Stockwinners Market Radar for May 21, 2019 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:04 EDT Sea Limited reports Q1 QAUs up 114.4% from last year - Reports Q1 Quarterly active users, or QAUs, reached 271.6M, up 114.4% from last year. Q1 average revenue per user rose to $1.40 from $1.20 last year.

18:45 EDT Trex Company CEO: There is no demand issue - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Trex Company CEO James Cline said: We had a tough start to a new product introduction... There is no demand issue... There is actually more demand than we anticipated... We are 95% recycled material... Environmental consciousness is important to us and it's a money saver.

18:24 EDT Novartis CEO: We are entering an exciting growth phase for the company - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan said: We are moving to a world where we could have one-time curative therapies... We need a system that allows payments over time... We should fix some of the distortions in the current system... We should look at more biosimilars in the U.S... We have string of blockbuster launches this year... We are a diversified medicines company... The lifeblood of the industry is high-end innovation.

17:50 EDT Engaged Capital raises stake in Hain Celestial to 20.2% from 18.3% - Engaged Capital raised its stake to 20.2%, representing 21,071,229 shares, from an 18.3% stake reported on May 15. This stake, reported in a 13D, filing allows for activism.

17:44 EDT Urban Outfitters sees Q2 URBN retail SSS in low single-digit negative range - Says guidance based on QTD performance. Says if comp sales do come in low single-digit negative, it believes gross margin rates for Q2 could deleverage by more than 300 basis points. Says decrease in gross profit margin could be due to higher markdown rates to clear underperforming products as well as deleverage and delivery logistics. Sees Q2 SG&A growth roughly 2%. Sees FY19 CapEx roughly $260M. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

17:38 EDT Ascent Capital and Monitronics International announce restructuring support pact - Ascent Capital Group announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Monitronics International has entered into a Restructuring Support Agreement with its largest creditors that will eliminate approximately $885M in debt. Under the terms of the Support Agreement, up to approximately $685M of debt will be converted to equity, including up to approximately $585M of the company's 9.125% Senior Notes due in 2020 and $100M of the company's term loans. The company will also receive an additional $200M in cash from the company's noteholders through an equity rights offering and, subject to certain conditions, from Ascent in connection with the proposed merger with Monitronics which cash will be used to, among other things, repay remaining term loan debt. Following the completion of the restructuring, the Company is currently expected to have approximately $990M of total debt. Recurring Monthly Revenue as of March 31, 2019, was $40.8M. Under the terms of the Support Agreement, Monitronics and its subsidiaries would effectuate the proposed transactions through a partial pre-packaged plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Company has already obtained support for the proposed transactions from holders of approximately 83 percent of its secured term loans and approximately 72% of its senior unsecured notes.

17:31 EDT Granite Construction awarded $505M high speed rail contract - Granite announced it has been awarded a $505M higher-speed rail project by Virgin Trains USA Florida for their expansion to Orlando, Florida. Of the total contract value, approximately $490M was booked in Granite's Q4 2018 backlog and the remaining $15M will be included in its Q2 2019 backlog. Construction is anticipated to begin in summer 2019 and is estimated to be complete by 2022.

17:25 EDT Tidewater director Dick Fagerstal purchases almost $107K shares of company stock - Tidewater director Dick Fagerstal disclosed in a regulatory filing that he had purchased 4,400 shares of company stock at an average price of $24.30 per share on May 20. The total transaction value of the purchase was $106,921.

17:09 EDT PVH Corp. appoints former Ralph Lauren CEO Stefan Larsson to president - PVH Corp. announced the appointment of Stefan Larsson to the newly created role of President, PVH Corp. effective June 3. Larsson will have the responsibility for managing PVH's branded businesses and regions, with each of the three brand CEOs and the Regional Presidents reporting to him. He will report to Emanuel Chirico, PVH's Chairman and CEO. In connection with this announcement, Mr. Chirico signed a new five-year employment agreement with the company. PVH Presiding Director, Henry Nasella commented that "With the signing of Manny's new employment agreement and the hiring of Stefan in the newly created role of President, we believe that PVH is extremely well-positioned from a leadership and a management succession perspective to continue to execute our strategic plans well into the future." Larsson was most recently CEO of Ralph Lauren (RL), where he successfully refocused the company on what made it iconic, improved its performance and set the path for future growth.

17:03 EDT LPL Financial to acquire Allen & Company - LPL Financial announced LPL has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Allen & Company of Florida, a broker/dealer and registered investment adviser based in Lakeland, Florida. Allen & Company employs approximately 30 advisors and serves approximately $3B of client assets. The purchase agreement was signed on May 17 and the transaction is anticipated to close by the end of the year, subject to receipt of regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. Under the transaction structure, LPL will onboard Allen & Company advisors and staff as employees and maintain Allen & Company's operations and brand. Allen & Company client assets will onboard with LPL's custodial platform. The purchase agreement provides for an initial purchase price and a potential contingent payment based on the portion of Allen & Company's client assets that are onboarded to LPL's platform above a specified threshold. The company estimates a transaction multiple of seven times post-synergy EBITDA.

16:46 EDT Park West Asset Management reports 5% passive stake in Stitch Fix - In a regulatory filing, Park West Asset Management disclosed a 5% stake in Stitch Fix, which represents 2.23M shares. The filing does not allow for activism.

16:43 EDT Toll Brothers reports Q2 home sales gross margin 23.5% vs.22.5% last year - Sees Q3 home sales gross margin around 22.5% and FY19 home sales gross margin around 23.0%.

16:41 EDT Park-Ohio reaches agreement in principle to acquire Erie Press Systems - ParkOhio announced that it has reached an agreement in principal to acquire EFCO, Inc. d/b/a Erie Press Systems, headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania. Erie Press is an industry recognized leader in the manufacturing of advanced forging presses, hydraulic and mechanical presses, and metal stretch-forming and carbon extrusion machines for several end markets, including aerospace and defense, primary metals and high-speed rail. The deal is subject to a definitive agreement with customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.

16:35 EDT Air Lease announces delivery of New Airbus A350-900 aircraft to Sichuan Airlines - Air Lease Corporation (AL) announced the delivery of one new Airbus (EADSY) A350-900 aircraft on long-term lease to Sichuan Airlines. Featuring Trent XWB-84 engines, this A350-900 is the first ALC A350-900 to deliver to an airline in China.The aircraft is from ALC's order book with Airbus and joins eight Airbus aircraft currently on lease from ALC to Sichuan Airlines for a total of nine aircraft. "Sichuan Airlines is a loyal long-term customer of ALC and we are pleased to be leasing our new A350-900 to the airline," said Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, Executive Chairman of Air Lease Corporation. "This significant delivery further strengthens our close relationship and we are confident this new widebody aircraft will complement the airline's current fleet operations, adding technological and innovative advancements that will bring a whole new experience to Sichuan's offerings." "We are very pleased to announce this new A350-900 delivery to our distinguished customer, Sichuan Airlines," said Jie Chen, Air Lease Corporation's Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Asia. "ALC is proud to introduce the airline to the A350-900 and pioneer modernizing the airline's long-haul fleet to maximize Sichuan Airlines' fleet operations and global growth."

16:33 EDT Fluent promotes Tamara Alesi to CGO - Fluent announced the promotion of Tamara Alesi to chief growth officer, or CGO, effective immediately. As CGO, Alesi will play a key role in overall business innovation, media and operations, including new product development and strategy. She will also serve as a key thought leader and partner to the CEO and executive leadership team. A marketing and media industry veteran with over 20 years of experience, Alesi joined Fluent earlier this year as senior VP of media strategy. Prior to Fluent as an agency executive, she built and managed several global brands.

