Stockwinners Market Radar for March 20, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:35 EDT Boeing announces actions to navigate COVID-19 crisis, will suspend dividend - Boeing announced several decisions "to support the company as it navigates through the COVID-19 pandemic while ensuring the company is positioned for the industry's recovery. CEO Dave Calhoun and Board Chairman Larry Kellner will forgo all pay until the end of the year. The company will suspend its dividend until further notice. Boeing will extend its pause of any share repurchasing until further notice. The company previously suspended its stock buyback program in April of 2019. "Boeing is drawing on all of its resources to sustain operations, support its workforce and customers, and maintain supply chain continuity through the COVID-19 crisis and for the long term," the company stated.

18:42 EDT Wells Fargo suspends residential property foreclosure sales, evictions - Wells Fargo announced additional comprehensive steps to help customers, communities and employees grappling with the impact of COVID-19. The company has suspended residential property foreclosure sales, evictions and involuntary auto repossessions. Additionally, the Wells Fargo Foundation will increase its charitable donations to $175M to help address food, shelter, small business and housing stability, as well as to provide help to public health organizations. Wells Fargo is taking several other steps to meet the needs of customers, operate safely and effectively and reduce the risk to employees and customers, recognizing that the company provides critical and essential services to the stability of the economy and the financial wellbeing of customers.

18:17 EDT PG&E agrees to commitments to resolve CA governor's concerns over reorganization - PG&E announced that the company filed today a motion with the Bankruptcy Court outlining new commitments to its Plan of Reorganization. The Governor's Office has filed a statement in the Bankruptcy Court that is supportive of the company's Plan and its compliance with Assembly Bill 1054. "We appreciate the Governor's statements in the Bankruptcy Court. We now look to the California Public Utilities Commission to approve the Plan through its established regulatory process, so that we can exit Chapter 11, pay wildfire victims fairly and as soon as possible, and participate in the State's Wildfire Fund," said CEO and President of PG&E Corporation Bill Johnson. PG&E has made a series of new commitments regarding its governance, operations, and financial structure, all designed to further prioritize safety and expedite the company's successful emergence from Chapter 11. The new commitments include: Supporting the CPUC's enactment of measures to strengthen PG&E's governance and operations, including enhanced regulatory oversight and enforcement that provides course-correction tools as well as stronger enforcement if it becomes necessary; Agreeing to host an observer to provide the State with insight into the company's progress on safety goals before the company exits Chapter 11; Agreeing that, in the unlikely event the Plan is not confirmed, or PG&E does not exit Chapter 11 in a timely manner, an orderly process for a sale of the business to the State or another party will be commenced; A commitment not to reinstate a dividend for approximately 3 years, which is estimated to contribute an additional $4 billion of equity to pay down debt and invest in the business; Pursuing a rate-neutral $7.5 billion securitization transaction after PG&E emerges from Chapter 11, to reduce the cost of financing for customers and to accelerate payments to wildfire victims; and committing not to seek recovery in customer rates of any portion of the approximately $25.5 billion that will be paid to victims of the 2017-2018 wildfires under the company's plan when PG&E emerges from Chapter 11.

18:07 EDT SSR Mining temporarily suspends Puna Operations - SSR Mining announces that Puna Operations is temporarily suspending operations in accordance with government-mandated restrictions due to the COVID-19 virus. On March 19, the government of Argentina enacted Urgency Decree #297/20, ordering a national mandatory quarantine effective from March 20 until March 31. "We will continue managing required activities to ensure the safety of our employees and operational readiness for when the suspension is lifted. Our company-wide response to the COVID-19 virus is being managed within the framework of preparedness protocols and contingency plans developed by SSR Mining's Crisis Management Team. These plans include individual site management controls, emergency medical preparedness, and working with health authorities to closely monitor local developments."

17:39 EDT Sony says 'overwhelming majority' of PS4 library to be playable on PS5 - Sony updated a previous blog post detailing its upcoming PlayStation 5 console, saying that the company believes the "overwhelming majority" of its PlayStation 4 software lineup will be playable on the PS5. "With all of the amazing games in PS4's catalog, we've devoted significant efforts to enable our fans to play their favorites on PS5," the company said. "We believe that the overwhelming majority of the 4,000+ PS4 titles will be playable on PS5." Reference Link

17:37 EDT Boxlight names Michael Pope chairman, CEO - Boxlight Corporation announced that Michael Pope has been named as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The company's previous CEO and Chairman, Harold Bevis, accepted a position with another organization and has stepped down as an officer and director. Prior to accepting the position of CEO and Chairman, Pope served as the company's President, and navigated the Company through seven strategic acquisitions from 2016 to 2019, and an IPO and Nasdaq Stock Exchange listing in 2017.

17:28 EDT HCA Healthcare suspends share buybacks, defers some expenditures - In a regulatory filing, the company states: "The following actions are intended to enhance the company's financial flexibility in light of the current uncertainty resulting from the novel coronavirus pandemic. In addition to entering into the Credit Agreement as set forth above, the company has suspended its share repurchase activities. Also, for the time being, the company plans to defer certain capital expenditures, and to make certain other operational adjustments as deemed appropriate."

17:19 EDT NexPoint Residential president sells 180K shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, NexPoint Residential disclosed that its President James Dondero sold about 180K shares of common stock on March 18th-19th in a total transaction size of about $5.6M.

17:08 EDT PRA Health launches COVID-19 monitoring program - PRA Health Sciences announced today the commercial availability of the COVID-19 Monitoring Program, a mobile app-driven, tiered initiative that allows employers, payers, providers and health systems to track the health and wellbeing of individuals who may be asymptomatic, exposed or diagnosed with COVID-19 during the pandemic. Based on an individual's COVID-19 disease status, they are assigned to one of three groups: The educational program, which provides vital sign tracking, prevention techniques and mental health support for those who are asymptomatic. The quarantine program, which delivers insights on what to watch for, addresses feelings of fear and isolation, and connects with a healthcare professional for those who have been exposed to COVID-19. The in-depth monitoring program, which addresses symptom management, frequent monitoring by a healthcare professional and care coordination for those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and who are still at home. By downloading the program's app on their personal mobile devices, participants in the program will be able to report key health metrics related to COVID-19 such as body temperature, heart rate and pulse oximetry. In addition, participants report on symptoms of COVID-19 like shortness of breath, fatigue and changes in coughing.

17:03 EDT Peloton investors Hadley Harbor sells 1.8M shares of common stock - In a regulatory filing, Peloton disclosed that investor Hadley Harbor Master Investors sells 1.8M shares of common stock on March 18th-19th. The total transaction size was about $47M.

17:02 EDT Lowe's CEO says temporarily reducing hours at all stores - Lowe's president and CEO Marvin Ellison released a statement listing the actions the company is taking in response to COVID-19 in the U.S.: "We are committing $25 million to support the emerging needs of our associates, customers and communities. This includes a $10 million donation in essential protective products to do our part in helping to keep medical professionals on the frontlines of this crisis healthy and safe. We deeply appreciate their actions and commitment. These funds will also support our Employee Relief Fund and offer small business relief for our Pros." "We are taking additional steps to protect the health and well-being of our associates," Ellison added. "We rolled out 14-days of emergency paid leave for our associates that need it, whether that's because they are feeling sick, caring for a loved one, or because they have been faced with new hardships such as closed schools and daycares. We have also extended our telemedicine benefit through Teladoc to all associates and their families whether they are seasonal, temporary, part-time or full-time, regardless if they are enrolled in Lowe's medical plan. We are temporarily reducing hours and closing all stores at 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and at 7 p.m. on Sunday, effective Monday, March 23. This will provide additional time for essential product replenishment and to thoroughly clean and sanitize our stores daily. In addition to our enhanced cleaning efforts across the store, we've taken increasing measures to ensure our cashiers and front end teams are regularly cleaning their work areas and registers after each customer interaction."

16:47 EDT Legacy Acquisition Corp extends deadline to complete business combination - Legacy Acquisition Corp announced that it has elected to extend the date by which it has to consummate a business combination from March 21 to April 20. As previously reported, at a special meeting held on October 22, 2019, Legacy's stockholders approved and adopted an amendment to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation of Legacy to extend the date by which Legacy has to consummate a business combination from November 21, 2019, to December 21, 2019, with an option for Legacy to further extend such date up to five times, initially to January 21 and thereafter by up to four additional 30-day periods ending on May 20. Legacy now has until April 20 to consummate its proposed business combination, and may further extend such deadline for one additional 30-day period ending on May 20.

16:37 EDT FedEx's Edwardson acquires 5,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, FedEx director John A. Edwardson disclosed the purchase of 5,000 common shares of the company on March 20 at a price of $112.04 per share.

16:33 EDT FDA unable to approve Eli Lilly's Empagliflozin application in current form - The FDA has issued a complete response letter for the supplemental New Drug Application of the investigational medicine empagliflozin 2.5 mg as an adjunct to insulin for adults with type 1 diabetes. Empagliflozin 2.5 mg is being developed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly (LLY). The letter indicates that the FDA is unable to approve the application in its current form, consistent with the outcome of the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee in November.

16:27 EDT CME Group auctions off portfolio of Ronin LLC - CME Group confirmed that CME Clearing auctioned off portfolios of Ronin, LLC. The auction process was completed this morning, March 20, 2020. Though Ronin is a direct clearing member, it does not handle customer business; and no clients were impacted by the auction. The firm was unable to meet its capital requirements going forward.

