive dyskinesia in the marketplace, we are committed to ensuring patients have access to Ingrezza and have worked diligently since the Ingrezza's launch to ensure its availability. Since launching the product, Neurocrine has worked closely with payors to ensure appropriate coverage policies for Ingrezza, and will continue to do so." Shares of Neurocrine are off their lows on the day but remain down 3% to $75.80 in afternoon trading.

13:59 EDT Neurocrine says 'continue to engage' with Express Scripts

13:50 EDT American Renal Associates trading resumes

13:31 EDT American Renal Associates trading halted, news pending

13:03 EDT Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count down 21 to 991 rigs - Baker Hughes reports that the U.S. rig count is down 21 rigs from last week to 991, with oil rigs down 20 to 805, gas rigs down 1 to 186, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 0. The U.S. Rig Count is down 30 rigs from last year's count of 1,021, with oil rigs down 20, gas rigs down 9, and miscellaneous rigs down 1. The U.S. Offshore Rig Count is down 2 rigs to 21 and up 3 rigs year-over-year. The Canada Rig Count is down 3 rigs from last week to 63, with oil rigs unchanged at 19 and gas rigs down 3 to 44. The Canada Rig Count is down 22 rigs from last year's count of 85, with oil rigs down 14 and gas rigs down 8.

12:28 EDT Zions Bancorp board approves plan to buy $275M of shares during Q2 - Zions Bancorporation said its board approved a plan to purchase up to $275M of common shares during Q2 of 2019. It explained, "Zions will continue to utilize stress testing as its primary mechanism to inform its decisions on the appropriate level of capital, based upon actual and reasonably probable stressed economic conditions. Zions' hypothetical post stress capital results, as can be found on its website, are substantially stronger than regulatory minimum capital guidelines."

12:00 EDT A10 Networks falls -11.0% - A10 Networks is down -11.0%, or -81c to $6.49.

12:00 EDT Briggs & Stratton falls -13.6% - Briggs & Stratton is down -13.6%, or -$1.85 to $11.76.

12:00 EDT Pros????????Holdings rises 12.1% - Pros????????Holdings is up 12.1%, or $5.43 to $50.48.

11:56 EDT CHMP adopts positive opinion on Dova Pharmaceuticals' Doptelet - The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, of the EMA adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Doptelet, intended for the treatment of severe thrombocytopenia in adult patients with chronic liver disease who are scheduled to undergo an invasive procedure. The applicant for this medicinal product is Dova Pharmaceuticals Ireland Limited. Reference Link

11:40 EDT CHMP issues positive opinion on marketing of Sixmo - The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, of the EMA adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product Sixmo, intended for the treatment of opioid dependence. The applicant for this medicinal product is L. Molteni & C. dei Fratelli Alitti Societa di Esercizio S.p.A. On March 21, 2018, Titan Pharmaceuticals announced that it had entered into a definitive asset purchase, supply and support agreement with L. Molteni & C. dei F.lli Alitti Societa di Esercizio S.p.A. through which Molteni has acquired the European intellectual property related to Probuphine, including the Marketing Authorization Application under review by the European Medicines Agency, and will have the exclusive right to commercialize the Titan supplied Probuphine product in Europe, as well as certain countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and North Africa. Reference Link

11:35 EDT Intel CEO sees 'lumpy' buying patterns, particularly in cloud - Bob Swan is speaking on CNBC.

11:32 EDT BankFinancial expands share repurchase program - BankFinancial Corporation announced that its Board of Directors has increased the total number of shares currently authorized for repurchase under the Share Repurchase Program from 5,060,755 shares to 5,810,755 shares, an increase of 750,000 shares. As of April 25, a total of 774,698 shares of the company remained authorized for repurchase pursuant to the amended repurchase authorization.

11:17 EDT Chevron says Anadarko deal may close in Q3 - Chevron (CVX) CEO Mike Wirth said Occidental (OXY) bid for Anadarko (APC) changed timeline. Wirth added, "we're the best strategic fit."

11:13 EDT Chevron sees FY19 production up 4%-7% ex-sales

11:07 EDT Chevron CEO confident in completing Anadarko deal - Chevron (CVX) CEO Mike Wirth said the company has begun regulatory approvals for Anadarko (APC) deal. Wirth added that the company started joint integration planning for Anadarko. Comments provided during Q1 earnings conference call.