16:33 EDT Empire State Realty CFO David Karp steps down, Andrew Prentice named acting CFO - Empire State Realty Trust announced that David Karp will be stepping down from his role as Executive Vice President and CFO for personal reasons, effective August 1. In accordance with the company's bylaws, Andrew Prentice, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer, will serve as acting CFO while the company conducts a search for a permanent successor. John Kessler, President and COO, will lead the team during the transition.

16:30 EDT FDA: Mylan broadens recall of Valsartan tablets - Mylan N.V.External Link Disclaimer announced that its U.S. based Mylan Pharmaceuticals business is expanding its consumer-level voluntary nationwide recall to include all lots of Valsartan-containing products within expiry. The 104 additional lots include 26 lots of Amlodipine and Valsartan Tablets. Reference Link

16:22 EDT Pure Storage down 17% to $17.10 after Q1 results miss estimates - The company's Q2 and FY20 revenue guidance, at the midpoint, also fell short of estimates.

16:17 EDT Transcat sees FY20 CapEx $7.8M-$9.2M - Transcat expects its income tax rate to range between 22% and 23% in fiscal 2020. This estimate includes Federal, various state, and Canadian income taxes and reflects the increased discrete tax accounting windfall associated with share-based payment awards. In particular, this impact is expected to result in a significantly lower first quarter fiscal 2020 tax rate of between 10% and 11%. The company anticipates total capital expenditures to be approximately $7.8M-$8.2M in fiscal 2020, with the majority of the incremental capital expenditures in excess of fiscal 2019 spend levels planned for growth-oriented opportunities within both of its operating segments. Maintenance/existing asset replacements are expected to be consistent with fiscal 2019 at approximately $1M-$1.5M.

16:16 EDT RadNet officer John Crues sells 20K shares of company stock - RadNet officer John Crues disclosed in a filing that he had sold 20,000 shares of company stock at $13.15 per share on May 16. for a total transaction value of $263,000.

16:15 EDT Southwest says new AMFA contract 'benefits all parties' - Southwest Airlines announced the company's Mechanics and Related Employees, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, have voted to ratify a new tentative agreement. "Our Mechanics will receive well-deserved pay increases, and the Company will realize additional flexibilities necessary to compete in today's airline industry," said Vice President of Labor Relations Russell McCrady. "This new contract benefits all parties as it takes care of our People and preserves the long-term health of Southwest Airlines." Southwest's 2,400 Mechanics and Related Employees will immediately be covered by the ratified contract, which will become amendable in April 2024, the company said.

16:12 EDT Nordstrom falls over 9% to $34.15 after Q1 earnings miss, cut in FY19 guidance

16:10 EDT Brunswick closes acquisition of Freedom Boat Club - Brunswick Corporation announced it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Freedom Boat Club. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

16:09 EDT Sonoma sells animal health product rights in Asia, Europe - Sonoma Pharmaceuticals announced the sale of certain animal health product rights and assets for the Asian and European markets to Petagon, Limited, an international importer and distributor of quality pet food and products, for $2.7M. Petagon has been a distributor of Microcyn AH products in the Chinese, Hong Kong and other Asian markets for the past five years. The sale involves certain Asian patents and trademarks and the exclusive right to distribute animal health care products in Asia and Europe. Petagon will continue to source animal health products from Sonoma for a period of at least five years.

16:08 EDT Rocky Brands raises quarterly dividend 16.7% to 14c per share - Rocky Brands announced that its board of directors has approved a 2c increase, or a 16.7% increase, of its quarterly dividend to 14c per share of outstanding common stock, which will be paid on June 17, 2019 to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 3, 2019.

16:07 EDT Nordstrom reports Q1 net sales down 3.5% - Co-President Erik Nordstrom says: "While we expected softer trends from the fourth quarter to continue into the first quarter, we experienced a further deceleration. We had executional misses with our customers, and we're committed to better serving them. This is well within our control to turn around... The strength of our inventory and expense execution helped mitigate a meaningful portion of our sales miss. We ended the quarter with inventories in solid shape, and our financial position remains strong. We're actively taking steps to drive our top-line, and we're focused on delivering on our financial goals."

16:07 EDT Tocagen's Toca 5 Phase 3 clinical trial continues with modification - Tocagen announced the Toca 5 Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating Toca 511 & Toca FC in patients with recurrent high grade glioma, or HGG, continues without modification following a planned interim analysis of data conducted by an Independent Data Monitoring Committee, or IDMC. The IDMC completed its analysis and recommended the trial continue without modification. The global trial enrolled patients across two periods of time and completed full enrollment of 403 patients in November 2018. The Toca 5 trial is one of the largest randomized trials conducted in patients with recurrent high grade glioma. The international trial is a Phase 3 multi-center trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of Toca 511 & Toca FC compared to standard of care in patients undergoing resection for recurrent high grade glioma.

16:05 EDT Resideo acquires energy efficiency technology from Whisker Labs - Resideo Technologies announced it has acquired innovative energy efficiency technology from Whisker Labs and hired the team behind it. The technology creates a thermodynamic model of a home to accurately predict home heating and air conditioning run time and energy use to enable a homeowner to use less energy while maintaining comfort.

16:03 EDT Obalon says expanded data set for the Obalon balloon system presented at DDW - Obalon Therapeutics announces that expanded clinical data from the Company's large-scale commercial use study was presented at the Digestive Disease Week, DDW, 2019 Annual Conference, held May 18-21, 2019 in San Diego, CA. The 1,411-patient data presentation titled, Predictors of Weight Loss In Patients Treated With A Swallowable Gas-Filled Intragastric Balloon System For Six Months: Results From A U.S. Registry, continues to demonstrate the real-world utility of the Obalon Balloon System, with weight loss and safety results from 143 treatment sites in the United States.

15:50 EDT Fiat Chrysler says plans to build assembly plant in Detroit approved - "Thanks to the strong support of Governor Whitmer, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and city of Detroit, I am pleased to confirm that plans to invest in our Jefferson North Assembly Plant and build a new state-of-the-art assembly plant in Detroit have been given the green light. At FCA, we are continuing to build a secure future, not only for our Company but also for the communities in which we operate. This investment enables us to deliver on this promise in the state and city we call home," said Mark Stewart, Chief Operating Officer, FCA - North America.

15:02 EDT Texas Pacific Land Trust files lawsuit against trustee Eric Oliver - Texas Pacific Land Trust announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas against Eric Oliver for violations of federal securities laws in connection with the proxy contest Oliver initiated to be elected as a trustee of TPL. The Trust also announced that the special meeting of shareholders previously scheduled to be convened on May 22, and to be adjourned until June 6, has been postponed until further notice. "We have repeatedly raised serious questions about Mr. Oliver's background and potential conflicts of interest, to which he has refused to provide an adequate reply. Election of an unqualified or conflicted trustee could cause significant harm to the Trust and its shareholders, so we have no choice but to ask the Court to help us protect shareholders' interests. We have postponed the special meeting to ensure that shareholders have the opportunity to cast a fully informed vote," said trustee David Barry.