16:22 EDT Lydall announces ramp-down of manufacturing facilities, over 500 layoffs - Lydall announced the ramp-down of its manufacturing facilities in Hamptonville and Yadkinville, North Carolina; Meinerzhagen, Germany; and St. Nazaire, France in response to a number of Lydall's largest automotive OEM customers having temporarily ceased operations due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy. As a result of these actions and a government-mandated shutdown in Pennsylvania, more than 500 U.S. employees will be laid off and nearly 500 employees in Europe have been asked to stay home. Lydall is offering support and resources to the employees affected by these actions, including guidance on receiving unemployment or other social benefits.

16:21 EDT Delta CEO says revenue outlook 'continues to deteriorate' int he short term - Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo that was disclosed in a regulatory filing: "Earlier this week I outlined the serious threat to our business and the difficult actions we're taking over the next few months to protect our company. Our revenue outlook continues to deteriorate in the short term with the decline in travel demand. We're now projecting our June quarter revenues will be down by $10 billion compared to a year ago - an 80 percent reduction. It's also clear, given the underlying damage the virus has created to the overall economy, that demand recovery will take an extended period once the virus is contained. In light of the unprecedented challenges facing us, we have entered into a $2.6 billion secured credit facility and are drawing down $3 billion under our existing revolving credit facilities. This will help fortify our cash position in the coming weeks and months. To put this in context, despite all the self-help measures we are taking, we are currently burning roughly $50 million in cash each day. We also continue working with the President and Congress on disaster relief assistance, which is vital to protect our industry's critical role in our nation's economy. Amid those discussions, in recent days some critics have argued that the airlines have not been good stewards of our money during our profitable years. At Delta, nothing could be further from the truth. Our philosophy has always been a simple one: We put 50 percent of our operating cash flow back into our business by investing in our people and our customers, use 30 percent to pay down debt, and return 20 percent to our owners. In fact, over the past five years Delta has invested over $20 billion in new aircraft, airport enhancements, technology and customer service improvements; and invested $19 billion in our people via profit-sharing and pension contributions and payments. In addition, we increased base pay by 30 percent during that period and regained the confidence of the financial markets by earning back our investment-grade credit rating. When the extent of the COVID-19 crisis became clear, we immediately suspended our share repurchases, and our Board of Directors has voted to suspend future dividend payments."

16:18 EDT Amneal Pharmaceuticals ramps up hydroxychloroquine sulfate due to COVID-19 - Amneal Pharmaceuticals announced that it is responding to the national COVID-19 health emergency by building on its existing supply of hydroxychloroquine sulfate. Amneal is ramping up production of hydroxychloroquine sulfate at several of its manufacturing sites and expects to produce approximately 20M tablets between now and mid-April. Those tablets will be made available nationwide through Amneal's existing retail and wholesale customers, as well as through direct sales to larger institutions in need. "This is a critical time in the fight against COVID-19," said Chirag and Chintu Patel, Co-CEOs. "With our existing supply of hydroxychloroquine sulfate, and the ability to fast-track production, Amneal is well-positioned to help meet the potential demand for patients in need. We are grateful to our employees for working to accelerate production and will continue to do everything we can to support the healthcare needs of our communities."

16:16 EDT Mid-Con Energy postpones reverse unit split - Mid-Con Energy Partners announced that the board of directors of its General Partner has postponed the previously announced reverse split of the Partnership's common units and approved a new exchange ratio of one-for-twenty common units. The reverse unit split, which was originally to have taken effect after market close on March 23, 2020, will now take effect after market close on April 9, 2020. Pursuant to the reverse unit split, common unitholders will receive one common unit for every twenty common units owned at the close of business on April 9, 2020. All fractional units created by the reverse unit split will be rounded to the nearest whole unit, as provided by Mid-Con's partnership agreement. If the fraction created is less than one-half, it will be rounded down to the nearest whole unit. If the fraction is one-half or more, it will be rounded up to the nearest whole unit. The Partnership anticipates that the reverse split will decrease the number of common units outstanding from approximately 31 million units to 1.55 million units. The reverse split is intended to increase the market price per unit of the Partnership's common units to allow the Partnership to maintain its listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market.

16:08 EDT Hallmark Financial receives noncompliance notice from Nasdaq - Hallmark Financial announced that it received notice from Nasdaq that, as a result of the company's failure to timely file its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, the company is not in compliance with Nasdaq's Listing Rule 5250. Under Nasdaq rules, the company has 60 calendar days to submit a plan to regain compliance. If such plan is accepted, Nasdaq may grant an extension of up to 180 calendar days from the due date of the filing, or until September 14, to regain compliance. The notice from Nasdaq has no immediate effect on the listing of the company's common stock on Nasdaq. The company intends to timely submit a plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq's listing rules and to work diligently to regain compliance with such listing rules within any extension period granted by Nasdaq.

16:07 EDT Potbelly says company-owned shops remain open according to local guidance - Potbelly Corporation provided an update on current business conditions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Company-owned shops remain open in accordance with guidance from local authorities. Delivery, in-shop pick-up, drive-thru, or curbside pick-up are available in those locations. Customers can place off-premise orders through Potbelly.com and the Potbelly app, or through DoorDash and Grubhub marketplaces nationwide. As a precautionary measure, the company also drew $40M of available capacity under its revolving credit facility. Proceeds from these borrowings are expected to be used for working capital, general corporate or other permitted purposes. Alan Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Potbelly, commented, "During this difficult time, our number one priority is the safety and well-being of our employees, customers, franchisees, and communities. I'm extremely proud of our team's ability to react quickly during this ever-changing environment. We continue to monitor the situation on a real-time basis and are closely following instructions from the CDC and government authorities. I want to thank our loyal customers for their continued trust and support, as well as our dedicated employees for their commitment to safety. We look forward to brighter days ahead, exceeding the needs of our customers and continuing to provide great food, made right."

16:04 EDT Atlantic Union Bankshares suspends share repurchase program - Atlantic Union Bankshares has suspended its share repurchase program effective immediately. The program, which is authorized for up to $150M in repurchases through June 30, 2021, had $20M remaining in the authorization when it was suspended. The company repurchased an aggregate of approximately 3.7M shares to date under the authorization prior to the suspension.

16:00 EDT Standard General says expects Tegna board to pursue offers 'vigorously' - Standard General L.P., one of the largest shareholders of Tegna and the owner of approximately 9.7% of the company's outstanding shares, issued the following statement regarding the multiple media reports concerning potential acquisition offers for the company: Soo Kim, Founding Partner of Standard General L.P., said, "It has been two weeks since we commented on the obligation of the TEGNA Board to run a full and fair process, with the assistance of independent advisors, to explore all alternatives to maximize value for all shareholders. During that time, there have been numerous reports of interest from credible third parties in an acquisition of TEGNA, but to date TEGNA has made no public statement regarding these proposals. Indeed, TEGNA continues to publish investor materials that omit any reference to these acquisition proposals, which present the opportunity for all shareholders to realize a substantial premium to the undisturbed market price of TEGNA common stock." Kim continued: "Consistent with its fiduciary responsibility to maximize the value of shareholders' investment, we expect the TEGNA Board to pursue these offers vigorously. We expect TEGNA to give interested parties access to due diligence to enable those parties the opportunity to develop their offers for the Company. In light of challenging market conditions, TEGNA should be open to creative structures and financing solutions that will maximize value and certainty for all shareholders. Standard General remains ready to work with TEGNA to help thoughtfully evaluate all alternatives. However, if the TEGNA Board takes actions that discourage or create obstacles for credible third parties, we will hold the Board and its advisors accountable."

15:59 EDT Satsuma Pharmaceuticals Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:50 EDT Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:41 EDT Raytheon trading resumes

15:36 EDT Raytheon trading halted, volatility trading pause

15:33 EDT Noodles & Company increases cash position with $100M credit facility - The company has enhanced its existing cash position with a draw down under its $100.0 million credit facility to address near term volatility in current market conditions. The increased borrowing was taken as a precautionary measure to provide enhanced financial flexibility considering the uncertain market conditions arising from the COVID-19/Coronavirus pandemic.

15:25 EDT United to 'reduce payroll in line with 60% schedule reduction' unless given help - United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz, President J. Scott Kirby, and labor leaders issued a message to nearly 100,000 United Airlines employees, in which they stated in part: "In these difficult and uncertain times, we want to continue to keep you updated about all the ways we are aggressively managing the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on our company. Since you last heard from Oscar and Scott on Sunday, companies around the world, especially in the travel industry, have announced painful steps they've been forced to take to deal with this crisis. Marriott shuttered a number of properties around the world, furloughing tens of thousands of workers. MGM Resorts also closed facilities and will begin furloughs next week. Scandinavian Airlines announced temporary layoffs for 90% of its staff. In Sunday's message, Oscar and Scott were very direct about just how dire this situation has become and what the company is doing to minimize the impact on you, your families and your paycheck...While many in Washington, D.C. now realize the gravity of this situation, time is running out. The airline has made a number of drastic cuts over the last several weeks to reduce our costs: including slashing capital spending, freezing hiring, cutting payments to contractors and vendors, eliminating all discretionary spending and even cutting our corporate officers' salary by 50% while reducing Oscar and Scott's salary to zero. However, as travel demand continues to plummet, even more cost-cutting measures will be required soon to keep our company afloat. To be specific, if Congress doesn't act on sufficient government support by the end of March, our company will begin to take the necessary steps to reduce our payroll in line with the 60% schedule reduction we announced for April. May's schedule is likely to be cut even further. To that end, it's time for our representatives to hear from all of you. Your voice matters - whether you work on the ramp, greet customers in the lobby, take calls in our contact centers, prepare food for passengers, service our planes or fly on our aircraft - and our representatives in government need to understand what's at stake if they do not act. Please consider sending a letter or email to your representatives in Washington, D.C. urging them to take quick, bipartisan action to protect airline jobs. There's one other important way for you to pitch in and help. Thousands of United employees have applied for a company offered leave of absence - which is an important way to help the company reduce costs. As we continue to reduce our schedule, we will continue to offer additional COLA opportunities so if you have not already applied, please consider doing so. None of us caused COVID-19. But we continue to be among the most severely affected by the economic impact of this crisis, due to the outbreak's breathtaking effect on travel demand. The hard work you do every day matters. And the role you play in the U.S. economy matters. It's time for the people of United Airlines to put a face on what will happen if the federal government does not act."