11:04 EDT Pfizer receives positive CHMP opinion for TALZENNA - Pfizer announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion recommending TALZENNA, an oral poly polymerase inhibitor, be granted marketing authorization in the European Union. The indication the CHMP adopted is for TALZENNA as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with germline breast cancer susceptibility gene 1/2-mutations, who have human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Patients should have been previously treated with an anthracycline and/or a taxane in the adjuvant, locally advanced or metastatic setting unless patients were not suitable for these treatments. Patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer should have been treated with a prior endocrine-based therapy, or be considered unsuitable for endocrine-based therapy. The positive CHMP opinion of TALZENNA follows the medicine's approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October 2018. The CHMP's opinion for TALZENNA, which was acquired as part of Pfizer's acquisition of Medivation, will now be reviewed by the European Commission. The Marketing Authorization Application was submitted based on results from the EMBRACA trial, the largest Phase 3 trial performed to date of a PARP inhibitor in patients with gBRCA-mutated LA or MBC. This Phase 3, open-label, randomized trial evaluated once-daily TALZENNA compared to physician's choice standard chemotherapy in patients with an inherited BRCA1/2 mutation and triple-negative or HR+/HER2- LA or MBC who may have received up to three prior cytotoxic chemotherapy regimens for their advanced disease. A total of 431 patients were enrolled at 145 sites in 16 countries, including 190 patients in European countries such as Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

11:02 EDT 3M, WMEL settle lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Alabama - 3M and the West Morgan-East Lawrence Water and Sewer Authority released the following joint statement: "3M Company, Inc. and West Morgan-East Lawrence Water and Sewer Authority are pleased to announce that they have settled the lawsuit between them in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Both parties are grateful for the cooperation and work that has gone into getting this settlement finalized. This settlement will allow for a new filtration system at WMEL. WMEL will continue to supply safe drinking water that meets all applicable PFAS guidelines without passing on any additional construction or treatment costs-a great thing for WMEL and its customers in Morgan and Lawrence Counties. This settlement pertains only to the lawsuit between WMEL and 3M. Now that the litigation between WMEL and 3M is concluded, neither 3M nor WMEL will make any further statements."

10:49 EDT Novo Nordisk reports positive opinion from European regulators for Esperoct - Novo Nordisk announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use under the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion for the use of Esperoct, recommending marketing authorization for the treatment of adolescents and adults with hemophilia A. The CHMP recommends Esperoct, the brand name for turoctocog alfa pegol, N8-GP, to be indicated for prophylaxis and on-demand treatment of bleeding as well as for surgical procedures in adolescents and adults with hemophilia A.

10:28 EDT Glass Lewis recommends Hudbay Minerals investors vote for Waterton nominees - Waterton Precious Metals Fund II Cayman, LP and Waterton Mining Parallel Fund Offshore Master, LP, each of which are managed by Waterton Global Resource Management, owning in the aggregate 12.09% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Hudbay Minerals announced that proxy advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co. has recommended that shareholders vote FOR the election of Waterton's independent, highly-qualified director nominees - Richard Nesbitt, Daniel Muniz Quintanilla and David Smith - to the Hudbay Board of Directors at the Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders. In reaching this conclusion, Glass Lewis "agreed that the Company would benefit from a minority board refreshment that would add governance, strategic and financial oversight at a particularly critical juncture for the Company." Glass Lewis noted that Waterton's director nominees Richard Nesbitt, Daniel Muniz Quintanilla and David Smith "have the required skills, perspectives and expertise to bring value to the Hudbay boardroom."

10:00 EDT Federated Investors falls -9.4% - Federated Investors is down -9.4%, or -$3.15 to $30.39.

10:00 EDT Briggs & Stratton falls -20.5% - Briggs & Stratton is down -20.5%, or -$2.79 to $10.82.

10:00 EDT Sonic Automotive rises 11.6% - Sonic Automotive is up 11.6%, or $2.07 to $19.84.

09:57 EDT Walmart, Target slip as Amazon invests in one-day shipping for Prime members - Shares of Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) are notably weak in early trading after e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) turned up the competitive pressure with its announcement of plans to add one-day shipping as the new standard on many items sold via its Prime membership program. Amazon.com stated during its first quarter earnings call last night that it will spend $800M in the new quarter to move to one-day Prime delivery, adding that its one-day delivery pledge is a "global goal." In morning trading following last night's announcement from Amazon, Walmart shares are down about 2% to $101.54 while Target shares are down 4.5% to $78.07.

09:47 EDT Fortive falls -7.8% - Fortive is down -7.8%, or -$6.88 to $80.91.

09:47 EDT Pros????????Holdings rises 9.3% - Pros????????Holdings is up 9.3%, or $4.21 to $49.26.

09:47 EDT Enova International rises 14.4% - Enova International is up 14.4%, or $3.81 to $30.35.

09:37 EDT Hibbett Sports names Christine Skold as Interim CFO, effective April 26 - Hibbett Sports (HIBB) announced that Christine Skold is temporarily joining the company as Interim CFO, effective April 26, succeeding Scott Bowman, whose resignation was announced on April 5. Skold will oversee the company's financial operations on an interim basis, while the company conducts a formal search for a replacement. Skold served 15 years with retail company Tractor Supply Company (TSCO), holding several progressive positions in accounting.