14:21 EDT PEDEVCO Corp. announces sale of stock to SK Energy, two unaffiliated investors - PEDEVCO Corp. announced that it has raised $15M through the sale of restricted common stock at $2.20 per share to SK Energy, an investment firm owned by Dr. Simon Kukes, the company's CEO, and an additional $3M through the sale of restricted common stock at $2.00 per share to two investors unaffiliated with the company. Combined, the company raised an aggregate of $18M of unrestricted cash through these private offerings at a blended average purchase price per share of $2.16, the proceeds from which the company plans to apply toward funding the company's 2019 Permian Basin asset development program and acquisition activities. Kukes, the company's CEO, commented, ''Given the recent exceptional results from the company's first two horizontal wells put online in the Permian Basin, I am investing an additional $15M at a premium to the company's recent trading price to further fund the company's development of its conventional San Andres assets, which have an estimated 700 million barrels of oil equivalent remaining in place and over 150 potential drilling locations identified by the company."

14:12 EDT Xerox shareholders approve holding company reorganization - Xerox announced that shareholders approved its proposal to adopt the merger agreement pursuant to which Xerox expects to implement a holding company reorganization. Holders of approximately 99.7% of common shares present and voting at Xerox's annual meeting, representing approximately 77.0% of the company's total outstanding common shares, voted in favor of the proposal. The closing of the holding company reorganization remains subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, including, receipt of approval from the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom. Xerox is targeting Q3 of 2019 for the closing of the holding company reorganization. Following the closing, it is expected that the common stock of the holding company will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under Xerox's current trading symbol, "XRX."

13:47 EDT CIRCOR trading resumes

13:33 EDT Circor again rejects Crane bid, says it 'substantially' undervalues company - Circor International (CIR) confirmed that it has previously received and rejected an "an unsolicited, non-binding" proposal from Crane Co. (CR) to acquire all the outstanding shares of Circor common stock for $45 per share in cash. Circor said in a statement, "Crane's proposal, which was publicized today, was received by CIRCOR on April 30, 2019. Consistent with its fiduciary duties and in consultation with its independent legal and financial advisors, CIRCOR's board of directors carefully reviewed that proposal. Following that review, the board of directors unanimously rejected Crane's proposal and determined that the proposal was highly opportunistic, substantially undervalued CIRCOR and its future prospects, and did not constitute a basis for engaging in further dialogue with Crane at this time." J.P. Morgan is acting as financial advisor to Circor.

13:26 EDT Pioneer Natural backs Q2 Permian production view 313-328 MBOEPD - Backs Q2 Permian oil production view of 198-208 MBOPD.

13:25 EDT Pioneer Natural sees FY19 Permian production 320-335 MBOEPD - Sees FY19 cash flow $3.75B. Sees FY19 Permian budget $2.8B-$3.1B. Sees FY19 Targa Midlan Basin EBITDA about $60M. Says evaluating water infrastructure, with Midland waste water plant expected to be completed by early 2021. Says targeting up to $100M in annual G&A savings. Says new organizational structure will support a single asset company. Comments taken from slides to be presented at the UBS Oil and Gas Conference.

13:04 EDT Apple announces launch of 'fastest Mac notebook ever,' the 8-core MacBook Pro - Apple (AAPL) announces that it has updated MacBook Pro with faster 8th- and 9th-generation Intel (INTC) Core processors, "bringing eight cores to MacBook Pro for the first time." The company said: "MacBook Pro now delivers two times faster performance than a quad-core MacBook Pro and 40 percent more performance than a 6-core MacBook Pro, making it the fastest Mac notebook ever." Starting at $1,799 and $2,399 respectively, the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and 15-inch MacBook Pro are available today through apple.com and the Apple Store app and in select Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers later this week.

12:41 EDT Mechanics union votes to ratify tentative agreement with Southwest - According to voting results posted on the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association website, the votes for the AMFA - Southwest Airlines Aircraft Maintenance Technician Tentative Agreement Ratification Referendum were tallied on May 21, 2019. Votes for this referendum were counted and certified by ElectionBuddy, with 94.62% of votes in favor and 5.38% in opposition. Reference Link

12:32 EDT Trade Desk names Jonathan Carson chief revenue officer - The Trade Desk announced the appointment of Jonathan Carson as the company's first Chief Revenue Officer. Based in the New York office, Carson is focused on driving the company's revenue generation and new client acquisition strategy. In this new role, Carson is responsible for scaling The Trade Desk's business development organization to continue the company's rapid global growth. Carson will report directly to CEO and Founder, Jeff Green. Prior to joining The Trade Desk, he served as the Chief Revenue Officer of Vevo.

12:04 EDT Arthur J. Gallagher acquires RPA Insurance, Innovative Coverage Concepts - Arthur J. Gallagher announced the acquisition of Parsippany, N.J.-based RPA Insurance Services, LLC and Innovative Coverage Concepts, LLC. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. RPA Insurance Services provides insurance and risk management services to the Restaurant and Hospitality industry. RPA operates from offices in New Jersey, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Florida. Innovative Coverage Concepts is a program manager and managing general agency focused exclusively on developing and delivering specialized insurance programs for restaurants of all types throughout the United States.

12:00 EDT Kohl's falls -10.9% - Kohl's is down -10.9%, or -$6.88 to $56.03.

12:00 EDT Qudian rises 16.0% - Qudian is up 16.0%, or 98c to $7.12.

12:00 EDT Circor rises 41.7% - Circor is up 41.7%, or $12.79 to $43.45.

11:33 EDT Kroger, Loop announce exclusive grocery retail partnership - The Kroger Co. and Loop, a circular e-commerce platform developed by TerraCycle, announced an exclusive grocery retail partnership agreement in the United States, advancing Kroger's zero-waste vision by reducing single-use plastics in the environment. Through this partnership, Kroger and Loop will pilot the new reusable packaging system, enabling customers in select markets to purchase more than 100 products from consumer brands that have been redesigned with durable containers.

11:02 EDT CSX announces appointment of Farrukh Bezar as Chief Strategy Officer - CSX Corporation announced the appointment of Farrukh Bezar as senior vice president and chief strategy officer. His appointment is effective May 29, and he will report to Jim Foote, president and CEO. Bezar most recently served as founder and managing partner of transportation and logistics advisory firm Lynwood Partners.

10:41 EDT Adam Koszary says joining Tesla as Social Media Manager - Adam Koszary of The Museum of English Rural Life tweeted: "So I have more news: I'm no longer moving to the Royal Academy. Instead, I'll be Tesla's Social Media Manager from July." Reference Link

10:04 EDT Kohl's CEO says tariff increase wasn't considered in original FY19 guidance

10:00 EDT At Home Group falls -7.5% - At Home Group is down -7.5%, or -$1.72 to $21.18.

10:00 EDT Mallinckrodt falls -32.5% - Mallinckrodt is down -32.5%, or -$4.24 to $8.79.

10:00 EDT Dycom rises 15.7% - Dycom is up 15.7%, or $7.17 to $52.72.

09:59 EDT Home Depot says falling lumber prices could cut FY sales by $800M - Says: Too early in year to predict what will happen with lumber prices... Sees "promise" in lumber during back half of year... Sees Q2 comps higher than Q1... China tariff hike to 25% to cost ~ $1B... Impact of tariffs "manageable"... Sees FY19 tax rate ~ 25.5%... Sees flat inventory turns.

09:47 EDT Kohl's falls -12.8% - Kohl's is down -12.8%, or -$8.02 to $54.89.

09:47 EDT Amneal Pharmaceuticals rises 9.1% - Amneal Pharmaceuticals is up 9.1%, or 75c to $9.01.

09:47 EDT Circor rises 49.4% - Circor is up 49.4%, or $15.14 to $45.80.