15:22 EDT United Airlines CEO asks employees to reach to their representatives in D.C.

15:20 EDT McDonald's CEO says buybacks suspended 'several weeks ago' - McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski, while being interviewed on CNBC, said buybacks were stopped several weeks ago because the company wanted to maintain financial flexibility. Responding to political questions about buybacks, Kempczinski said those are "fair questions" to be asked. The dividend is a "paramount priority" for McDonald's and there are "no changes planned for that," Kempczinski said.

15:13 EDT Adams Natural Resources resumes share repurchase program - Adams Natural Resources Fund announced that it is engaging in share repurchases pursuant to its authority under its previously announced share repurchase program. Share repurchases may be made in the open market from time to time, as determined by the portfolio management team, when market conditions and portfolio management considerations warrant and the shares are trading at market prices of at least 10% below net asset value.

15:10 EDT Phillips 66 Partners trading resumes

15:02 EDT Accelerate Diagnostics trading resumes

14:27 EDT Western Union encourages customers to opt for digital money transfers - Western Union informed its money transfer customers that the company's money movement network stands ready to help customers deliver vital financial support to friends and families around the world in these challenging times. Customers can choose to send funds via Western Union's increasingly adopted digital channels or its vast retail network. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Western Union understands that some of its customers may look for alternate ways of sending money to their loved ones. Certain retail Agent locations have suspended operations in connection to COVID-19 preventative measures. Western Union is encouraging customers to opt for digital money transfers offered through westernunion.com and the Western Union Mobile App. Westernunion.com is available to customers in more than 70 countries plus additional territories, and the Western Union Mobile App is available in 40 countries. Customers can send money globally, track a transfer, and check pricing and exchange rates 24 hours a day, seven days a week on these digital channels. Transfers can be paid out into Western Union's global bank account and mobile wallet network as well as at Agent locations world-wide.

14:17 EDT Great Panther says operating mines in Mexico, Brazil not yet impacted by virus - Great Panther Mining announces that it has been closely monitoring the latest developments of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, through the World Health Organization, the Public Health Agency of Canada and local and national health authorities in the countries in which it operates. "All operations and offices have implemented travel restrictions, supervision, monitoring and response plans to reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure and outbreak. International travel has been suspended until further notice and health screening of any local contractors, visitors and employees has been implemented when appropriate. Additionally, operations continually assess the latest developments locally and have limited external visitors to only those who are business critical following detailed protocols. The Company is also maintaining regular communications with its suppliers, customers and business partners to monitor any potential risks to its ongoing operations and to ensure timely and reasonable precautionary action. To date, these measures have not impacted the Company's operating mines in Mexico and Brazil and there are no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 across the Company's corporate offices and mining operations. The Coricancha Mine in Peru has been on care and maintenance with some limited mining and processing campaigns to evaluate a restart of operations. In accordance with government-mandated restrictions in response to COVID-19, the Coricancha Mine personnel will conduct exclusively care and maintenance activities to sustain the appropriate safety and environmental systems during the 15-day National State of Emergency announced on March 16, 2020. The Coricancha Mine is not material to the Company's operations. The Company will continue to assess the effectiveness of business continuity measures implemented to minimize and mitigate any potential impact of the pandemic or restrictions imposed by local governments that may occur on its operations, supply chain, commercial and financial activities," the company said.

13:18 EDT McEwen Mining withdraws production guidance due to COVID-19 pandemic - McEwen Mining reported on the current impacts of COVID-19 on its operations. "The government of Argentina has declared a state of emergency and imposed a nationwide mandatory quarantine starting today to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As a result, our 49%-owned San Jose mine has temporarily halted operations effective today, through at least March 31, 2020. The mine site will continue to be staffed by a reduced workforce to ensure appropriate safety, security, and environmental systems are maintained. Work at the Los Azules copper project in Argentina is also suspended until further notice. With the confirmed presence of COVID-19 in the Timmins region, our Black Fox operation is implementing numerous safety measures in addition to very strict site access and employee screening measures already in place: all non-essential staff and second-in-command managers will be working from home, employees who must travel by plane or for more than 4 hours have been asked not to return to the site, payroll will be isolated off site, group meetings have been discontinued, data is being collected on employee family health status, and numerous other measures. As a consequence of the suspension of mining at San Jose and uncertainty related to the potential impact of COVID-19 on our other operations, we are withdrawing all previously announced production and costs guidance for 2020. McEwen Mining's mines in Ontario, Nevada, and Mexico are currently continuing to operate."

13:13 EDT Walmart to hire 150,000 new associates to deal with current demand level - Walmart announced plans to hire 150,000 new associates to work in its stores, clubs, and fulfillment centers, to help support customers as they deal with the current level of demand. These roles will be temporary at first, but the expects many to convert to permanent roles over time. To quick hire said individuals, Walmart said it would temporarily reduce its usual two-week application cycel to be just 24 hours.

13:09 EDT Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count down 20 to 722 rigs - Baker Hughes reports that the U.S. rig count is down 20 rigs from last week to 772, with oil rigs down 19 to 664, gas rigs down 1 to 106, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 2. The U.S. Rig Count is down 244 rigs from last year's count of 1,016, with oil rigs down 160, gas rigs down 86, and miscellaneous rigs up 2 to 2. The U.S. Offshore Rig Count is unchanged at 19 and down 1 year-over-year. The Canada Rig Count is down 77 rigs from last week to 98, with oil rigs down 63 to 52 and gas rigs down 14 to 46. The Canada Rig Count is down 7 rigs from last year's count of 105, with oil rigs up 3 and gas rigs down 10.

13:05 EDT Capri Holdings sees ending fiscal Q4 with $800M of liquidity - Capri Holdings announced it amended the company's revolving and term loan credit agreement. The maturity of Tranche A-1 term loans due in December 2020 was extended to December 2023 for $267M of the outstanding balance of $315M. Capri expects to end the fiscal Q4 concluding March 28 with approximately $800M of liquidity, comprised of approximately $500M in cash and cash equivalents, as well as approximately $300M of availability on the revolving credit facility.

13:04 EDT Adaptive, Microsoft expand partnership to decode COVID-19 immune response - Adaptive Biotechnologies (ADPT) and Microsoft (MSFT) announced they will leverage their existing partnership mapping population-wide adaptive immune responses to diseases at scale to study COVID-19. The companies said in a statement: "Finding the relevant immune response signature may advance solutions to diagnose, treat and prevent the disease, augmenting existing research efforts that primarily focus on the biology of the virus. These data will be made freely available to any researcher, public health official or organization around the world via an open data access portal." To generate immune response data, Adaptive will open enrollment in April to collect de-identified blood samples, using a LabCorp-enabled mobile phlebotomy service, from individuals diagnosed with or recovered from COVID-19 in a virtual clinical trial managed by Covance. Immune cell receptors from these blood samples will be sequenced using Illumina platform technology and mapped to SARS-CoV-2-specific antigens that will have been confirmed by Adaptive's proprietary immune medicine platform to induce an immune response. The immune response signature found from the initial discovery work and the initial set of samples will be uploaded to the open data access portal. Leveraging Microsoft's hyperscale machine learning capabilities and the Azure cloud platform, the accuracy of the immune response signature will be continuously improved and updated online in real time as more trial samples are sequenced from the study.

13:01 EDT Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count down 20 to 722 rigs

12:47 EDT MGP Ingredients increases alcohol production for hand sanitizer needs - MGP is doing everything it can to address an exponential increase in demand for industrial alcohol, which is used in the production of hand sanitizers and commercial disinfectants. The company has always produced a significant amount of the alcohol needed for these products, and has now ramped up production at its Kansas and Indiana facilities during this critical time. MGP employees are working around the clock to support the needs of companies that produce these vital products.

12:34 EDT Ford pushes U.K. summer shutdown period to Easter period - Ford announced that, due to the dramatic impact the ongoing coronavirus crisis is having on the European market and the supplier industry, it has decided to bring forward part of the summer shutdown period for its U.K. operations to the Easter period. This means production at Dagenham Engine Plant in east London will temporarily cease from Monday, March 23. Bridgend Engine Plant in South Wales will temporarily cease production from the end of the day on Wednesday, March 25. In addition, the shutdown period will also be extended across the rest of the Ford business in the U.K., excluding a small number of employees supporting business critical activities. During this four-week period, all the company's employees will receive payments at least equivalent to their base pay, the car maker said.

12:32 EDT FuelCell temporarily suspends operations at Torrington manufacturing facility - FuelCell Energy announced that in response to the escalating COVID-19 outbreak, the company has temporarily suspended operations at its Torrington, CT manufacturing facility. The manufacturing facility is anticipated to remain closed through April 20 and all other FuelCell Energy team members except those performing business critical work that cannot be done off-site will be working remotely through at least April 1. Construction and maintenance of our projects in the field is currently ongoing. FuelCell Energy will utilize finished goods on hand for near-term, in-flight projects. The company will continue to comply with state, federal and international regulations that dictate any additional actions the company may be called upon to take in response to COVID-19. The company voluntarily took these actions to secure the safety of the company's employees, its corporate community as a whole, the communities in which our team members live, and to adhere to CDC recommendations of social distancing and limited public exposure in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. All team members unable to work from home will continue to receive full pay and benefits for their scheduled shifts during this time. These decisions will be re-evaluated as new information becomes available regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

12:00 EDT TriplePoint Venture falls -18.2% - TriplePoint Venture is down -18.2%, or -$1.45 to $6.51.