09:11 EDT Procter & Gamble announces collaboration to improve smallholder livelihood - Procter & Gamble Company announced a new collaboration with Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation, International Plant Nutrition Institute and Yara International to help improve the livelihood of smallholders within the P&G palm supply chain in Malaysia. After a pilot ran between 2015 and 2018, the Company is expanding the program that partners with independent palm oil smallholders to increase their overall fruit yields through the training and implementation of best-in-class, and more sustainable agricultural practices. P&G is committed to the responsible sourcing of palm and has declared livelihood improvement for the palm oil smallholders as one of its Ambition 2030 environmental sustainability goals. The pilot was focused on assessing the baseline capability of around 2000 smallholder farmers in the state of Johor, Malaysia. The program is expanding to create 250 learning farms which will be embedded in a P&G-led innovation system. These farms will serve as community resource centers to drive scale and diffusion of good agricultural practices for up to 10,000 smallholders within the next five years. The goal is to improve yields by 30-50%, improve the livelihood of the smallholder farmers and ensure sustainable practices in the P&G palm oil supply chain.

09:07 EDT Investor group calls for Bed Bath & Beyond CEO to be terminated - The Investor Group released the following statement in conjunction with a Strategic Plan, "The Board changes announced earlier this week by Bed Bath are not nearly enough and appear hastily constructed. We believe CEO Steven Temares must be terminated as soon as possible and new directors must be added to the Board that have direct experience in the following areas: customer-centricity, retail operations, sourcing, supply chain, private label, marketing, branding, e-commerce, and turnarounds. That is why we carefully selected our nominees to address the long list of issues at Bed Bath which have led to prolonged poor performance and destruction of shareholder value. We look forward to discussing the details of our plan and our nominees' ability to drive material value creation at the Company over the coming weeks."

09:06 EDT Investor Group sees path for $5.00 per share annual EPS for Bed Bath & Beyond

09:04 EDT Perrigo raises quarterly dividend 11% to 21c from 19c per share - The cash dividend is payable on June 18 to stockholders at the close of business on May 31.

08:57 EDT American Airlines says Latin American performance was weak in Q1 - Expects Latin America to become positive in Q2.

08:55 EDT Akari Therapeutics announces expanded ophthalmology program - Akari Therapeutics announced new data in both the surface and the back of the eye. In an experimental back of the eye, autoimmune uveitis model to be reported in a poster presentation at ARVO, nomacopan and its long acting variants administered intravitreally, reported significant improvement in clinical scoring versus control, co-localization of LTB4 and C5a receptors in retinal inflammatory cells seen for the first time, significant downregulation of pro-inflammatory T-helper 17 cells and the inflammatory cytokine IL-17. In a Phase I/II study in atopic keratoconjunctivitis initial surface of the eye data from the first two patients, treated topically, nomacopan demonstrated no serious drug related adverse events and good tolerability.

08:52 EDT American Airlines sees Q2 TRASM up approx. 1%-3%

08:51 EDT American Airlines expects Q2 system capacity up approx. 0.7% y/y

08:47 EDT TheStreet effects 1-for-10 reverse stock split - TheStreet's previously announced 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common stock became effective prior to the opening of trading on Nasdaq, and the common stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis at the opening of trading under the new CUSIP number 88368Q 202. As a result of the reverse stock split, each 10 shares of issued Common Stock were converted into one share of Common Stock. The reverse stock split affected all stockholders uniformly and did not alter any stockholder's percentage ownership interest in the company. The reverse stock split reduced the number of shares of outstanding Common Stock from approximately 53.3 million to approximately 5.3 million. The number of authorized shares of Common Stock under the company's Restated Certificate of Incorporation has been proportionately reduced from 100 million shares to 10 million shares.

08:39 EDT Justice Department opens criminal investigation into Ford emissions process - Ford previously stated that it has "become aware of a potential concern involving its U.S. emissions certification process." The matter currently focuses on issues relating to road load estimations, including analytical modeling and coastdown testing, the company added in its quarterly filing. The potential concern does not involve the use of defeat devices. Ford went on, "We voluntarily disclosed this matter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board on February 18, 2019 and February 21, 2019, respectively. Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into the matter. In addition, we have notified a number of other state and federal agencies. We are fully cooperating with all government agencies. Because this matter is still in the preliminary stages, we cannot predict the outcome, and we cannot provide assurance that it will not have a material adverse effect on us."

08:36 EDT American Airlines says fundamentals of business remain 'strong' - Says team has responded 'remarkably' to disruption caused by 737 Max groundings. Says fundamentals of business remain strong. Says near-term forecast was affected by 737 MAX groundings. Estimates the grounding of the 737 MAX will impact 2019 pre-tax earnings by approximately $350M. Expects FCF production to increase significantly as company moves to 2020 and beyond. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

08:23 EDT Goodyear Tire up 7% to $20.94 after Q1 profit beat estimates

08:17 EDT Goodyear Tire reports Q1 tire unit volumes totaled 38M, down 3% y/y - Tire unit volumes totaled 38M, down 3% from 39M in the year ago quarter. Original equipment unit volume declined 7%, primarily reflecting weaker U.S. volumes and lower automotive production in China and India. Replacement tire shipments were down less than 1% compared with a year ago.