09:36 EDT Stein Mart installing Amazon Hub Lockers in nearly 200 stores - Stein Mart (SMRT) announced that it is installing Amazon Hub Lockers in nearly 200 of its stores across 28 states. "Amazon Hub Lockers are secure, self-service kiosks that provide customers of the online retailer an alternative delivery option to pick up and return their Amazon packages," the company said in a statement. "We are thrilled to offer this innovative delivery experience to Amazon customers while introducing new shoppers to Stein Mart," said Hunt Hawkins, Stein Mart's CEO. Patrick Supanc, Amazon Worldwide Director of Lockers and Pickup, added, "Amazon will go where our customers are and deliver where and when they need us. Rolling out Amazon Hub Lockers with Stein Mart is a great opportunity to provide a seamless shopping and delivery experience for our joint customers." Stein Mart said the lockers will be available by early June.

09:26 EDT Home Depot says has not included impact of tariffs in FY19 guidance - Says: Working through impacts of tariffs... Has not included impact of tariffs in FY19 guidance... Drivers for home improvement spending "strong."

09:21 EDT Kohl's sees low single-digit percentage dip in inventory levels in USD in 2019

09:17 EDT Rogers comments on U.S. Department of Commerce entity list designation of Huawei - Rogers commented that it has evaluated the recently issued U.S. Department of Commerce export control restrictions relating to Huawei Technologies and its affiliates and is implementing additional compliance processes for sales to Huawei's fabricators and converters, which are Rogers' direct customers. "However, because of the uncertain impact of the new restrictions on Huawei's global supply chain, it is unclear how demand for Rogers' products may be affected. Accordingly, the company is unable to determine what impact, if any, this may have on its financial performance for the second quarter of 2019. The company will continue to monitor these developments and seek to maintain compliance with applicable laws."

09:16 EDT Heron Therapeutics announces publication of results from Phase 3 EPOCH 1 - Heron Therapeutics announced that the results from the pivotal Phase 3 EPOCH 1 bunionectomy study of the investigational agent HTX-011 have been published online by the Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine journal. The article, entitled "HTX-011 reduced pain intensity and opioid consumption versus bupivacaine HCl in bunionectomy: phase III results from the randomized EPOCH 1 study," also will be published in the July 2019 print issue of RAPM. HTX-011 achieved all primary and key secondary endpoints in the EPOCH 1 study, demonstrating statistically significant reductions in both pain intensity and the use of opioid rescue medications following surgery and an increase in the proportion of patients who were opioid-free.

09:15 EDT Perrigo receives approval from FDA for Voltaren Gel - Perrigo Company announced its partner received final approval from the FDA for its AB rated Abbreviated New Drug Application referencing Voltaren Gel, 1%. Perrigo will acquire full ownership of the ANDA under a pre-existing arrangement with its partner within 30 days. The Company anticipates launching this product within the next two months. Annual market sales for Voltaren(R) Gel, 1% for the 12 months ending March 2019 were approximately $350M as measured by IQVIA. Perrigo will manufacture diclofenac sodium topical gel 1% in its plant in Israel. The product was developed through its partnership with Capstone Development Solutions, a company of Water Street Healthcare Partners, a strategic investor focused exclusively on the health care industry.

09:10 EDT Ritchie Bros. receives approval of TSX and announces share repurchase program - Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers announces that it has obtained the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange, or TSX, to commence a normal course issuer bid, or NCIB. The NCIB will allow the Company to use its share repurchase program to primarily neutralize share dilution from options.The NCIB will commence on May 23 and will terminate on May 22, 2020 or on such earlier date as the Company may complete its purchases thereunder or as it may otherwise determine. Under the NCIB, the Company may purchase up to the lesser of 5,449,204 common shares and that number of common shares worth an aggregate of $100M. Furthermore, subject to certain exemptions for block purchases, the maximum number of its common shares that the Company may purchase on any one trading day on the TSX is 31,957 common shares, such amount representing 25% of the average daily trading volume of the common shares of the Company on the TSX alone for the six calendar months ended April 30.

09:09 EDT Motorola Solutions says USPTO upholds validity of additional patent - Motorola Solutions announced that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a final written decision in the reexamination of Motorola Solutions' U.S. Patent No. 8,279,99, which relates to Motorola Solutions' time-division multiple access technology. The PTAB rejected all validity challenges related to the patent raised by Hytera Communications. Importantly, the '991 patent enables key functionality that provides Motorola Solutions' customers with innovative capabilities that ensure products are highly reliable, safe and efficient. This decision marks the PTAB's rejection of Hytera's fourth attempt to invalidate Motorola Solutions' patents, including three patents that the International Trade Commission found Hytera was intentionally infringing. After losing in the ITC, Hytera vigorously pursued its bid in the USPTO to invalidate Motorola Solutions' patents U.S. Patent Nos. 6,591,111; 7,369,869; 8,116,284; and 8,279,991. With the PTAB's announcement of its decision on the '911 patent, the PTAB has now rejected all four of Hytera's challenges. All four of these patents are currently asserted by Motorola Solutions against Hytera in a patent litigation lawsuit pending in United States District Court in Chicago, Illinois. In that suit, Motorola Solutions is seeking an injunction against Hytera's "i-Series" product line. Notably, Hytera's i-Series was released in response to the ITC orders banning Hytera's prior products from being imported into the United States. Hytera has removed from its i-Series products key features covered by Motorola Solutions' patents, significantly impacting performance. As a result of the PTAB's orders, Hytera will be precluded from raising certain prior art invalidity defenses in the District Court proceedings.

09:06 EDT Bellerophon presents additional data from INOpulse study at ATS - Bellerophon presented additional data from Cohort 1 of its ongoing Phase 2/3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study of INOpulse for the treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension associated with Interstitial Lung Disease, or PH-ILD, as a late-breaking oral presentation at the American Thoracic Society, or ATS. MVPA improved by 34%. Overall activity improved by 12%. NT-ProBNP improved by 27%. NT-ProBNP is a peptide marker of right ventricular failure, with higher levels indicative of disease worsening. Oxygen saturation improved by 20%. The 34% placebo corrected improvement in MVPA was supported by separation between subjects on iNO and subjects on placebo. Proportion of awake time spent in MVPA improved by 38%. Calorie expenditure improved by 12%. Subjects on open-label extension demonstrated consistent improvements in MVPA and overall activity, with subjects transitioning from placebo to open-label experiencing a reversal from worsening to improving.

09:03 EDT Fly Intel: Pre-market Movers - HIGHER: Circor (CIR), up 51% to $46.35 after Crane (CR) announced that it has submitted a proposal to the board of Circor to acquire the company for $45 per share in cash... Boeing (BA), up 2% after the Wall Street Journal reported U.S. aviation authorities regard a collision with one or more birds as the most likely reason for trouble with an "angle of attack" sensor that ultimately caused the Ethiopian Airlines crash of a 737 MAX jet. UP AFTER EARNINGS: AutoZone (AZO), up 2%... 360 Finance (QFIN), up 8%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: Home Depot (HD), down 1%... Kohl's (KSS), down 10%... J.C. Penney (JCP), down 11%... Nordson (NDSN), down 3%. LOWER: BioCryst (BCRX), down 47% after announcing results from Phase 3 APeX-2 trial.