12:00 EDT GTT Communications falls -27.5% - GTT Communications is down -27.5%, or -$2.52 to $6.63.

12:00 EDT DCP Midstream rises 37.1% - DCP Midstream is up 37.1%, or $1.24 to $4.58.

11:59 EDT Deckers Brands to temporarily close Moreno Valley distribution center - Deckers Brands announced an update to the actions the Company is taking in response to COVID-19. On March 19, as a measure to combat the spread of COVID-19, California Governor Gavin Newsom implemented a statewide order for all residents to stay at home, reducing all activity to essential needs only. In response to this mandate, Deckers Brands has further adjusted its operations as follows. The Company's distribution center located in Moreno Valley, California will temporarily close, beginning Friday March 20. Impacted employees will receive pay and benefits for a temporary period while the Company works to address the full impact of this new order. Management will continue to evaluate and respond to this evolving situation. This distribution center is one of two warehouses that services domestic operations of the Company. A portion of domestic orders are also fulfilled through a third-party logistics provider in Pennsylvania, which is currently in operation. Ecommerce platforms for UGG and HOKA ONE ONE continue to be available to consumers. However, due to the temporary closure of the Moreno Valley distribution center, domestic product availability may be limited, and shipping times may be delayed until normal warehouse operations resume. Also related to the closure of the California-based warehouse, domestic ecommerce orders for the Teva, Sanuk and Koolaburra brands are temporarily suspended. Customer service teams continue to support all of the Company's brands remotely and are available to assist.

11:48 EDT CNH Industrial trading resumes

11:42 EDT GTT Communications trading halted, volatility trading pause

11:33 EDT China Internet Nationwide receives notice of non-compliance with Nasdaq rule - China Internet Nationwide Financial Services received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market indicating that, the closing bid price of the Company's ordinary shares for the last 30 consecutive business days did not meet the minimum bid price of $1.00 per share required for continued listing on The Nasdaq Global Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1). The letter also indicated that the Company will be provided with a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until August 31,2020, in which to regain compliance pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A). The letter further provided that if, at any time during the 180-day period, the closing bid price of the Company's ordinary shares is at least $1.00 for a minimum of ten consecutive business days, Nasdaq will provide the Company with written confirmation that it has achieved compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. If the Company does not regain compliance by August 31, 2020, an additional 180 days may be granted to regain compliance if the Company meets the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for The Nasdaq Capital Market and provides written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second 180-day compliance period. The Company intends to actively monitor its closing bid price for its ordinary shares between now and August 31, 2020 and intends to take any reasonable actions to resolve the Company's noncompliance with the minimum bid price requirement as may be necessary.

11:25 EDT CNH Industrial trading halted, news pending

11:05 EDT United Continental trading resumes

11:05 EDT Barrick Gold says all non-essential projects have been curtailed - Barrick Gold Corporation said emergency response plans for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic have been stepped up at all its sites and offices across the world. President and Chief Executive Mark Bristow said the company was closely monitoring the very fluid situation, constantly updating scenarios, reviewing the latest guidance from the international medical community and engaging with its host governments and states. The corporate executive and site management teams engage continuously to monitor the situation and daily updates are received from each of the sites and offices. The company said, "All non-essential business travel has been suspended and non-essential projects have been curtailed. In line with directives from our host governments and the international health authorities, we have put measures in place to mitigate the risk of infection while ensuring a safe environment for operations to continue as usual. We have extended our 24-hour call service to communities and the families around our operations in Argentina and have implemented similar response services across the group's operations. Similarly, we are observing new industry guidelines regarding social distancing and have increased sanitation measures at our mines and offices. Our actions also extend beyond our mine gates. In our host communities we have been liaising with local and regional clinics and hospitals to make sure they have access to information and advice. We are also providing additional supplies and equipment to make sure they are well resourced should an outbreak occur." "In addition to protecting our people, we have taken measures to support the sustainability of the business. As shared in our March 6 release, we have increased stock levels for key supplies and equipment to a minimum of three months, identified alternative suppliers and shipping routes, and put in place contingency plans for clearing and offloading. To date, placed and forecast orders are still intact and there have been no hold-ups in our supply chain," said Bristow.

11:01 EDT Royal Caribbean trading resumes

11:00 EDT Carnival trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:58 EDT FAA says JFK air traffic technician tested positive for coronavirus - The Federal Aviation Administration released the following statement after a JFK air traffic control technician tested positive for the novel coronavirus: "A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) technician who is assigned to the air traffic control tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. The technician has not been to the facility since March 16. He left the building after a brief visit and did not enter the air traffic control tower cab where air traffic controllers work. He previously was in the facility on March 11. Even though the technician did not enter the tower cab, as a precaution we scheduled a thorough cleaning of the tower cab, equipment room, administrative offices and elevators to ensure a safe work environment for all of our employees. A professional cleaning company will clean the facility this morning. While we clean the facility, air traffic controllers will operate from an alternate location on airport property. Moving air traffic controllers to an alternate site is part of our longstanding contingency plan to ensure continued operations. Each facility across the country has a similar plan that we have updated and tested in recent years. The safety of our staff and the traveling public is the FAA's top priority. Our controllers, technicians, inspectors and others with critical safety or security sensitive roles are essential components of our national airspace system." Publicly traded companies in the air travel space include Alaska Air (ALK), American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU), Southwest (LUV), Spirit Airlines (SAVE) and United Airlines (UAL). Reference Link

10:54 EDT PBF Energy trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:41 EDT American National Insurance trading resumes

10:35 EDT Caesars trading resumes

10:22 EDT Rush Enterprises trading resumes

10:12 EDT Rush Enterprises trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:02 EDT Macerich trading resumes

10:00 EDT TriplePoint Venture falls -10.8% - TriplePoint Venture is down -10.8%, or -86c to $7.10.

10:00 EDT Blue Apron falls -26.4% - Blue Apron is down -26.4%, or -$3.79 to $10.55.

10:00 EDT NGL Energy Partners rises 20.5% - NGL Energy Partners is up 20.5%, or 54c to $3.18.

09:58 EDT Alliance Data trading resumes

09:55 EDT Sinclair Broadcast trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:53 EDT EPR Properties trading resumes

09:51 EDT MeiraGTx Holdings trading resumes

09:50 EDT Amazon AWS launches $20M coronavirus initiative - AWS launches initiative to accelerate COVID-19 diagnostics, research, and testing, said Teresa Carlson of Amazon on the company's Dayone blog. "Amazon Web Services (AWS) commits $20M for customers working on diagnostics solutions. "s COVID-19 continues to spread, we are acutely aware of the impact this is having on families, businesses, and communities. This is a global health emergency that will only be resolved by governments, businesses, academia, and individuals working together to better understand this virus and ultimately find a cure. Amazon is a large company with several different businesses and each is looking for ways we can help-we've shared many of the things we've already done. In our Amazon Web Services (AWS) business, one area where we have heard an urgent need is in the research and development of diagnostics, which consist of rapid, accurate detection and testing of COVID-19. Better diagnostics will help accelerate treatment and containment, and in time, shorten the course of this epidemic. That's why we are launching the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative-a program to support customers who are working to bring better, more accurate, diagnostics solutions to market faster and promote better collaboration across organizations that are working on similar problems." Reference Link

09:47 EDT Luxfer falls -7.6% - Luxfer is down -7.6%, or -$1.09 to $13.26.

09:47 EDT Blue Apron falls -14.2% - Blue Apron is down -14.2%, or -$2.03 to $12.31.

09:47 EDT NGL Energy Partners rises 33.0% - NGL Energy Partners is up 33.0%, or 87c to $3.51.

09:47 EDT Service Properties Trust trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:46 EDT Continental Resources trading resumes

09:46 EDT Ventas trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:45 EDT EPR Properties trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:45 EDT Navient trading resumes

09:44 EDT Johnson & Johnson announces Health Canada approval of Cabenuva - The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced that Health Canada has approved Cabenuva, the first and only once-monthly, long-acting regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults. Cabenuva is indicated as a complete regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults to replace the current antiretroviral regimen in patients who are virologically stable and suppressed.

09:44 EDT Penn National trading resumes

09:43 EDT Washington Trust modifies branch hours, offers customer assistance - Washington Trust announced several initiatives to ensure the health, safety and well-being of its employees, customers and the community in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In compliance with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation to invoke "social distancing" and curtail the spread of the virus, the Bank announced that branch lobbies would be temporarily closed until further notice, but drive-up banking would operate during regular business hours. The bank also said it is aiding borrowers who have been financially impacted and is helping non-profit organizations and community members in need through its donation to the United Way of Rhode Island.

