Stockwinners Market Radar for February 17, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:44 EST Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories - Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. In a statement regarding quarterly guidance, Apple (AAPL) said that: "As the public health response to COVID-19 continues, our thoughts remain with the communities and individuals most deeply affected by the disease, and with those working around the clock to contain its spread and to treat the ill. [...] Work is starting to resume around the country, but we are experiencing a slower return to normal conditions than we had anticipated. As a result, we do not expect to meet the revenue guidance we provided for the March quarter due to two main factors. The first is that worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained. While our iPhone manufacturing partner sites are located outside the Hubei province - and while all of these facilities have reopened - they are ramping up more slowly than we had anticipated. [...] The second is that demand for our products within China has been affected. All of our stores in China and many of our partner stores have been closed. Additionally, stores that are open have been operating at reduced hours and with very low customer traffic." 2. Bombardier (BDRBF) announced that it has made the strategic decision to focus exclusively on business aviation and plans to accelerate its deleveraging through the sale of its rail business. Bombardier has signed a memorandum of understanding with Alstom SA (ALSMY) and the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec for the sale of its Transportation business to Alstom. Under the transaction, Bombardier and la Caisse will sell their interests in Bombardier Transportation to Alstom on the basis of an enterprise value of $8.2B. Total proceeds, after the deduction of debt-like items and transferred liabilities, including pension obligations, and net of BT cash, are expected to be approximately $6.4B, subject to upward adjustments of up to $440M. After deducting la Caisse's equity position between $2.1B-$2.3B, Bombardier would receive net proceeds of between $4.2B-$4.5B, including $550M of Alstom shares for a fixed subscription price of EUR 47.50, monetizable after a three-month lock-up post-closing, subject to closing adjustments, indemnities and the EUR to USD exchange rate. 3. Pier 1 Imports (PIR) announced that it has entered into a Plan Support Agreement with a majority of its term loan lenders and is pursuing a sale of the company. To facilitate an orderly sale process and implement the PSA, the company and its subsidiaries have commenced voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The company also intends to use this process to complete the previously announced closure of up to 450 store locations, which includes the closure of all its stores in Canada. 4. For months now, regulators, legislators, activists, and presidential candidates have been calling out the toxic impact that big tech platforms are having on privacy, security, and consumer choice, and there are signs that regulation is starting to hurt, Eric Savitz wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. But it is actually the self-imposed checks that could be most damaging to tech's bottom line in the months to come, with Google (GOOGL) beginning to limit cookies in its Chrome browser and Apple adding a feature in its iPhone software that alerts consumers when an app tracks their location, the author noted. Meanwhile, Facebook (FB) is starting to feel the effects of restrictions on both ad targeting and measurement, as the company says that "the majority of that impact lies in front of us." 5. ViacomCBS (VIAC) subsidiary Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog" set a record for a video game adaption with a three-day domestic opening of $58M and $70M for the four days. Overseas, the movie launched to $43M from 40 markets for a global bow of $101M through Sunday and $113M through Monday. "Sonic the Hedgehog" sports an A CinemaScore and a 63% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

17:25 EST Advance Auto Parts increases quarterly cash dividend to 25c per share - Advance Auto Parts announced that on February 12, 2020, its Board of Directors approved an increase in the company's quarterly cash dividend from 6c per share to 25c per share on the company's outstanding common stock. This dividend is payable April 3, 2020 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 20, 2020.

16:46 EST DCP Midstream names Corey Walker President of Operations - DCP Midstream announced that Corey Walker has joined the company as the President of Operations. DCP's executive team includes two President of Operations roles that oversee an equal portion of the company's geographic footprint. Walker will oversee DCP's North and Midcontinent business units, including Southern Hills and other related logistics, marketing, and commercial operations. In addition to the Permian business unit, Don Baldridge, President of Operations, has expanded his responsibilities to oversee DCP's South business unit, including Sand Hills and other related logistics, marketing, and commercial operations.

15:37 EST Cubic announces semiannual dividend - Cubic announced that its Board of Directors approved a regular semiannual dividend of $0.135 per share, payable on March 12, 2020, to shareholders of record on March 2, 2020. Cubic has consistently paid cash dividends to its shareholders since 1971.