08:56 EDT Oramed completes enrollement for Phase IIb clinical study of its insulin capsule - Oramed Pharmaceuticals announced that it has completed enrollment for its 90-day dose-ranging Phase IIb clinical study of its oral insulin capsule main cohort. Close to 300 patients have now been enrolled. 70%, over 200, of these patients have completed treatment in the study. The Phase IIb double-blind, randomized study for Type 2 diabetes was designed to identify the optimal dose to take into Phase III studies. A primary efficacy endpoint of reduction in HbA1c as well as safety endpoints are being assessed. A previous 28-day treatment study of 180 patients revealed a statistically significant improvement from baseline in HbA1c levels. Longer term treatment with ORMD-0801 has the potential for a more significant positive impact on HbA1c, a key clinical measure of blood sugar.

08:50 EDT Front Yard Residential enters agreement with Snow Park Capital Partners - Front Yard entered into an agreement with Snow Park that provides for the appointment of Messrs. Abrams and Nikolic to the Front Yard Board, Snow Park's withdrawal from the proxy contest and Snow Park's agreement to customary standstill provisions, among other items. CEO George Ellison stated: "These initiatives are the result of constructive dialogue between the Company and its stockholders. We welcome Leland and Lazar to the Board and look forward to working with them to achieve our goals. Our new directors bring additional experience, independence and fresh perspectives, which we expect will help Front Yard deliver superior stockholder returns."

08:48 EDT Citizens Holding acquires Charter Bank - Citizens Holding, the parent company of The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia, announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement to acquire Charter Bank. Upon completion of the merger, Charter will merge into Citizens Bank. Based upon financial data as of March 31, the combined company will have approximately $1.2B in assets, deposits of $989M, and gross loans of $569M. The merger is expected to close in Q4, pending customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals and the approval by the shareholders of Charter. Subject to the terms of the merger agreement, Charter shareholders will receive 0.39417 shares of Citizens' common stock and $3.615 in cash for each outstanding share of Charter common stock. Based on Citizens' closing price of $20.90 as of May 20, this equates to a per share value of $11.85 and an aggregate deal value of $20M. At March 31, Charter had approximately $161M in total assets, $134M in deposits and $110M in gross loans. Charter operates four branches in the counties of Harrison and Jackson, Mississippi. The combination expands Citizens' presence in its southern markets, creating the 10th largest bank by deposits in the combined counties of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson, otherwise known as the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Upon completion of the merger, Gregory Cronin, CEO of Charter, will serve in a leadership position with Citizens. "Our Charter Bank Team is enthusiastic to be joining a well-respected community bank with a history of providing exceptional products and services to its markets," remarked Cronin. "We believe that we can better serve our clients in our local communities."

08:47 EDT Front Yard Residential enters agreement with Snow Park Capital Partners - Front Yard Residential Corporation announced several new strategic initiatives that it said it "believes will position Front Yard for ongoing success and support its efforts to maximize value for all stockholders." In conjunction with these new initiatives, Front Yard announced it has reached an agreement with Snow Park Capital Partners and certain of its affiliates with respect to its director nominees and certain other matters.

08:39 EDT Canopy Growth appoints Mike Lee as acting CFO, effective June 1 - Canopy Growth (CGC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Lee to its executive leadership team in the acting role of CFO, effective June 1. Mike's permanent role as CFO will commence upon receiving Health Canada security clearance required for all Officers and Directors of the company. Mike brings a wealth of experience from the consumer goods & beverages industry, having worked for companies such as E. & J. Gallo Winery, PepsiCo (PEP), and recently Constellation Brands (STZ), where he served as Senior Vice President & CFO for their $3B Wine & Spirits Division.

08:35 EDT Sanmina and Smiota announce partnership - Sanmina and Smiota announced a partnership to offer smart locker solutions for the secure exchange of physical goods across a wide range of industry verticals such as Retail, Enterprise, Multi-family, and Universities. Sanmina's Mechanical Systems Division, or MSD, will support the hardware development and manufacturing of smart locker solutions, and Sanmina's Global Services Division, or SGS will provide installation services and field support. Smiota will provide its Locker Delivery Operating Systems, o L-DOS, and leading Smiota cloud platform to enable secure last-yard delivery of goods to smart lockers.The partnership enables Sanmina and Smiota to jointly deliver comprehensive smart locker solutions globally for secure, streamlined delivery of packages and groceries. M

08:32 EDT ClearSign Combustion receives contract from major California oil producer - ClearSign Combustion received an additional contract from a major California oil producer to retrofit another enclosed wellhead ground flare with its Duplex technology to ensure compliance with air district emission requirements. The project marks the seventh installation of ClearSign technology in the enclosed low emission ground flare and vapor combustor market.

08:26 EDT J.C. Penney says working to restore clearance selling margins - Says fine jewelry business continues to deliver strong results. Says children's apparel and men's apparel outpaced the company comp. Says maintaining focus and implementing actions and rigor surrounding inventory management to improve inventory productivity and gross margin levels and optimize working capital to increase cash flow. Says areas of focus include restoring clearance selling margins to more historical levels which represents significant total gross margin upside potential. Says normalizing shrink results to historical levels, Says could contribute meaningful total gross margin upside on an annualized basis. Says eliminating non-core and low gross margin product categories to refocus on driving higher sales and gross margin. Says recent category exits include major appliances, furniture and certain online drop-ship SKUs.

08:21 EDT WW announces new Toronto technology hub - WW announced a new technology hub that will be launched in Toronto to expand the Company's team working on the digital WW experience for its members. WW hired Don Kittle, Vice President, Engineering, previously with LoyaltyOne, Postmedia, Kijiji and Virgin Mobile, as its first Technology team member in Toronto. Kittle is building a team of engineering and data science talent to continue the technology transformation and personalization efforts underway. The team in Toronto will work collaboratively with the WW Product and Technology teams in New York and San Francisco, including designers, engineers, product managers, data scientists and researchers, on ways to personalize the WW experience.

08:17 EDT J.C. Penney sees improved overall gross margin performance in 2019 - Says working swiftly to build framework and team to reestablish fundamentals. Says made good progress on each of immediate action steps. Says reducing inventory levels. Says experienced significantly increased sell-thru rates within all divisions and delivered improved selling margins in majority of merchandise divisions. Says tested strategies around optimal inventory levels and assortment choice counts. Says removed several hundred thousand unproductive and unprofitable factory ship SKUs from jcp.com with relatively no impact to online sales results. Says l aunched a new store checkout process to streamline tasks and enhance the customer experience with shorter checkout lines. Says tested a new centralized pick-up and returns area with plans to expand the concept to 500 stores in Q2.

08:12 EDT Verily forms strategic alliances with Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sanofi - Verily, an Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) company, announced strategic alliances with Novartis (NVS), Otsuka, Pfizer (PFE) and Sanofi (SNY) to develop digitally innovative, patient-centered clinical research programs using Project Baseline's evidence generation platform and tools. The Baseline Platform is designed to engage more patients and clinicians in research, increase the speed and ease of conducting studies and collect more comprehensive, higher quality data, including outside the four walls of a clinic. Across the United States, the number of people participating in clinical research -- including clinical trials and observational studies -- is less than 10% of the population.1 In addition to low participation, challenges in research include data fragmentation, inefficient operations and limited value for patients. Alongside academic research institutions, patient-advocacy groups and health systems, Verily and its industry partners aim to implement a more patient-centric, technology-enabled approach to research, and increase the number and diversity of clinical research participants. They will also explore novel approaches to generating real-world evidence using the Baseline Platform to collect, organize and activate health information from electronic health records, sensors and other digital sources. Over the coming years, Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sanofi each plan to launch clinical studies leveraging the platform across diverse therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular disease, oncology, mental health, dermatology and diabetes. Verily's initial strategic alliances with Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sanofi strengthen the innovative research ecosystem that will continue to expand and could help foster greater scientific discovery through the creation of next-generation research and development programs.