09:43 EDT Sysco trading resumes

09:41 EDT New Residential trading resumes

09:41 EDT MeiraGTx Holdings trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:41 EDT Delek US trading resumes

09:41 EDT Cinemark trading resumes

09:40 EDT Fluor trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:40 EDT Navient trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:39 EDT Cimarex Energy trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:39 EDT Penn National trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:38 EDT Moderna trading resumes

09:38 EDT Cintas trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:37 EDT Sysco trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:36 EDT Delek US trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:36 EDT Wayfair trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:35 EDT Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:35 EDT Precipio CEO says hasn't seen any 'substantial downturn' in business - Precipio released a letter to shareholders from its CEO, Ilan Danieli, which read in part," I'm writing this letter to you from my home office where, like many of you, I have been "holed" up for the past week. Like many companies, our first priority is to protect our employees and families, so we have instituted a policy that allows only essential employees to come to our offices. We all respect the precautionary measures that the CDC is requesting all companies to adhere to. This has been a trying time for everyone, but we are fortunate to be in a healthcare business that continues to operate under relatively similar conditions, and we have not seen any substantial downturn in our business. For better or worse, I suppose cancer patients have more to worry about than COVID-19, and we are here to make sure we have their backs...Fortunately, as members of the healthcare community and as a certified laboratory, we already follow strict sanitary precautions. To date none of our employees have tested positive for COVID-19; however, we plan on continuously monitoring this and once kits are available our employees will be tested as necessary. We have realigned all lab testing and personnel and instated precautions to limit employee interactions while maintaining the services we provide to our customers. Furthermore, we are reducing shift interaction and alternating staff attendance in the laboratory to minimize contact between employees. We are balancing the safety of our employees with the need to ensure that we continue to provide consistent quality of service to our customers. As described below, we have not seen a slowdown in our business volume, and continue to operate our laboratory in the normal course of business...We serve oncologists and hospitals who continue to take care of cancer patients, and as such, require our testing services. Our customers have continued to operate in their capacity, and we continue to see a steady flow of biopsies coming to our laboratory for testing. We do not know if this will remain the same as the crisis develops. Although in-person access to clients has, in some situations, been limited, for the most part our sales team continues to stay in contact with our customers and provide them with the necessary support..Our clinical laboratory segment for our products business includes laboratories, and many of those laboratories, both domestic and internationally, are entirely consumed with their response to COVID-19, are dealing with similar issues of reduced staff attendance and focusing on incoming work volume. The integration projects of our technologies such as IV-Cell and HemeScreen have been placed in a temporary lower priority, although none of these projects have been cancelled...Many of you have written to ask if we are getting set up to test for COVID-19. We have explored the option of setting up testing for COVID-19 and decided not to proceed down that path. We are not a virology lab, so getting set up would require complete construction and segregation of that testing area from the rest of our cancer lab which will require considerable cost. Additional credentialing and undergoing an inspection in the laboratory create further hurdles to this process. Furthermore, there is no clarity on the ability to obtain ongoing supplies of testing kits, and there are many issues surrounding reimbursement for the tests...It is our intention to file our 10-K annual report for 2019 within the expected requirements and do not, at this time, anticipate any necessary extensions or delays in our filing. We will also ensure that the company can raise capital as necessary to carry us through this challenging period to ensure that we remain in business...It is not lost on any of us where the share price is, and indeed we are again below the $1 mark. I don't think anyone could have foreseen the market situation we've experienced in the past 30-60 days, and the impact from COVID-19 will have on the economy. We recently announced a doubling in our revenue due to the Oncometrix transaction. Our stock was up 10%, and down the following day, and continues to fall. In any other business, and in any other market, one could expect that the doubling of revenue would have a positive and sustainable impact on the share price...Therefore, there is no imminent need to conduct a RS, and management will do everything within its power to avoid that outcome."

09:34 EDT Ollies Bargain Outlet trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:32 EDT OraSure trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:30 EDT Wyndham Destinations trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:30 EDT Acadia trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:19 EDT ViiV Healthcare receives Health Canada approval for Cabenuva - ViiV Healthcare, the global specialist HIV company majority owned by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), with Pfizer (PFE) and Shionogi as shareholders, announced that Health Canada has approved Cabenuva, the first and only once-monthly, complete long-acting regimen for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults to replace the current antiretroviral regimen in patients who are virologically stable and suppressed. Vocabria oral tablets, to be used for short time periods in conjunction with Cabenuva, have also been approved by Health Canada. These approvals are the first for Cabenuva and Vocabria anywhere in the world. Cabenuva allows virologically suppressed adults living with HIV to maintain viral suppression while reducing their dosing schedule from 365 days to 12 days per year. Vocabria and Cabenuva should not be used in patients with known or suspected resistance to cabotegravir or rilpivirine. A kit with two injectable medicines-ViiV Healthcare's cabotegravir and Janssen's rilpivirine- Cabenuva was co-developed as part of a collaboration with Janssen.

09:17 EDT Hillenbrand to sell Cimcool business to DuBois Chemicals for $224M in cash - Hillenbrand announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its Cimcool business to DuBois Chemicals. The sale follows Hillenbrand's previously announced strategic review of alternatives for this business, which was part of the 2019 acquisition of Milacron Holdings Corp. Hillenbrand's wholly-owned subsidiary, Milacron, entered into an Equity and Asset Purchase Agreement with DuBois, pursuant to which DuBois will acquire the Cimcool business at a purchase price of approximately $224M in cash, subject to certain customary closing adjustments. In addition, DuBois has agreed to pay up to $26M in contingent purchase price upon a future sale of the combined DuBois and Cimcool businesses, conditioned upon DuBois' ultimate sponsor receiving elevated levels of return on equity, for an aggregate purchase price not to exceed $250M should these conditions be met. Consistent with its current capital allocation priorities, Hillenbrand intends to use proceeds from the sale for de-leveraging activities. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur on March 30, subject to customary closing conditions. Employee consultations required by law may result in a second closing for the Dutch portion of the business, and if required, Milacron has agreed to operate the Dutch business for the benefit of DuBois until that closing, as provided in relevant transaction documents.

09:17 EDT LM Funding announces planned hiring of community association sales employees - LM Funding America announced that it will begin seeking to hire part- and full-time community association sales representatives to drive the Company's acquisition of delinquent community association receivables. "Unemployment directly impacts the ability of community associations to pay vendors and provide basic services and amenities to their residents," said Bruce Rodgers, LM Funding's CEO. "Our funding products fill the void created when homeowners do not pay their dues. We are then able to work with delinquent homeowners to establish payment plans to save their homes from foreclosure. We provide a bridge to normal times for community associations and homeowners. "To succeed, we will need to have boots on the ground where we deploy our capital to condominium and homeowners' associations during these troubling times," Rodgers stated. "We are hiring representatives to work with association boards to identify delinquent accounts for funding and assist in communication throughout the collection process." Said Rodgers, "Our company started during the financial crisis of 2008 with limited operating experience. Weakness in the economy then led to growth and profitability from 2009-2015. We've strengthened our finances and operational systems in recent years as revenues and profitability fell in response to the stronger overall economy. We feel well-positioned to respond to the anticipated dramatic increase in the need for our products created by the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic." Historically, LMFA has generated an average of $5 in cash collections for each $1 deployed to fund a purchased account over its 12-year operating history, collecting over $120 million from 12,000 collection events since the company's inception.

09:12 EDT AgeX Therapeutics announces FDA lifts hold on ImStem IND for IMS001 - AgeX Therapeutics announced that ImStem Biotechnology, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of mesenchymal stem cells derived from human embryonic stem cells has received notification from the FDA that it has lifted the hold and cleared the investigational new drug, or IND, application to evaluate IMS001 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. IMS001 was derived from the pluripotential cell line designated ESI-053 licensed from AgeX.

09:09 EDT Apple Hospitality REIT announces actions to mitigate COVID-19 impact - Apple Hospitality REIT announced that it has taken steps to mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on its business. The company said, "The following is a brief summary of certain measures the Company has taken to help maintain a sound liquidity position as a result of the COVID-19 situation and associated economic impact. With the support of its brands and third-party management companies, the Company will continue to evaluate and implement additional measures as the situation evolves. Currently all of Apple Hospitality's hotels remain open and operational. Each of the Company's brands and third-party management companies has implemented cost elimination and efficiency initiatives at each of the Company's hotels by reducing labor costs and tempering certain services and amenities. The impact of the situation will vary by market, and the Company is formulating contingency plans in the event it is required to temporarily close individual hotels in response to government mandates or other local factors. The Company has postponed all non-essential capital improvement projects planned for 2020 and anticipates a reduction of approximately $50 million in the previously announced capital improvements program for the year. The Company has suspended its monthly distributions, effective immediately. The Company's Board of Directors, in consultation with management, will continue to monitor hotel operations and intends to resume monthly distributions at a time and level determined to be prudent in relation to the Company's other cash requirements. As a precautionary measure, to increase the amount of cash on hand, the Company has recently drawn on its credit facility and currently has approximately $300 million of cash on hand. Current availability on the Company's revolving credit facility is $145 million. The Company has no scheduled debt maturities for the remainder of the year and approximately $34 million in scheduled maturities in 2021. Glade Knight, the Company's Founder and Executive Chairman, has volunteered to forego his salary for the next six months, effective immediately. In addition, Justin Knight, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, has volunteered to reduce his target compensation by 60 percent, and the non-employee directors of the Company's Board of Directors, as a group, have volunteered to reduce their annual fee by more than 15 percent. The Company's senior management team owns approximately 7 percent of the Company's outstanding common stock."