08:09 EDT ABM announces data privacy breach - ABM has provided a notice of an incident that may affect the security of some personal information. While the company is currently unaware of any actual or attempted misuse of the impacted information, the company is providing this notice with details about the event as well as the steps taken in response. After noting suspicious activity related to certain employee email accounts, the company launched an investigation which determined the company was the victim of an email phishing incident that resulted in unauthorized access to certain employee email accounts between January 8, 2018 and August 7, 2018. The company's investigation included working with cyber security experts to investigate the incident and ensure the security of the company's systems. The contents of the email accounts at issue were reviewed through an in-depth manual and programmatic process to determine what sensitive data may have been accessible. On December 26, 2018, the investigation determined that the emails affected by this incident contained certain personal information related primarily to current and former employees. While the information present in the impacted emails varies by individual, the investigation determined that the information that may have been affected includes: name, Social Security number, bank account/financial information, credit/debit card information, driver's license number, passport number, birth/marriage certificate, medical information, health insurance information, username and password and unique electronic identifiers related to certain current and former employees. While this information was contained within the impacted email accounts, the company currently has no evidence that any such information experienced attempted or actual misuse. The company provided notification by way of mail to impacted individuals for whom it had available address information. As part of its response to this incident, the company notified the FBI and all applicable regulatory agencies.

08:07 EDT Exxon Mobil says crude prices weaker, on average, in Q1 than in Q4 of 2018 - In its Upstream business, Exxon Mobil said crude prices strengthened during the quarter but remained weaker, on average, than the fourth quarter of 2018. North American differentials narrowed, largely as a result of imposed production curtailments in Canada and additional takeaway capacity in the Permian. Natural gas prices were impacted by warmer weather. Production volumes benefited from continued unconventional growth. However, first quarter production was negatively impacted by lower Kearl output in Canada and downtime. In Downstream, Exxon Mobil said weak industry fuels margins from high gasoline inventory levels and narrowed North American crude differentials impacted results in the quarter. "Overall heavy scheduled maintenance remained at similar levels to the fourth quarter of 2018," the company said. In the Chemical business, sales volumes increased from the prior year quarter reflecting project growth, however, margins remained challenged with continued supply length from recent industry capacity additions, the company said.

08:05 EDT Vail Resorts reports YTD North American resort lift ticket revenue up 9.3% y/y - Vail Resorts reported certain ski season metrics for the comparative periods from the beginning of the ski season through April 21, and for the prior year period through April 22, 2018. "The reported ski season metrics are for our North American mountain resorts, and the metrics exclude results from our Australian resorts and our urban ski areas in both periods. The data mentioned in this release is interim period data and is subject to fiscal quarter end review and adjustments." Season-to-date total lift ticket revenue at the company's North American mountain resorts, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was up 9.3% compared to the prior year season-to-date period. Season-to-date ski school revenue was up 6.5% and dining revenue was up 7.0% compared to the prior year season-to-date period. Retail/rental revenue for North American resort store locations was up 6.2% compared to the prior year season-to-date period. Season-to-date total skier visits for the company's North American mountain resorts were up 6.8% compared to the prior year season-to-date period. Commenting on the ski season to date, Rob Katz, CEO, said, "We are pleased with our overall results as the 2018/2019 North American ski season concludes, with strong growth in visitation and spending compared to the prior year. The results from the key holiday weeks through the spring were largely in line with our original expectations as we saw strong destination visitation following the challenging early season period. Our results throughout the 2018/2019 North American ski season highlight the growth and stability resulting from our season pass, the benefit of our geographic diversification, the investments we make in our resorts and the success of our sophisticated, data-driven marketing efforts." Regarding the outlook for fiscal 2019, Katz said, "The strong finish to the season produced results that were in line with the Resort Reported EBITDA guidance we issued on March 8, 2019, which included $12 million of acquisition and integration related expenses, including $2 million for the Falls Creek and Hotham acquisitions and excluded any operating results or stamp duty payments related to the Falls Creek and Hotham acquisition. We plan to provide more details on our updated fiscal year 2019 outlook, including the impact of the acquisition of Falls Creek and Hotham, in our June 2019 earnings release." Discussing spring season pass sales results, Katz continued, "Our attention is already turning to the 2019/2020 season with spring season pass sales underway. Guests continue to be attracted to the compelling network of resorts available on our pass and our spring benefits, which include the ability to buy a pass for only $49 down. To date, we have seen solid growth in our non-military pass sales, on top of the record pass sales results we saw last spring. We are seeing particularly strong growth in pass sales among destination guests and are seeing good enthusiasm for our Epic Day Pass, but expect the primary impact of this new product to be later in the fall. We are seeing continued high engagement on our Military pass products and are now in the process of validating those purchases. We will have more to share on all of these trends in our June earnings call."