08:10 EDT Abeona Therapeutics announces FDA clearance of ABO-202 IND - Abeona Therapeutics announced that the company is cleared to begin a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating its novel, one-time gene therapy ABO-202 for the treatment of CLN1 disease, following acceptance of its investigational new drug, or IND, application by the FDA. ABO-202 is designed to deliver a functional copy of the PPT1 gene to cells of the central nervous system and peripheral organs using a combined intravenous and intrathecal delivery via the AAV9 vector. The company will provide guidance on the timing of the clinical trial later this year. In preclinical studies, ABO-202 effectively delivered a functional copy of the PPT1 gene to the central nervous system and peripheral organs. IND-enabling studies in a CLN1 animal model demonstrated that ABO-202 normalized survival and led to improvement of neurological function in affected mice. These studies also showed that combination intravenous and intrathecal dosing provided incremental efficacy over either delivery route alone and thus may enhance the therapeutic potential of this gene therapy.

08:08 EDT J.C. Penney says 'significant amount of work ahead of us' - Expects positive free cash flow for 2019. Says encouraged with progress made on key objectives. Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

08:07 EDT Quotient announces FDA approval of seven additional blood bank reagents - Quotient Limited announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the commercialization of seven additional blood bank reagents for extended antigen typing, completing the company's core product offering to the US market. In March 2018, seven Quotient reagents were also approved by the FDA, including two market firsts. "Quotient has more than tripled our FDA approved product offering since coming directly to market in the U.S. We continue to be motivated to bring high-quality, customer-friendly products to the U.S. market, and are sincerely grateful to our customers for their ongoing support," said Bill Brady, VP US Commercial at Quotient.

08:06 EDT JMU acquires Unicorn Investment Limited - JMU announced that the company has acquired Unicorn Investment Limited. Pursuant to a share purchase agreement, on May 21, JMU purchased all the issued and outstanding shares of Unicorn from its shareholder for the consideration of 632,660,858 newly issued ordinary shares of JMU. Unicorn is a developer of asset transaction platform products based on blockchain technologies. The former shareholder of Unicorn and the seller in the acquisition, Haohan Xu, is a principal shareholder of the company. Xu held 25.7% of all the issued and outstanding shares of the company immediately prior to the closing of the acquisition, and will hold approximately 48.0% of all the issued and outstanding shares of the company immediately after the closing of the acquisition.

08:06 EDT Appliance Recycling regains compliance with Nasdaq listing rules - Appliance Recycling Centers of America announced today that on May 20 it received notification from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market that the company regained compliance with Listing Rule 5550, which requires a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share. The company is now fully compliant with all Nasdaq rules. This matter is now closed.

08:05 EDT Verily forms strategic alliances with Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sanofi - Verily, an Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) company, announced strategic alliances with Novartis (NVS), Otsuka, Pfizer (PFE) and Sanofi (SNY) to develop digitally innovative, patient-centered clinical research programs using Project Baseline's evidence generation platform and tools. The Baseline Platform is designed to engage more patients and clinicians in research, increase the speed and ease of conducting studies and collect more comprehensive, higher quality data, including outside the four walls of a clinic. Across the United States, the number of people participating in clinical research -- including clinical trials and observational studies -- is less than 10% of the population.1 In addition to low participation, challenges in research include data fragmentation, inefficient operations and limited value for patients. Alongside academic research institutions, patient-advocacy groups and health systems, Verily and its industry partners aim to implement a more patient-centric, technology-enabled approach to research, and increase the number and diversity of clinical research participants. They will also explore novel approaches to generating real-world evidence using the Baseline Platform to collect, organize and activate health information from electronic health records, sensors and other digital sources. Over the coming years, Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sanofi each plan to launch clinical studies leveraging the platform across diverse therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular disease, oncology, mental health, dermatology and diabetes. Verily's initial strategic alliances with Novartis, Otsuka, Pfizer and Sanofi strengthen the innovative research ecosystem that will continue to expand and could help foster greater scientific discovery through the creation of next-generation research and development programs.

08:04 EDT Kopin near eye microdisplay being utilized in Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 - Kopin (KOPN) announced that its near eye microdisplay is being utilized by Google (GOOG, GOOGL) in its new Glass Enterprise Edition 2. Kopin was also the microdisplay supplier to Google's first generation Glass Enterprise Edition. "Glass Enterprise Edition 2 is a wearable computer that fits into the user's workflow to help them remain engaged and focused on their work. The headset is being used by companies to boost productivity, reduce costs and improve working conditions for employees."

08:02 EDT ViaSat awarded $450M contract by U.S. General Services Administration - Viasat announced it was awarded an IDIQ contract by the U.S. General Services Administration, or GSA, on April 18 with a maximum ceiling of $450M to support Rapid Migration of Command, Control, Communications and Computers/Cyber, or C5AD, Capability Best Practices for U.S. Special Operations Forces, or SOF, and U.S. General Purpose Forces, or GPF. Through this award, Viasat will deliver a diverse portfolio of technologies and services to advance communications, intelligence, security and operational capabilities for SOF and GPF warfighters operating across the battlespace.

07:54 EDT PPG finalizing cost program with about $125M of additional run-rate savings - "The two independent advisors performed thorough reviews and their similar conclusions clearly indicate the value of maintaining our current business portfolio, including architectural and industrial coatings, as the best strategic path to maximize shareholder value. By maintaining our current portfolio, we avoid negative commercial, operational and procurement impacts and preserve full strategic flexibility for the future," said CEO Michael McGarry. "As we have done consistently, we will continue our ongoing strategic assessment of all our businesses, ensuring each business continually earns its place in our portfolio based on current performance and future expectations. In addition, we recently concluded an engagement by a globally-recognized consulting firm focused on operational and growth investment reviews for our U.S. and Canada architectural coatings business, targeting full and rapid earnings recovery following the prior year customer assortment changes. Recommendations from this engagement include driving certain commercial network optimizations, implementing further cost structure improvements, utilizing additional sales effectiveness tools and adopting new digital technologies. We are executing these initiatives with the goals of achieving full recovery of our profitability next quarter and positioning the business for continued success. Also, while we remain a top quartile performer in our overhead and corporate cost structures, we conducted a rigorous internal operational and organizational review and identified certain opportunities for the company to further improve operating efficiency and maintain commercial excellence. As a result, we are working to finalize a new cost savings program with targeted full year run rate savings of about $125M. We expect to provide additional detail with the release of our second quarter financial results; however, the final program is expected to include: Further manufacturing optimization; Targeted pruning of low profit business in certain regions; Exiting certain smaller product lines that are not meeting profitability objectives; Reorganization of certain business unit cost structures based on current economic climate; Certain redundancy actions related to recent acquisitions; Second quarter charge in the range of $185M to $200M, excluding certain non-cash items."

07:51 EDT PPG to maintain current business portfolio composition after strategic review - PPG (PPG) announced that two separate and independent reviews of its business portfolio were completed by Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) with each firm independently conducting multi-faceted evaluations of PPG's business portfolio, including potential separation opportunities. PPG's Board of Directors and executive management team recently received a full report from each advisor with respect to their independent reviews. Based on these reports and its own evaluation, the Board has determined that maintaining the company's current business portfolio composition, including its architectural and industrial coatings businesses, provides the best opportunity to maximize long-term shareholder value.