09:07 EDT Finning International says effects of COVID-19 could be 'materially disruptive' - Finning International announces business continuity measures in response to COVID-19 and related market conditions. The company said, "In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and global market volatility, we have activated robust business continuity plans to minimize disruptions to our business and adapt to evolving market conditions. Our top priority is the health and safety of our staff, customers, and the communities in which we operate. We have taken appropriate precautions in this regard while continuing to deliver products and services to meet our customers' needs. To that end, we are following the advice of health authorities in each jurisdiction where we operate. Globally, we have implemented social distancing, team separation, and extensive work from home initiatives, as well as eliminated all travel not related to critical logistics and field operations. We remain well-positioned to serve customers through a number of channels, including online at parts.cat.com, our ongoing branch operations, call centres, dropboxes and other flexible delivery alternatives. With the full support of Caterpillar, our global supply chain is functioning well, with minimal disruptions to date and global continuity plans in place. Our branch operations currently remain open in each region, parts warehouses are operating, and we continue serving customers at their sites. As conditions evolve, we will adjust our plans in line with our business continuity protocols, with employee, customer and community health and safety as our highest priority. We recognize, however, that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and government or customer actions to respond could ultimately be materially disruptive for Finning.We are in a strong financial position, with access to capital, including our $1.3 billion global credit facility which is committed through 2024, as well as a balanced debt maturity profile and capacity to increase capital availability in each of our regions. We are taking significant actions to control what we can, particularly our costs and capital investments. We are starting with our leadership team, whose salaries will be reduced effective April 2020 by 20% for our CEO, 12% for our senior leadership team and 7% for SVPs and VPs. We have also implemented strict cost containment measures throughout the organization, including freezing recruiting activities and minimizing all discretionary costs. We are taking proactive measures to actively control working capital investments and minimize capital and rental expenditures to mission-critical maintenance and IT capital only. We are confident these additional measures will augment our ongoing emphasis on maximizing EBITDA to free cash flow conversion, which will further strengthen our balance sheet."

09:04 EDT Emerald Holding temporarily suspends dividend due to COVID-19 impact - Emerald Holding announced that, due to uncertainty from the rapidly evolving impact of COVID-19 on the travel and events industry, Emerald's board has made the decision to temporarily suspend the company's regular quarterly cash dividend on its common stock. The board will re-assess the dividend suspension throughout the year to determine, in light of facts and circumstances at that time, whether and when to reinstate the dividend.

09:02 EDT PetIQ to temporarily close verterinary community clinics, wellness centers - PetIQ announced that out of an abundance of caution for its employees and customers in response to COVID-19 all veterinary community clinics and wellness centers will temporarily close effective Friday, March 20, 2020. The Company is continuously monitoring this situation and will reopen its veterinary service locations as soon as practical. PetIQ's veterinarian products business continues to perform well with full availability of its pet health and wellness items at its retail and e-commerce partners. "The coronavirus has created an unprecedented situation that requires PetIQ to take action," commented Cord Christensen, PetIQ's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are prioritizing the health and safety of our veterinarians, associates, customers, and retail partners by temporarily closing our veterinary community clinics and wellness centers to reduce the risk of spreading the virus further. For the immediate future, those employees displaced during this time will be paid to help them support their needs. PetIQ is fortunate that its 100% USA-based manufacturing and distribution centers supporting its veterinarian products business are performing in-line with our budgeted forecasts. Pet parents can provide their pets with preventive wellness with access to our over 2,000 health and wellness items through our retail and e-commerce partners, although near-term they will experience a gap in our veterinary wellness services." The Company has also proactively drawn against its Revolving Credit Facility as a precautionary measure to provide financial flexibility given the uncertainties in the marketplace as a result of COVID-19. With this draw the Company has liquidity in excess of $50M with no meaningful maturities due until July of 2024.

08:57 EDT NMI Holdings amends, extends revolving credit facility - NMI Holdings announced that it has amended its senior secured revolving credit facility, expanding the lender group, increasing the revolving capacity to $100M, extending the maturity from May 24, 2021 to February 22, 2023, and reducing the interest cost related to both undrawn commitments and drawn borrowings under the facility. No amounts have been borrowed under the facility.

08:54 EDT Yamana Gold updates business continuity plan to minimize disruptions - The company said, "In addition to Yamana's normal contingency and redundancy business planning, the Company began reviewing its entire supply chain as part of its crisis committee activities to ensure continuity of our supply chain, taking steps to ensure it has sufficient supply of materials, in some cases setting up alternative supply of key materials from in-country suppliers. The Company has also reviewed and updated its business continuity planning to minimize disruptions, in certain cases stockpiling additional ore to ensure continuity of operations in the event of an interruption. The crisis response committee is in constant communication and consulting regularly with medical experts, our employees, governmental representatives, and other stakeholders to ensure we have the right plans and protocols in place."

08:52 EDT Yamana Gold closely monitoring activities in host countries amid COVID-19 - The company said, "The Company is closely monitoring activities in all of the countries in which it operates. In Chile, where the Company operates the El Penon and Minera Florida mines, no government measures have been taken at this point that require a suspension or demobilization of workforce or operations. Similarly, no government measures have been taken in Bahia State in Brazil, where the Company operates the Jacobina mine, or in the Canadian province of Quebec, where the Canadian Malartic mine is operated under a joint venture, that require a suspension or demobilization of workforce or operations. The Company communicates regularly with employees, contractors and local communities at these mines on topics relating to COVID-19 and how best to protect against infection."

08:50 EDT Sonic Foundry says schools, businesses, healthcare organizations use Mediasite - The company said, "Campuses, healthcare organizations and businesses worldwide are rushing to update emergency plans to avoid shutdowns during the realities of mandated social distancing and the new normal of online learning and remote work, among the coronavirus outbreak. Mediasite is helping them scale their streaming video initiatives so they can continue classes and meetings and keep the public informed and safe amid the worsening COVID-19 crisis." "As schools and organizations are implementing contingency plans for the coronavirus outbreak, there are big question marks around how to maintain continuity. While pandemic planning has always been critical, delivery has changed dramatically over the years," said Michael Norregaard, CEO, Sonic Foundry, the maker of Mediasite. "Streaming video with Mediasite spans the time, distance and space constraints that are important factors when preparing for outbreaks on today's scale."

08:46 EDT Brookfield Property says full impact of COVID-19 remains unknown - The company said, "Given the escalating Coronavirus situation and resulting market volatility, we would like to provide the following update to our unitholders. While it is still early and the full impact remains unknown, we have been preparing for a market downturn for the past several years. The effects of this crisis may be felt for some time, but our business model is robust and is defensive against economic and real estate cycles, which will allow us to ride out this storm. Our Core Office portfolio is 93% leased on a long-term basis to high-creditquality tenants. While many of those tenants may face financial difficulties in the coming months, in general they are well capitalized, and our office space provides them with critical infrastructure from which to operate their businesses. Importantly, our business is funded almost exclusively with asset-level, non-recourse financing with an average term to maturity of more than 5 years and virtually no financial covenants. While we expect some short-term impact on this business, particularly with respect to new leasing and renewals in 2020, we are well-protected against a downturn. We can only refer you to 2008-2009 when we had no major issues within our portfolio. While our Core Retail portfolio is of a similar high quality and occupancy, the challenges our tenants face is more acute. A difficult retail operating environment had already led to a large number of bankruptcies in 2019. While we were hopeful that 2020 would see some improvement in this regard, there is no doubt that the impact of closing down large parts of the US economy over the next several weeks is going to have severe consequences for many of our tenants in the absence of government intervention. In the long run, the high-quality nature of our assets and the prime locations the centers enjoy give us an advantage and will allow us to recover. But this segment of our business will undoubtedly face a challenging year ahead. Still, it bears repeating that our portfolio is largely financed with asset-level, non-recourse mortgages with very few covenants and an average term to maturity of more than 4 years. This means we face relatively few liquidity events in the near term. Our investments in all other sectors are made via our participation as an LP investor in Brookfield-sponsored real estate private equity funds. Our financial exposure to these investments is limited to our commitments to the associated funds. All of these funds have significant 'dry powder' which will allow them to weather any disruptions within their existing investments. From a corporate liquidity perspective, we are in good shape with approximately $6B of capacity in undrawn credit lines and cash on hand. We expect this will be more than sufficient to weather a protracted downturn and we continue to enjoy the sponsorship of Brookfield Asset Management, who is in excellent financial condition should we ever require assistance. Our NCIB has been active over this period of volatility, purchasing over 6 million units in the past 3 weeks. We are of course balancing the attractive rate of return associated with buying back our units at these prices against the need to preserve liquidity for unforeseen events in the future. We are confident that the strategic and operating decisions we have made across our businesses means that we are well positioned for this volatility. We would also like to acknowledge the incredible efforts that are ongoing across our global real estate business and thank all of the nearly 20,000 members of our operating team who have been working tirelessly through this period to ensure the health and safety of our tenants, residents and visitors. As we are sure all investors can appreciate, this is a rapidly evolving situation, and we will endeavor to continue to keep you informed of material developments as they occur."

08:39 EDT BOQI International Medical announces $19M medical device purchase agreement - BOQI International Medical announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Chongqing Guanzan Technology, has entered into a $19M medical device purchase agreement with Shandong Forward Medical Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Shandong Forward Medical agreed to purchase 90,000 medical isolation gowns, 100,000 disposable protective coveralls, 18 Philips CT machines, 500 noninvasive ventilators, 15 digital radiography systems and 55 digital laryngoscopes from Chongqing Guanzan. The aggregate purchase price to be paid is RMB137,885,000. Chongqing Guanzan shall follow the shipping instructions provided by Shandong Forward Medical and deliver the Medical Devices after the payment is made.

08:36 EDT Chembio Diagnostics reports inducement award under Nasdaq listing rule - Chembio Diagnostics reported that, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), it has granted a restricted stock unit award to Richard Eberly, Chembio's new CEO and President, outside Chembio's 2019 Omnibus Incentive Plan. The restricted stock unit award was granted upon Mr. Eberly's joining Chembio on March 16, 2020, in accordance with terms of his employment agreement with Chembio, which was entered into on March 4, 2020 and became effective as of March 16, 2020. Under the award, Mr. Eberly can acquire, upon vesting and without payment of a purchase price, up to 233,589 shares of Chembio common stock. Subject to Mr. Eberly's continued service with us, the award will vest in three equal installments as of March 16 of each of 2021, 2022 and 2023, except that vesting will accelerate in full upon the occurrence of a defined change in control of Chembio or other specified events set forth in his employment agreement. The award was approved by the Compensation Committee as an inducement material to Mr. Eberly's entering into employment with Chembio as contemplated by Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). Chembio is issuing this press release pursuant to Rule 5635(c)(4), which requires public announcement of inducement awards.