14:23 EST Dean Foods enters into asset purchase agreement with Dairy Farmers of America - Dean Foods announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries have entered into an asset purchase agreement with Dairy Farmers of America through which DFA will acquire a substantial portion of Dean Foods' business operations. Pursuant to the agreement, if consummated, DFA will acquire 44 of the company's fluid and frozen facilities and the real estate, inventory, equipment, and all other assets necessary to operate such facilities. If approved by the Bankruptcy Court at a hearing scheduled for March 12, 2020, DFA will serve as a "stalking horse bidder" for the Stalking Horse Assets in a court-supervised sales process, whereby the agreement with DFA will set the floor for the sale of the Stalking Horse Assets. Accordingly, the proposed agreement is subject to higher or otherwise better offers, and the company looks forward to working with its bondholders and other potentially interested parties in connection with their bids. The deadline for interested parties to furnish information to be considered a potential bidder for any or all of the Stalking Horse Assets is currently scheduled for March 31, 2020. Bids may be submitted in the form of an asset purchase or a plan of reorganization. The company is also in active discussions with parties interested in the plants and assets that are not included in the Stalking Horse Assets. The deadline to furnish information to be considered a potential bidder for the plants and assets that are not subject to the DFA bid is also currently scheduled for March 31, 2020. The deadline for potential bidders to submit a qualified bid for the Stalking Horse Assets or any of the plants or assets not included in the DFA bid is April 13, 2020. A hearing to approve the sale is proposed to be held on April 27, 2020, subject to the availability of the Bankruptcy Court. In addition to Bankruptcy Court approval, the proposed transaction with DFA is subject to various closing conditions, including antitrust clearance.

14:14 EST Nicolet Bankshares to acquire Commerce Financial - Nicolet Bankshares and Commerce Financial jointly announce the execution of a definitive merger agreement, pursuant to which Nicolet will acquire Commerce and its wholly-owned banking subsidiary, Commerce State Bank. Based on the financial results as of December 31, 2019, the combined company will have pro forma total assets of $4.3B, deposits of $3.6B and loans of $3.2B, as Commerce would represent approximately 16% of the combined company's year-end assets. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Nicolet will acquire Commerce with Nicolet being the surviving corporation. In the merger, Commerce shareholders shall receive 1.15 shares of Nicolet common stock for each share of Commerce stock. Based on Nicolet's closing price of $72.32 as of February 14, 2020 the merger consideration is valued at approximately $129.6M, which excludes Nicolet's pre-existing ownership of Commerce shares. The merger agreement provides for a cap and collar to potentially re-set the exchange ratio or change the mix of consideration should the Nicolet Common Stock Price, as defined in the merger agreement, rise above $82.00 per share, or fall below $62.00 per share. The estimated transaction value is a 1.9 multiple of Commerce's tangible book value as of December 31, 2019 and equates to approximately 18-times Commerce's 2019 after-tax income. Post-merger, Joe Fazio will join the Board of Directors of Nicolet Bankshares and Nicolet National Bank. Tom Hopp and Dave Borchardt, Commerce's President and CFO/COO, respectively, will join Nicolet National Bank. All customer-facing employees of Commerce are expected to stay on in the same capacity. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. It is subject to Commerce shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020. Upon consummation of the transaction, all branch offices of Commerce Bank are expected to open as Nicolet National Bank branches.

13:29 EST 3M selects AWS as preferred cloud provider for enterprise IT - Amazon Web Services, an Amazon company (AMZN), announced that 3M (MMM) is moving its enterprise IT infrastructure to AWS. As part of a company-wide enterprise IT transformation initiative, 3M is migrating its enterprise resource planning system, including accounting, supply chain management, manufacturing, product lifecycle management, and e-commerce, along with business-critical enterprise IT applications.

13:24 EST Amanda Clark joins Papa John's as Chief Development Officer - Papa John's announced the appointment of Amanda Clark as its Chief Development Officer. Clark will lead the company's strategy to continue expanding its restaurant footprint in North America and internationally. As Chief Development Officer, Clark will oversee franchise development and sales, building design and new concepts, and the programs and personnel that provide ongoing facilities support to existing restaurants.

13:20 EST UnitedHealth authorizes quarterly dividend payment of $1.08/share - UnitedHealth board of directors has authorized payment of a cash dividend of $1.08 per share, to be paid on March 24, 2020, to all shareholders of record of UnitedHealth common stock as of the close of business on March 16, 2020.