07:47 EDT Primoris announces EPC award valued over $22M - Primoris announced a new engineering, procurement and construction, or EPC, award valued over $22M. The EPC award was secured by Primoris Design and Construction. The EPC project was awarded by a refinery customer for a project in New Mexico. The project includes an isomerization unit and recovery of saturated gas throughout the refinery for further processing within the existing refinery units. Primoris Industrial Constructors will perform construction for the project. Work is scheduled to begin immediately, and completion is estimated for Q3 of 2020.

07:45 EDT Crinetics initiates Phase 1 study of CRN01941 - Crinetics announced the initiation of a Phase 1, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, single- and multiple-dose study to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of CRN01941 in healthy volunteers. CRN01941 is an oral nonpeptide somatostatin receptor subtype 2 biased agonist designed for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors, or NETs, that originate from neuroendocrine cells commonly found in the gut, lung or pancreas. This Phase 1, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, single-dose and multiple-dose study of CRN01941 will enroll up to 119 healthy male and female subjects.

07:40 EDT Monro increases quarterly cash dividend 2c to 22c per share - Monro announced that its board has approved a 2c per share increase in the company's cash dividend for Q1 to 22c per share, which translates to an annual rate of 88c per share, representing an increase of 8c per share or 10% as compared to the total dividends paid in FY19. The cash dividend is payable quarterly to shareholders of record on the company's outstanding shares of common stock, including the shares of common stock to which the holders of the company's Class C convertible preferred stock are entitled. The dividend of 22c per share for Q1 will be payable on June 17 to shareholders of record as of June 3.

07:19 EDT J.C. Penney appoints Shawn Gensch CCO - J.C. Penney (JCP) announced that Shawn Gensch, an executive with 25 years of experience in marketing and finance, has been named executive VP, chief customer officer, or CCO, effective June 3, reporting directly to Jill Soltau, CEO. He will be responsible for driving customer-centric strategies to grow traffic, engagement and customer retention in addition to revitalizing the company's brand, leading marketing initiatives across all channels, shaping the company's messaging and delivering digital experience and increased customer loyalty. In this role, Gensch will oversee all aspects of the company's marketing strategies and initiatives including digital, advertising, creative design, customer research, loyalty, analytics and insights, social media, sales promotions and planning and events marketing to deliver an integrated brand experience across all customer touchpoints. Gensch joins JCPenney from Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) where he served as CCO, overseeing their brand and category marketing strategy, digital marketing, guest insights, customer relations, advertising, social media, private label brand strategy and public relations in support of its nationwide stores and e-commerce operations.

07:15 EDT Kimmeridge responded to PDC's Energy claims regarding conflicts of interest - Kimmeridge Energy Management Company and certain of its affiliates, beneficial owners of 5.1% of the shares of common stock of PDC Energy, responded to PDC's false claims regarding independence and conflicts of interest. Kimmeridge is disappointed that PDC has chosen to respond to ISS's independent analysis of our position by issuing letters to shareholders that contain misinformation and baseless attacks. This rhetoric supports the view that change is needed at PDC. Specifically, in a May 20th Letter to PDC Shareholders, CEO Bart Brookman stated: "I also believe that Ben Dell, Kimmeridge's leader, is primarily focused on pushing PDC to engage in mergers with our competitors, including transactions in which he would be a financial participant. I believe that this, together with possible other economic interests he holds, present serious conflicts of interest." Kimmeridge highlighted it does not own shares in publicly traded energy companies other than PDC.

07:10 EDT Voce withdraws Argo Group nominations, will review potential legal remedies - Voce Capital Management, the beneficial owner of approximately 5.6% of the shares of Argo Group, issued the following statement to its fellow shareholders in connection with the Company's upcoming 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders: "Earlier this year, Voce sought and obtained regulatory approval for its proxy solicitation at Argo from all relevant state Departments of Insuranc. Despite the fact that the solicitation of limited, narrow proxies in connection with an annual meeting of shareholders in an effort to elect fully-independent Director nominees in no way constitutes 'control' of Argo by Voce, we nonetheless cooperated with the state DOI procedures, responding to all inquiries posed and submitting extensive documentary information in support of our position. As a result, every state - Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia - granted approval for us to proceed prior to the filing of our definitive proxy statement on April 12, 2019. However, we have recently been advised by two states that they have now flip-flopped, at the 11th hour, revoking their prior approvals and casting doubt on our ability to proceed; Virginia became the second state to do so, in a letter dated yesterday. Argo's active role in lobbying the various DOI is clear and irrefutable. We believe that the officials reversed their previously well-founded positions as a result of Argo's misinformation. In fact, Virginia explicitly stated in its letter to us that it had 'considered additional materials and information provided by Argo' in rescinding its previous approval. Argo's actions are reprehensible..But most importantly, Argo's Board has now disenfranchised its shareholders by helping foment uncertainty as to whether votes cast against it at the Annual Meeting will even be counted. For example, the Illinois DOI has threatened to "pursue injunctive relief and/or to seek the voiding of any proxy votes cast," should our contest proceed. The implications of this should send a chill down the spine of not only Argo shareholders but owners of any insurance company and, frankly, anyone who cares about corporate governance. Given these disturbing, last-minute developments, it is clear there is a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the Annual Meeting and its potential outcome. Accordingly, we have no choice but to withdraw our nominations for election of directors at the Annual Meeting, and cease soliciting proxies therefor. In the meantime, we plan to register our dissatisfaction with the Company's outrageous actions by voting AGAINST the election of Argo's five Class III directors on the Company's WHITE proxy card. At this time, many of the Company's largest shareholders have yet to cast their votes, and we encourage them to follow our lead and withhold their votes on the Company's card...Moving forward, we are evaluating all potential legal remedies for this situation, including potentially requisitioning a Special General Meeting. We continue to believe in Argo's potential to deliver far greater value for its shareholders, and look forward to continuing our efforts to right the ship at Argo."

07:08 EDT Village Farms to form joint venture with Arkansas Valley Hemp - Village Farms International announced it has entered into an agreement with Arkansas Valley Hemp to form a joint venture for the outdoor cultivation of high-cannabidiol, or CBD, hemp and CBD extraction in Colorado. The joint venture, Arkansas Valley Green and Gold Hemp will be 60%-owned by Village Farms, 35%-owned by AV Hemp, and 5%-owned by Village Fields Hemp. Based in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado, AV Hemp was established by the founder of one of Colorado's largest licensed outdoor cannabis growing operations and real estate developer, specifically to capitalize on the significant opportunity in hemp-derived CBD.

07:07 EDT AutoZone opened 35 new stores in the U.S in Q3 - During the quarter ended May 4, AutoZone opened 35 new stores in the U.S., eight stores in Mexico and three stores in Brazil. As of May 4, the company had 5,686 stores in 50 states in the U.S., the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, 576 stores in Mexico, and 25 stores in Brazil for a total count of 6,287.

07:05 EDT Sesen Bio announces FDA acceptance of analytical comparability plan - Sesen Bio (SESN) announced that the company has completed its Type C CMC meeting and has reached agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the Analytical Comparability Plan, and that, subject to final comparability data to be provided in the BLA submission, no additional clinical trials to establish comparability are deemed necessary at this time. In its Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials, Sesen Bio manufactured Vicinium in its facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Based on the company's assessment of the global demand potential for Vicinium, Sesen Bio sought a commercial manufacturer. In October 2018, Sesen Bio entered into an agreement for the manufacturing process and technology transfer of Vicinium production with FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FUJIY). In April 2019, the first in a series of full-scale, commercial GMP runs was successfully completed at FUJIFILM. The final bulk drug substance produced in this first run met all release specifications. On June 6, 2019, Sesen Bio will meet with the FDA for its second scheduled meeting, a Type B Pre-BLA meeting, to discuss the registration strategy for Vicinium. Due to the wide-range of topics to be discussed at the Pre-BLA meeting, the Company plans to provide an update on the outcome of that meeting upon receipt of the final meeting minutes, which is typically within 30 days.