08:03 EDT Allegiant Travel appoints Gregory Anderson as CFO - Allegiant has appointed Gregory Anderson to serve as executive VP and CFO. He will also continue as the company's principal accounting officer, a role he has served since January, 2015. Anderson, who joined Allegiant's accounting department in 2010, has served as the company's senior vice president, treasury since January, 2017. Scott Sheldon, who has served as Allegiant's CFO since 2010, will continue to serve in his role of Executive VP and COO.

07:46 EDT Wingstop launches delivery in Dallas as part of national rollout with DoorDash - Wingstop has officially launched delivery in the company's hometown of Dallas, Texas. The launch is part of a national rollout with on-demand platform DoorDash.

07:41 EDT Interface Chief Accounting Officer put on administrative leave amid SEC probe - Interface received a letter in November 2017 from the SEC requesting that the company voluntarily provide information and documents in connection with an investigation into its historical quarterly earnings per share calculations and rounding practices during the period 2014-2017. The company subsequently received subpoenas from the SEC in February 2018, July 2018 and April 2019 requesting additional documents and information. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the company conducted at the SEC's request an internal investigation into these and other related issues for seven quarters in 2015, 2016 and 2017, it disclosed last night. On April 23, 2019, Gregory Bauer, the company's Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, went on paid administrative leave from the company after it was learned that in 2018 in the process of collecting materials from 2015, 2016 and 2017 for production to the SEC, he added certain notes to those materials that were then produced to the SEC. The company "believes at this time, however, that the after-the-fact inclusion of these notes had no impact on the EPS calculations that are the subject of the above-described investigation or on subsequent EPS calculations." It added, "Since the inception of the investigation, the Company has cooperated and continues to cooperate with the SEC's investigation."

07:40 EDT American Airlines reports Q1 PRASM up 0.6% - Passenger demand drove a 1.8% year-over-year increase in Q1 total revenue, to a first-quarter record $10.6B. Driven by a record Q1 total passenger load factor of 82.2%, passenger revenue per available seat mile, or PRASM, grew 0.6% to 14.49c. Cargo revenue decreased 4% to $218M due in part to a 9.1% decrease in cargo ton miles. Other revenue was up 1.9% to $708M due primarily to higher loyalty revenue. Q1 TRASM increased by 0.5% to a record 15.87c on a 1.3% increase in total available seat miles. Total Q1 operating expenses were $10.2B, up 2% year-over-year. Total operating cost per available seat mile, or CASM, was 15.31c in Q1, up 0.7% fromQ1 2018. Excluding fuel and special items, first-quarter CASM was 11.88c, up 2.7% year-over-year, driven primarily by a higher volume of heavy maintenance checks.

07:36 EDT Aurora Cannabis makes $10M equity investment in EnWave - To further cement the economic alignment between the companies, Aurora has made a $10M strategic equity investment in EnWave. Pursuant to the terms of a share purchase agreement between the parties dated April 25, Aurora has purchased 5,302,227 common shares in the capital of EnWave at a deemed price of $1.886 per share, based on the volume weighted average trading price for EnWave's shares on the TSX Venture Exchange for the five consecutive trading days to and including April 22. As consideration for the EnWave Shares, Aurora issued to EnWave 840,576 common shares in the capital of Aurora at a deemed price of $11.8966 per share, based on the VWAP for Aurora's shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the five consecutive trading days to and including April 22. The EnWave Shares represent approximately 4.91% of the issued and outstanding common shares of EnWave on a non-diluted basis. EnWave received conditional approval for the transaction from the TSXV on April 12. The TSX and NYSE have conditionally approved the listing of the Aurora Shares on such exchanges. Each of the EnWave Shares and the Aurora Shares will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance pursuant to applicable securities laws.

07:17 EDT Miragen Therapeutics presents new incremental data at HTLV congress - Miragen Therapeutics announced incremental new data from its Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability and efficacy of cobomarsen, an inhibitor of microRNA-155, in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, or ATLL, in an oral presentation at the International Congress HTLV. Previously published data suggest that patients with aggressive forms of ATLL typically succumb to their disease within 4-10 months on average from the time of diagnosis. In updated data from the cobomarsen Phase 1 trial, five patients with an aggressive ATLL subtype in partial remission have been treated with cobomarsen for up to 16 months. Four of five patients remained stable for up to 16 months and continue on the trial. Biological activity of cobomarsen in these subjects is indicated by a significant decrease in biomarkers of cell proliferation and activation in all patients, supporting the observed clinical stabilization. Cobomarsen has been well tolerated over prolonged treatment, with no deaths, DLTs, related serious adverse events, related Grade 3 or Grade 4 adverse events, hematological events or discontinuation from trial due to related adverse events.