13:17 EST BWXT awarded $1B contract for Naval Nuclear Reactor components - BWX Technologies announced that the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has awarded subsidiary BWXT Nuclear Operations Group new contracts with options totaling approximately $1B for the manufacture of naval nuclear reactor components. The initial contract award booked in the fourth quarter of 2019 constitutes two-thirds of the anticipated total value. The remaining contract option award is expected later this year, subject to annual Congressional appropriations. A variety of naval nuclear reactor component manufacturing and material procurement activities will be performed over the term of this contract to support Ford-class carrier construction. This work will be performed at BWXT NOG locations in Lynchburg, Virginia; Barberton and Euclid, Ohio; and Mount Vernon, Indiana. The award announced is in addition to the submarine reactor component and fuel manufacturing and long-lead materials contracts announced last year. Together, these contracts represent a total of nearly $4B in additional naval nuclear propulsion work awarded in 2019, including future-year options.

13:10 EST Oshkosh Defense receives $407.3M order for Joint Light Tactical Vehicles - Oshkosh Defense, an Oshkosh Corp. company, announced that the U.S. Army Contracting Command - Detroit Arsenal has placed an order for 1,240 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and associated kits.

13:04 EST General Motors to cease Holden sales, design/engineering operations by 2021 - General Motors said it is taking decisive action to transform its international operations, building on the comprehensive strategy it laid out in 2015 to strengthen its core business, drive cost efficiencies and take action in markets that cannot earn an adequate return for its shareholders. GM announced that it would wind down sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand and retire the Holden brand by 2021. The company will focus its strategies for the market on the GM specialty vehicle business. The company also announced that it had signed a binding term sheet with Great Wall Motors to purchase GM's Rayong vehicle manufacturing facility in Thailand; and would withdraw Chevrolet from the domestic market in Thailand by the end of 2020. GM President Mark Reuss said the company explored a range of options to continue Holden operations, but none could overcome the challenges of the investments needed for the highly fragmented right-hand-drive market, the economics to support growing the brand, and delivering an appropriate return on investment. GM also undertook a detailed analysis of the business case for future production at the Rayong manufacturing facility in Thailand. Low plant utilization and forecast volumes have made continued GM production at the site unsustainable. Without domestic manufacturing, Chevrolet is unable compete in Thailand's new-vehicle market. GM Senior Vice President and President GM International Steve Kiefer said these decisions built on the announcement in January that GM would sell its Talegaon manufacturing facility in India; significant restructuring actions implemented in Korea; and investment in and continued optimization of South American operations. GM International Operations Senior Vice President Julian Blissett said that as well as implementing plans in international core markets, GM was continuing to optimize partnerships in markets like Uzbekistan, by transferring assets and building strong supply chains to reduce costs in growth markets. As a result of these actions in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, the company expects to incur net cash charges of approximately $300M. The company expects to record total cash and non-cash charges of $1.1B. These charges will primarily be incurred in the first quarter and continuing through the fourth quarter of 2020. These charges will be considered special for EBIT-adjusted, EPS diluted-adjusted and adjusted automotive free cash flow purposes.

12:48 EST Bombardier sells rail business to Alstom for $8.2B - Bombardier (BDRBF) announced that it has made the strategic decision to focus exclusively on business aviation and plans to accelerate its deleveraging through the sale of its rail business. Bombardier has signed a memorandum of understanding with Alstom SA (ALSMY) and the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec for the sale of its Transportation business to Alstom. Under the transaction, Bombardier and la Caisse will sell their interests in Bombardier Transportation to Alstom on the basis of an enterprise value of $8.2B. Total proceeds, after the deduction of debt-like items and transferred liabilities, including pension obligations, and net of BT cash, are expected to be approximately $6.4B, subject to upward adjustments of up to $440M. After deducting la Caisse's equity position between $2.1B and $2.3B, Bombardier would receive net proceeds of between $4.2B to $4.5B, including $550M of Alstom shares for a fixed subscription price of EUR 47.50, monetizable after a three-month lock-up post-closing, subject to closing adjustments, indemnities and the EUR to USD exchange rate. Bombardier intends to direct these proceeds towards debt paydown and will evaluate the most efficient debt reduction strategies. "Selling the rail business will allow us to reshape and redefine our capital structure. Adding a substantial amount of cash to the balance sheet, and removing la Caisse preferred equity in Transportation, will change the game for Bombardier," said Alain Bellemare, CEO Bombardier. "Including expected proceeds from previously announced transactions, Bombardier would have between $6.5 and $7.0 billion of pro forma1 cash on hand, putting the Company on a brand-new footing to address its $9.3 billion of debt." The signing of the MOU has been unanimously approved by each of Bombardier and Alstom's board of directors, and the transaction announced today is fully supported by la Caisse, who will become a new long-term shareholder of Alstom.