08:35 EDT Rockwell Medical confirms MRAG's director nominations are invalid - Rockwell Medical reiterated that Medical Resource Acquisition Group failed to properly deliver a notice of director nominations under the Company's Bylaws within the prescribed advance notice period. The company said, "While MRAG has continued its attempts to confuse shareholders into believing otherwise, the Company has been abundantly clear in its communications with MRAG and its advisors that MRAG's three director nominees will not stand for election at the Company's 2020 annual meeting of stockholders. The Company will also make copies of such correspondence available on our website, https://ir.rockwellmed.com/. The Company continues to advise shareholders to exercise caution in connection with this matter."

08:34 EDT Stitch Fix temporarily closes two distribution centers in CA, PA - Stitch Fix announced that, as a result of current public health orders in San Mateo County, California and in Pennsylvania, it is temporarily closing two of its distribution centers. The South San Francisco, California distribution center is anticipated to be closed until April 7 to comply with the applicable order. The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania distribution center will be closed until the governor provides an expected end date for the Pennsylvania order. Stitch Fix has four other distribution centers operating in the U.S. and currently plans to manage inventory and to serve clients from those facilities.

08:33 EDT U.S. Steel continues to monitor demand levels amid coronavirus outbreak - The company said, "The global Coronavirus outbreak is an unprecedented and rapidly evolving situation. It remains uncertain how long the situation will last and what the impacts will be for the full year. Given the significant uncertainty in the marketplace, we continue to monitor demand levels and plan to provide more information during our first quarter earnings call."

08:32 EDT Veoneer provides update to Q1, current market situation - Given the rapid changes in the market caused by the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, Veoneer updates indications of its first quarter 2020, current business situation and short term response actions. The company stated, "Health and operational crisis management teams have been activated since February, and are working continuously, taking the appropriate actions. In this time of crisis and uncertainty health and safety is our first priority. First quarter sales are expected to see limited negative impact from the coronavirus outbreak, mainly from the second half of March, and are expected to be in the range of $350 million to $370 million, including sales from VNBS Asia for January. Underlying sales for January and February were stronger than anticipated, despite negative effects from the initial coronavirus outbreak in China. Cash balance at the end of February of around $970 million, up from $894 million at year-end 2019, following the previously-announced completion of the sale of our Asian brake control business on February 3. New order intake through the end of February was around $160 million average annual sales, however due to the current situation we expect order intake activity in March to be limited. OEM production downtime or lower production rates are expected in Europe and North America for the next 2 to 4 weeks commencing in mid-March. We are adjusting our production according to customer demand and local government initiatives, and anticipate that our production facilities in Europe and North America will operate in the range of 20 to 30% of capacity during this 2-4 week period, including potential temporary facility closures. It is highly uncertain how long the production reductions will last. Our Asian business is recovering and our manufacturing facility and engineering center in China are operating at increasingly high levels and general local business activity is increasing. As an extension to the "Market Adjustment Initiatives" launched during Q1'19, Veoneer intends to take further actions to preserve cash and focus on its core product portfolio and customer launches, including: Reductions in professional services, Adjusting to market conditions in direct labor and production overheads, Reductions in SG&A, Focus on all actions that are not driving up-front cost, Cuts in discretionary spending, Capital expenditure reductions. Through these actions we expect to improve the current run rate of cash flow before financing activities during the remainder of the year, achieved improvements could potentially not suffice to offset the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. The strategic reviews of the priorities for Zenuity, our software joint venture with Volvo Cars and our North American Brake control business, have been accelerated and we expect to reach a conclusion shortly. The major customer launches in year 2020 are mainly progressing according to plan, however volumes and timing are currently difficult to estimate due to the unpredictability caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Veoneer sales growth is increasingly driven by new vehicle launches and increasing content per vehicle, rather than light vehicle production levels. It is too early to detail the negative effects from the coronavirus outbreak to our full year 2020 outlook. We intend to provide further updates to the full year expectations at the time of our Q1'20 earnings release on April 24." "This is in many ways an unprecedented situation, signified by very rapid changes and everyone's health and safety is our first priority", said Jan Carlson, Chairman, President and CEO. "We are working in rapid response mode, to meet customer demand while running effective operations, reducing costs and preserving our core RD&E to build for the future. With the support of our associates, customers, suppliers and shareholders, Veoneer is determined to come through this crisis as an even stronger company", added Carlson.

08:21 EDT Natus Medical appoints Ilan Daskal to board of directors - Natus Medical (NTUS) announced the appointment of Ilan Daskal, current CFO & EVP of Bio-RAD Laboratories (BIO), to its board of directors and audit committee effective March 19, 2020. The Company will also nominate Daskal at its 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Kenneth Ludlum has advised the board that he will not stand for re-election at the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Following Mr. Ludlum's retirement, the Natus board will be composed of seven directors.

08:18 EDT Slack Technologies discloses 7K new paid customers added in past 7 weeks - In a regulatory 8-K filing released yesterday, Slack Technologies announced that from February 1, 2020 to March 18, 2020, Slack added approximately 7,000 new paid customers. In each of the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year ended January 31, 2020, Slack added approximately 5,000 new paid customers per quarter.

08:17 EDT Athabasca Oil reports liquidity of $340M as of year-end - As at year-end 2019, Athabasca had liquidity of $340M providing business flexibility during commodity price volatility and market egress constraints. Athabasca's existing high yield debt has term until February 2022 with no financial or maintenance covenants. The Company has a $120M reserve based credit facility with a term out date of May 31, 2020, which has been routinely extended with bi-annual reviews, and has a current maturity date of May 31, 2021.The Company's risk management program will mitigate near term pricing volatility. The current 2020 hedge book has market to market gains of approximately $50M. Athabasca intends to maintain maximum liquidity through this volatile macro environment.

08:15 EDT Athabasca Oil reduces 2020 capital program by $30M - Athabasca Oil is taking swift action in response to the significant decline in global oil prices to bolster balance sheet strength and corporate resiliency, including a $30M reduction to its 2020 capital program and proactively curtailing heavy oil production at Hangingstone. Athabasca has immediately cancelled $30M of capital expenditures, representing a 25% reduction from the previously announced 2020 budget. The revised $95M budget primarily includes the completion of the winter program. The Company already had a minimal capital program in place with market uncertainty and has low capital requirements to sustain its liquids weighted production base. The Company has completed the tie-in of 10 Placid Montney wells and intends to bring production on-stream in Q2 2020. The Kaybob Duvernay program is nearing completion with 16 wells expected to be placed on-stream in H1 2020. Athabasca's working interest remains protected by the capital carry through Q1 2020 with no activity planned for the balance of the year. In Thermal Oil, the Company has temporarily deferred long lead projects for Leismer. At Hangingstone, the Company has self-curtailed production by approximately 50% to maximize corporate funds flow and liquidity. The Company is making plans to defer the Hangingstone turnaround to 2021. Athabasca expects 2020 annual production of 32,500 - 34,000 boe/d, which reflects a self-curtailment at Hangingstone for the balance of the year. The Company has released all non-essential contract staff effective immediately and is also taking further actions to optimize operating costs in the near-term.

08:12 EDT Co-Diagnostics enters into distribution agreements with PreCheck - PreCheck Health Services announces it has ordered and paid for 37,500 of the Co-Diagnostics' Coronavirus PCR test kits and has received the first 7,500 test kits to start filling orders for the product. PreCheck has also entered into its fourth and fifth distribution agreements with Co-Diagnostics. These agreements give the Company the distribution rights to Co-Diagnostics' qPCR infectious disease kits, Logix Smart COVID-19 PCR diagnostic test and Co-Dx Box instrument in Romania and Moldova. This agreement follows the execution of agreements with Co-Diagnostics for Russia, Ecuador and Panama. PreCheck's five combined distribution territories have an aggregate population of 188 million. The company said, "PreCheck believes Co-Diagnostics' Coronavirus COVID-19 PCR test is the most accurate test to detect the presence of the COVID-19 infection. Co-Diagnostics has announced that it was the first U.S. Company to obtain a CE marking for a COVID-19 test. CE marking is a certification mark that indicates conformity with health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area. The CE marking is also found on products sold outside the EEA that have been manufactured to EEA standards."

08:11 EDT Conn's reports over $280M in cash on balance sheet - Conn's announced that on March 18, 2020, the Company borrowed an additional $275M under its $650M Revolving Credit Facility, maturing in May of 2022. The proceeds from the incremental Revolving Credit Facility borrowings are currently being held on the Company's balance sheet. Inclusive of this borrowing, Conn's has over $280M in cash on its balance sheet at this time. Conn's now has an immediately available borrowing capacity of approximately $123M under its Revolving Credit Facility. The increased borrowings are a precautionary measure to increase Conn's cash position and preserve financial flexibility in light of the current uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.

08:09 EDT Mersana Therapeutics to present updated data from the XMT-1536 Phase 1 study - Mersana Therapeutics reaffirmed previously announced plans to host a live conference call and webcast on Monday, March 30, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET to report updated data from the ongoing XMT-1536 Phase 1 dose escalation study. Members of the Mersana executive team will be joined by investigator, Debra L. Richardson, MD, Associate Professor of Gynecologic Oncology at the Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, TN. Mersana Therapeutics had previously announced plans to present the updated XMT-1536 Phase 1 dose escalation data in a late-breaking oral presentation at the now cancelled Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2020 Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer in Toronto, Canada.