07:07 EDT LendingTree CEO says Q1 results 'provide an incredibly strong start to 2019' - "LendingTree's first quarter results provide an incredibly strong start to 2019," said Doug Lebda, Chairman and CEO. "Our recent acquisitions in the insurance business and the team's seamless integrations have produced terrific results. Tremendous growth in insurance, along with a re-acceleration in credit card growth and a stabilizing mortgage business, are enabling us to execute on key strategic initiatives to drive long term benefit for the Company and for shareholders. We are re-igniting the strength of our portfolio of brands, continuing to differentiate our platform, and remain relentlessly focused on continuing to build a consumer experience we're proud of." J.D. Moriarty, CFO, added "We're obviously thrilled with the great start to the year. We're particularly happy with the early performance in insurance, but we're also making great progress in several other categories including credit card and some of our smaller businesses like student loans, small business and credit services. Given the extraordinary performance in Q1 and the trends we're seeing, we're raising our full-year outlook for revenue, variable marketing margin, and adjusted EBITDA."

07:06 EDT Bloomin' Brands CEO says set up well to achieve 2019 goals - "The first quarter was a strong start to the year, and sets us up well to achieve our 2019 goals," said David Deno, CEO. "Outback continues its strong sales momentum marking the ninth consecutive quarter of meaningful outperformance versus the industry. In addition, we continue to make progress against our growth platforms and this is showing up in increased sales and margin expansion across the portfolio. In the first quarter, operating margin grew on a comparable basis versus last year."

06:58 EDT Colgate-Palmolive reports Q1 adjusted gross profit margin 59.2% - Gross profit margin was 58.9% in first quarter versus 60.2% in first quarter 2018. Excluding charges resulting from the Global Growth and Efficiency Program in both periods, Gross profit margin was 59.2% in first quarter, a decrease of 110 basis points versus the year ago quarter as higher raw and packaging material costs, which included foreign exchange transaction costs, were partially offset by cost savings from the company's funding-the-growth initiatives and higher pricing.

06:52 EDT Coty comments on regulatory approvals in tender offer by JAB Holding affiliate - Coty notes the receipt of all required regulatory approvals by Cottage Holdco, an affiliate of JAB Holding, in connection with Offeror's tender offer to purchase up to 150M shares of the company's Class A common stock at a price of $11.65 per share in cash. Offeror has informed the company that, as of April 26, all required regulatory approvals, clearances or applicable waiting periods have been received or expired in all relevant jurisdictions. As a result, Offeror does not intend to extend the Offer beyond the previously announced expiration date of 5:00 P.M., New York City Time, on April 26 and intends to proceed with the consummation of the Offer promptly following the Expiration Date.

06:50 EDT American Midstream Partners CEO Lynn Bourdon to resign - American Midstream Partners announced that Lynn Bourdon, chairman, president and CEO of American Midstream, notified the partnership of his decision to resign effective May 3.

06:44 EDT Gorman-Rupp appoints new Chairman, independent director and COO - Gorman-Rupp has appointed Jeffrey Gorman, President and CEO, to serve as Chairman of the Board. James Gorman, the company's long-standing Chairman, informed the board this past January of his intention to not stand for re-election as a Director at the company's 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. James Gorman, son of J.C. Gorman, co-founder of the company, leaves the Board after serving as a Director of the Company since 1946 and as Chairman since 1989. Wayne Walston notified the company this January that he would not stand for re-election as a Director at the Company's 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Walston has served as a Director of the Company since 1999. At the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held April 25, Sonja McClelland was elected to the Board of Directors. McClelland is Executive VP, Secretary, Treasurer and CFO of Hurco Companies. The company has promoted Scott King to VP and COO. King has been with Gorman-Rupp since 2004 and held various operational management roles, most recently serving as Vice President of Operations since March 2018.

06:42 EDT Deutsche Bank sees 2019 revenues 'essentially flat' vs. 2018 - The company said: "We expect revenues in 2019 to be essentially flat compared to 2018. The aim is to improve our revenues in particular through investments in targeted growth areas including loan and volume growth as well as through liquidity and balance sheet optimization and redeployment. Our outlook also takes into account that market environment and client activity in the first quarter of 2019 were not supportive of a more pronounced revenue recovery in our more market sensitive businesses. For Corporate & Investment Bank, the first quarter of 2019 saw an unfavorable macroeconomic and financial market environment for the industry. Uncertainty was driven by a number of geopolitical factors such as, but not limited to, Brexit, US - China trade relations and the US government shutdown in January, all of which suppressed client activity and negatively impacted revenues, specifically in Sales & Trading and broadly in line with the overall industry trend. We do expect to see some improvement in the macroeconomic and financial market environment as the year progresses, with March having been more favorable than the first two months of the quarter. Should we experience continued recovery, we expect CIB revenues for 2019 to be slightly higher compared to 2018. In Private & Commercial Bank, we expect growth in our investment and loan businesses in 2019."