07:03 EDT Broadridge enters into $300M purchase agreement to acquire RPM technologies - Broadridge Financial Solutions announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire RPM Technologies, a leading Canadian provider of enterprise wealth management software solutions and services for approximately $300M. RPM's technology platforms support over 15 million customer accounts. The transaction is expected to contribute $40M-50M in revenues to Broadridge in FY20 and is not expected to have a material impact on Broadridge's Adjusted EPS. Broadridge is purchasing RPM from its current owners which include Bayshore Capital. The closing of the transaction is subject to the completion of an intercompany reorganization by RPM Technologies and standard customary closing conditions. RBC Capital Markets is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Broadridge. Canaccord Genuity is acting as exclusive financial advisor to RPM.

06:57 EDT Zomedica announces TRUFORMA achieves two milestones - Zomedica Pharmaceuticals announced that TRUFORMA, its point-of-care biosensor platform, recently achieved two important product development milestones. The TRUFORMA platform, formerly designated ZM-024, is a table-top instrument that will use disposable assay cartridges to test a range of samples including whole blood, serum, and plasma. The platform uses differentiated Bulk Acoustic Wave, or BAW, sensor technology to provide a non-optical and fluorescence-free detection system for use at the point-of-care. The milestones achieved are beta finalization of the instrument design and the completion of feasibility testing of the TRUFORMA platform's first assays. Completion of the beta design milestone allows a transition to commercial production for the instrument.

06:48 EDT Sonoco announces contributions of $200M to U.S. Defined Benefit Pension Plans - Sonoco announced it is making voluntary contributions of approximately $200M to its U.S. Defined Benefit Pension Plans. According to Julie Albrecht, Sonoco's Vice President and CFO, the voluntary contributions are projected to increase the funded status of the Company's U.S. Defined Benefit Plans to approximately 100%. Sonoco previously closed its U.S. defined retirement plans at the end of 2003 and ceased additional benefit accruals at year-end 2018 involving all employees in the final average pay pension formula within these pension plans. To fund the voluntary contributions to the pension plans, Sonoco has entered into a $200M, one-year term loan with a relationship bank. The pre-payable, unsecured loan has an option to renew for a second year and has an interest rate of LIBOR plus 1.0%, based on the Company's current investment grade credit rating.

06:33 EDT Arthur J. Gallagher purchases minority stake in EIBL - Arthur J. Gallagher announced that it has purchased a minority stake in Edelweiss Insurance Brokers Limited, or EIBL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Edelweiss Group, India's diversified financial services conglomerate. The deal is subject to approval by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. Headquartered in Mumbai, with branches in Dehli, Kolkata and Bangalore, EIBL is a corporate insurance broker offering general insurance solutions to institutional as well as individual clients across India. India's growing commercial and specialty market is supported by demand for specialist coverages such as renewable energy, infrastructure and cyber liability.

06:33 EDT Verint sets 3-year targets, sees Customer Engagement revenue about $1.1B - In investor presentation slides, Verint provided three year targets for Customer Engagement, including revenue of about $1.1B, a 10% CAGR. The company also sees Cloud as greater than 40% of total revenue, Recurring about 70% of total revenue, as well as about 30% adjusted EBITDA margins, gross margin expansion and opex leverage. For Maintenance, Verint sees revenue flat to modestly down over the next three years.

06:24 EDT Xbox chief Phil Spencer outlines plans for fighting toxicity in gaming - The head of Xbox wrote a blog spelling out how the company plans to combat toxicity in gaming. Phil Spencer in a blog post titled "Video Games: A Unifying Force for the World" that Microsoft is committing itself to new initiatives aimed at making gaming widely more accessible and safer, starting by expanding its safety team. Spencer said: "First, gaming is for everyone. No one group 'owns'" gaming. Instead, whether you're new to gaming or are a diehard e-sports fan, you are welcome to play and welcome to all the fun and skill-building that comes with gaming. In this way, when everyone can play, the entire world wins." Spencer says he believes in what he calls two fundamental truths for gaming: that the medium is for everyone no matter your age, gender, nationality, orientation, or skin color. The other is that, for gaming's benefits to be accessible to all people in the world, companies like Microsoft and others need to foster a safe gaming culture and online environment, both through policies and tools and through positive changes to the community and industry itself. "Gaming must be a safe environment. Creating community is shared work, and protecting community is essential work, so, we all carry part of the payload of community safety - game industry and gamers alike." He added: "By uniting as an industry, we can thoughtfully and deliberately continue building a safe and inclusive gaming environment for everyone. Microsoft, Team Xbox, and I are personally committing to this, beginning with the following principles and actions: We commit to be vigilant, proactive, and swift. We commit to empowering you to safeguard your gaming experience the way you want. We commit to working across the gaming industry on safety measures." Reference Link

06:04 EDT Home Depot reports Q1 U.S. SSS up 3% - "We were pleased with the underlying performance of the core business despite unfavorable weather in February and significant deflation in lumber prices compared to a year ago," said Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president. "Looking ahead, we remain excited about the momentum we are seeing with our strategic investments. As a result of these initiatives, and the current macroeconomic and housing backdrop, today we are reaffirming our sales and earnings guidance for fiscal 2019. I would like to thank our associates for their hard work and continued dedication to our customers."

05:26 EDT Novelion announces Aegerion to recapitalize through court supervised process - Novelion Therapeutics announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Aegerion Pharmaceuticals has entered into a plan funding agreement, or PFA, and a restructuring support agreement (RSA) that will result in Aegerion selling 100% of its reorganized stock to, and becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of, Dublin-based Amryt Pharma. The agreements, which will result in a recapitalization of Aegerion, are the result of the previously announced capital structure and strategic review undertaken independently by the boards of Novelion and Aegerion, and a broad marketing process. The Recapitalization of Aegerion pursuant to the PFA and a proposed Chapter 11 plan of reorganization has been approved by Aegerion's board and approved and recommended by the independent restructuring committee of Aegerion's board. Novelion's board has approved Novelion's entry into the RSA and support for Aegerion's proposed Chapter 11 restructuring. In conjunction with the Recapitalization, Aegerion has entered into the RSA with many of its key stakeholders, including Novelion, the holders of in excess of 67% of the 2.00% convertible notes issued by Aegerion due 2019 and the holders of 100% of the principal amount under Aegerion's other indebtedness for borrowed money. To facilitate the Recapitalization, Aegerion and its U.S. subsidiary Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Holdings have commenced cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York pursuant to Chapter 11 of the United States Code. Aegerion will continue to operate in the ordinary course of business during the Chapter 11 process. The non-U.S. subsidiaries of Aegerion are not part of the Chapter 11 proceedings. The Recapitalization ascribes an enterprise value to Aegerion and Amryt of $395 million and $146 million, respectively, excluding cash and cash equivalents and subject to adjustment for accrued interest and certain payments that are due to the DOJ and the SEC. The key terms of the Recapitalization, which are subject to Bankruptcy Court approval and other customary conditions.