06:39 EDT Cabot Oil & Gas sees Q2 production 2,300 to 2,350 Mmcfe per day

06:34 EDT Elanco to acquire Aratana Therapeutics, completing oncology agreement with VetDC - Elanco (ELAN) has signed an agreement to acquire Aratana Therapeutics (PETX). Elanco has also signed a development and commercialization agreement with VetDC for Tanovea-CA1, the first FDA conditionally approved canine lymphoma treatment. Elanco also announced the formation of a commercial team dedicated to the veterinary specialty business. The acquisition is structured as a stock-for-stock transaction, with a cash contingent value right of 25c to be granted to Aratana shareholders as of the closing date if capromorelin achieves certain sales levels before the end of 2021. Upon the closing of the transaction, Aratana shareholders will receive 0.1481 shares of Elanco and one CVR for each share of Aratana. Shares to be issued for the acquisition represent approximately 2% of Elanco shares outstanding. The transaction is expected to close in the mid-year timeframe, but remains subject to approval by Aratana shareholders and clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the Aratana board. Based in Ft. Collins, Colo., VetDC is a spinoff from Colorado State University established to identify, develop and commercialize oncology therapies for pets.

06:33 EDT Aratana Therapeutics to be acquired by Elanco in all stock transaction - Aratana Therapeutics (PETX) announced it has signed an agreement to be acquired by Elanco (ELAN). In conjunction with the transaction, Elanco also announced the formation of a commercial team dedicated to the veterinary specialty business. Aratana's field force has demonstrated the ability to communicate with veterinarians on pet therapeutics and if the proposed agreement is consummated, the Aratana field force would transition into this commercial team. The deal is structured as a stock-for-stock transaction. Subject to the terms of the agreement, upon the closing of the transaction, Aratana stockholders will receive 0.1481 share of Elanco common stock and one contingent value right, or CVR, for each share of Aratana common stock. Based on the exchange ratio and the closing prices on April 24, Aratana's stockholders would receive Elanco shares equivalent to an implied value of $4.75 per Aratana share, representing a premium of approximately 40%, plus one CVR per Aratana share. The CVR of 25c in cash per Aratana share shall be granted to Aratana stockholders as of the closing date and paid if capromorelin achieves certain sales levels on or before the end of 2021. Including the CVR, the transaction represents aggregate value of up to approximately $245M. The proposed transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Aratana stockholders and clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. The proposed transaction has been unanimously approved by the Aratana board. The transaction would allow Elanco to integrate the Aratana portfolio of pet therapeutics into their companion animal therapeutics business, including a pipeline of therapeutic candidates and two marketed products. I

06:31 EDT Facebook sues New Zealand company, three people over fake engagement service - In a Thursday blog post, director of platform enforcement and litigation said, "Facebook and Instagram filed a lawsuit in US federal court against one company and three people based in New Zealand. The defendants operated a service that provided fake likes, views and followers to Instagram users. The complaint alleges the company and individuals used different companies and websites to sell fake engagement services to Instagram users. We previously suspended accounts associated with the defendants and formally warned them in writing that they were in violation of our Terms of Use, however their activity persisted. By filing the lawsuit, we are sending a message that this kind of fraudulent activity is not tolerated on our services, and we will act to protect the integrity of our platform. The lawsuit specifically asks the court to prevent the defendants from: Engaging and profiting in the sale of fake likes, views and followers on Instagram; Violating our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines; Violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other California laws for distributing fake likes on Instagram even after their access was revoked and their accounts were suspended. Inauthentic activity has no place on our platform. That's why we devote significant resources to detecting and stopping this behavior, including blocking the creation and use of fake accounts, and using machine learning technology to proactively find and remove inauthentic activity from Instagram." Reference Link

06:20 EDT VF Corp. provides initial 2020-2021 outlook for Kontoor Brands - Kontoor Brands' initial 2020-2021 outlook is as follows: Revenue is expected to increase at a low single-digit compound annual growth rate over the period, which is consistent with the long-term outlook previously provided. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to increase at a mid-single-digit CAGR over the period. Capital Expenditures are expected to range between $105M-$110M in aggregate over the period, including approximately $80M-$90M to support the design and implementation of a global ERP system. Significant efficiencies and cost savings are expected once fully implemented.

06:12 EDT Ctrip announces share exchange transaction with Naspers - Ctrip announced a share exchange transaction with Naspers, pursuant to which Naspers will exchange its stake in MakeMyTrip for newly issued shares in Ctrip. Concurrent with the share exchange, Ctrip will invest certain ordinary shares and class B shares of MakeMyTrip in a third-party investment entity. Post the transaction, Naspers will own approximately 5.6% of Ctrip's outstanding ordinary shares, and Ctrip and the third-party investment entity will own ordinary shares and class B shares of MakeMyTrip, representing approximately 49% and 4% of MakeMyTrip's total voting power, respectively. The transaction is expected to close as soon as practicable in the second half of 2019 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including the requisite regulatory approvals.

06:06 EDT MakeMyTrip's shareholding changing between Naspers and Ctrip - MakeMyTrip (MMYT) announced a change in the company's shareholding as Naspers and Ctrip.com (CTRP) entered into a share exchange transaction agreement. Naspers will exchange its entire shareholding in MakeMyTrip for newly issued shares of Ctrip and Ctrip will acquire Naspers' current shareholding in MMYT. Concurrent with the share exchange, Ctrip will invest certain ordinary shares and class B shares of MakeMyTrip in a third-party investment entity. Following the transaction, Naspers will own 5.6% of Ctrip's outstanding ordinary shares, and Ctrip and the third-party investment entity will own ordinary shares and class B shares of MakeMyTrip representing approximately 49.0% and 4.0% of MakeMyTrip's total voting rights, respectively. The transaction is expected to close as soon as practicable in the second half of 2019.

06:03 EDT SORL Auto Parts receives 'going private' proposal for $4.26 per share in cash - SORL Auto Parts announced today that its Board of Directors has received a non-binding preliminary proposal letter, dated April 25, from Xiaoping Zhang, its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Shuping Chi and Xiaofeng Zhang, directors of the company, and Ruili Group Co. to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the company not already owned by the Consortium for $4.26 per share of common stock in cash. Chi is the wife of Chairman Zhang and Xiaofeng Zhang is the brother of Chairman Zhang. The $4.26 per share price of the proposal represents a 13.9% premium over the company's last closing price on April 24, a premium of approximately 35.64% to its average closing price during the last 30 trading days, and a premium of approximately 36.93% to its average closing price during the last 60 trading days. The members of the Consortium currently beneficially own in the aggregate approximately 58.9% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of the Company on a fully diluted basis. The Board intends to form a special committee consisting of independent directors to consider the proposal. The Board expects that the special committee will retain independent advisors, including independent financial and legal advisors, to assist it in this process.

05:46 EDT Glaukos enters collaboration, distribution agreement with Santen - Santen Pharmaceutical and Glaukos announced that Santen's U.S. subsidiary, Santen has entered into a multi-year agreement whereby Glaukos will become the exclusive distributor of the MicroShunt solely in the U.S. market. The MicroShunt is a novel, minimally-invasive, ab-externo surgical device being developed for primary open-angle glaucoma, or POAG. Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness, affecting several million people in the United States. POAG is the most common form of the disease in people aged 40 years and older. The MicroShunt is being studied in a FDA pivotal trial for intraocular pressure reduction in patients with POAG where intraocular pressure is uncontrolled with maximum tolerated medical therapy or where the progression of the disease warrants surgery. Following anticipated completion of the premarket approval, or PMA, submission in 2019, Santen intends to seek FDA PMA and, if approved, launch of the product in the United States is targeted within calendar year 2020.

05:10 EDT Roche, Spark Therapeutics withdraw, refile premerger notification - Roche (RHHBY) and Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) announced that Roche has withdrawn its Premerger Notification and Report Form under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in connection with Roche's pending acquisition of Spark pursuant to its previously announced tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Spark for $114.50 per Share, net to the seller thereof in cash, without interest and subject to any withholding taxes required by applicable law and upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated March 7. The review of the transaction is ongoing, and the parties are actively working with the government to facilitate that process. In order to provide the government with additional time to complete its current review, Roche has elected to withdraw and refile the Premerger Notification and Report Form under the HSR Act. Roche and Spark intend to refile their respective Premerger Notification and Report Forms on or about May 9. Following the refiling by Roche, the waiting period applicable to the pending acquisition will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on or about May 24, but this period may be shortened if the government grants "early termination" of the waiting period, or it may change if Roche voluntarily withdraws and Roche refiles its Premerger Notification and Report Forms in order to restart the 15-day waiting period or if the reviewing agency issues a formal request for additional information and documentary material. Closing of the Offer is conditioned upon, among other customary closing conditions, the expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. As a result of the withdrawal and refiling of the Premerger Notification and Report Form, the conditions to the Offer are not expected to be satisfied at the currently scheduled expiration of the tender offer. Therefore, Roche is extending the offering period of the Offer, which was previously scheduled to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, at the end of Thursday, May 2, until 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Monday, June 3, unless it is extended further under the circumstances set forth in the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated February 22, by and among Roche Holdings, Inc., 022019 Merger Subsidiary, Inc., and Spark. All terms and conditions of the Offer shall remain unchanged during the extended period.