08:08 EDT Navient announces third private education loan issuance of 2020 - Navient announced the successful completion of its third private education loan issuance of 2020. The collateral backing the $546M NAVSL 2020-C transaction consists entirely of legacy private education loans that were previously funded through the SLM 2010-A transaction. Year to date, Navient has issued three private education loan ABS transactions totaling $1.9B, In addition, on March 13, Navient refinanced two credit facilities for $472M, extending their terms for one and two years at lower total financing costs. In addition, Navient is proactively encouraging customers impacted by coronavirus to get in touch if they need assistance. Customer service is available online and through the phone; approximately half of Navient's loan servicing team is working remotely now, with hundreds more being deployed outside Navient offices in the coming days and weeks. Navient is providing additional levels of support to eligible student loan borrowers impacted by the coronavirus through a variety of programs, including the option to postpone payments.

08:06 EDT Chembio Diagnostics gets $4M order from Bio-Manguinho to buy COVID system - Chembio Diagnostics announced its receipt of a $4M order from Bio-Manguinhos for the purchase of Chembio's DPP COVID-19 IgM/IgG System , to support the urgent needs of Brazil's Ministry of Health. Bio-Manguinhos is a subsidiary of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Fiocruz, that is responsible for the development and production of vaccines, diagnostics and biopharmaceuticals, primarily to meet demands of Brazil's national public health system. Chembio has a long-standing relationship with Bio-Manguinhos, having supplied multiple products for point-of-care detection of HIV and other infectious diseases. Chembio's Brazilian subsidiary has filed for ANVISA approval of the DPP COVID-19 IgM/IgG System under the emergency use authorization program.

08:05 EDT Menlo does not anticipate any 'material' disruptions in the supply chain - The company said, "With respect to AMZEEQ, minocycline topical foam, 4%, for the treatment of inflammatory lesions of non-nodular moderate to severe acne vulgaris in patients 9 years of age and older, which the Company launched commercially in the U.S. in January this year - the Company does not anticipate any material disruptions in the supply chain at this time. Company management is in close contact with its primary suppliers and we have not received any indication that the suppliers' operations have been materially affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. We continue to believe that there is more than sufficient amount of product in the trade and safety stock of raw materials at our contract manufacturer, ASM in Switzerland, to support the expected demand for AMZEEQ."

08:04 EDT Twin River Worldwide announces multi-faceted plan in response to COVID-19 - Twin River Worldwide Holdings announced a multi-faceted plan in response to the COVID-19 outbreak which has led to the temporary closure of all the company's facilities: Twin River recently funded fully its $250 million revolving credit facility and currently holds in excess of $360 million on its balance sheet. The Company has no debt maturities prior to 2024. The company is proactively and carefully managing expenses to ensure that it has sufficient liquidity to last through these uncertain times. The Company is implementing a phased approach to operations until it has better future visibility. Phase 1 contemplates the period of temporary closure of facilities lasting up to three months, retaining some level of preparedness to quickly reopen partially or completely within that period if the Company is allowed. Phase 2 contemplates sustained closures beyond three months and is designed to protect the Company for a longer term impact while maintaining the ability to open in an efficient manner. In either case, the Company is confident that it will have sufficient liquidity in excess of 12 months to meet all of its obligations including debt service, required capital expenditures and acquisitions. Twin River has taken a series of employee-and community-focused actions. Among other things, the Company is currently continuing health coverage for facility-level employees during the shutdown period. All salaried and hourly employees that have been furloughed will be guaranteed their jobs as the facilities reopen. Twin River is also establishing a fund to provide financial assistance to employees who experience severe hardship during the shutdown period and is working diligently to bring employees back to work as soon as possible when permitted. In the meantime, the Company is collaborating with community and employee leaders, health officials and regulatory authorities. The Company is actively engaged in a comprehensive sanitization of all properties with an emphasis on the public spaces and 'touchpoints' such as handrails, VLTs, countertops and elevator buttons. The Company is also initiating a chip sanitizing program and is implementing social distance practices. Additionally, the Company is soliciting third-party proposals for specific cleaning techniques and is exploring other options, such as wellness screening of employees and patrons, to better prepare the properties for re-opening.

08:02 EDT Sonim CEO says 'now back to full operations' - "After having to shut down our manufacturing operations due to the COVID-19 disruptions in Asia early this year, Sonim is now back to full operations," said Tom Wilkinson, CEO. "The COVID-19 situation is far from over, and we continue to closely monitor developments around this global event. We are continuing to take orders from our carrier partners, ship inventory to fulfill these orders and manufacture new inventory units at our facilities in Asia. Our Operations team is in regular contact with our global supply chain partners, and, at this time, we do not see any constraints on our ability to deliver products in fulfillment of our customers' orders." Wilkinson added, "The public safety market has always been a key customer segment for Sonim, and the current environment is leading to renewed emphasis on the rugged performance standards we build into our products. In particular, the chemical resistance and waterproof architecture of our devices allows them to be aggressively cleaned and disinfected, a key feature for the first responders and healthcare workers at the front lines of COVID-19. The work-from-home initiative that companies around the globe are moving to is also driving interest as companies look for ways to equip workers with the dependable devices that can make them effective wherever they are, especially in the field." Sonim also stated that it presently has adequate liquidity and capital on-hand to fund its current operating needs and meet continued customer demand. The company has taken steps to improve working capital efficiency in the new year through improved management of inventory levels as well as other measures.

07:57 EDT Sabre withdraws FY20 guidance, announces cost saving actions - Sabre announced that it is taking significant measures to strengthen its financial position in response to the current industry conditions. The travel industry continues to be adversely affected by the global health crisis caused by the outbreak of COVID-19, as well as by government directives that have been enacted to slow the spread of the virus. "This is an unprecedented time. The global travel industry is facing challenges beyond what has been experienced before. We believe Sabre is well positioned to navigate this challenging environment. We are fortunate that significant aspects of our cost structure are variable and are taking steps to help align our other costs with the current demand environment," said Sean Menke, President and CEO of Sabre. "We have identified and are in the process of removing over $200 million in cash costs from the business in 2020. Given the magnitude of travel decline and the unknown duration of the COVID-19 impact, we will continue to monitor travel activity and take additional steps should we determine they are necessary." As part of these cost reductions, Sabre has begun implementing several immediate actions with regard to its workforce and other costs during this difficult business climate. These actions include:A temporary reduction in base compensation pay for its US-based salaried workforce, including a 25% reduction for its CEO, and Sabre will work with international employees on a country-by-country basis, A reduction in the cash retainer for members of its Board of Directors, Sabre's 401(k) match program will be temporarily suspended for US-based employees who contribute to its 401(k) program, On a global basis, Sabre is offering voluntary unpaid time off, voluntary severance and a voluntary early retirement program, and Sabre is reducing third-party contracting, vendor costs and other discretionary spending.Additionally, the decline in global travel driven by COVID-19 is expected to result in: A proportional decline in Sabre Travel Network incentive expense, and a reduction in Sabre's approximately $250 million semi-variable technology hosting costs. In addition to the cost reductions described above: On March 16, Sabre's Board of Directors voted to suspend the payment of quarterly cash dividends on Sabre's common stock, effective with respect to the dividends occurring after the March 30, 2020 payment, and Sabre announced the suspension of its share repurchase program. "As it relates to our liquidity, we drew down our revolver in the amount $375 million, which adds to our existing cash balance of $436 million as of 2019 year-end. Additionally, our credit agreement permits us to suspend the financial covenant related to the maintenance of our leverage ratio if a "Material Travel Event Disruption" has occurred. We believe that recent capacity reductions by domestic airlines will lead in the coming months to a finding that a Material Travel Event Disruption has occurred," said Doug Barnett, CFO of Sabre. "We also note that about two-thirds of our cost structure is adjustable in the near-term. We will continue to assess the travel environment and whether additional cost actions beyond the $200 million announced today are necessary." Given the magnitude and uncertainty related to COVID-19, Sabre has withdrawn the guidance provided on its February 26, 2020 earnings call.

07:51 EDT Bloomin' Brands withdraws FY20 guidance, suspends dividend due to COVID-19 - Bloomin' Brands provided the following update in response to the COVID-19 outbreak: "The health and safety of our customers, team members and their families is our top priority," said David Deno, CEO of Bloomin' Brands. "We remain committed to servicing our communities as we navigate through the current environment. As part of this effort, we will leverage our carry-out service and delivery network, to customers at home, as well as provide limited in-restaurant dining in areas where available." The company has a cash position of over $400 million after drawing down substantially all of its revolving credit facility. The increased borrowings were taken as a precautionary measure to provide additional financial flexibility. Due to the current unprecedented global market and economic conditions, the Company is withdrawing its financial guidance for the fiscal year ending December 27. The board has also suspended the quarterly cash dividend. The company plans to provide an update on its Q1 earnings call.

07:37 EDT Radware announces $20M share repurchase plan - Radware announced that its board of directors has authorized a new $20M share repurchase plan that is exceptional and in addition to the previously announced $40M share repurchase plan.

07:34 EDT iBio joins Alliance for Biosecurity - iBio announced that it has joined the Alliance for Biosecurity, a coalition of biopharmaceutical companies - along with laboratory and academic partners - that promotes a strong public-private partnership in order to ensure the medical countermeasures that protect public health are effective and readily available. The Alliance for Biosecurity supports national health security by advocating for public policies and funding to support the rapid development, production, stockpiling, and distribution of critically needed medical countermeasures that are used to prevent and respond to a variety of threats.

07:33 EDT RTI Surgical receives Nasdaq notice of non-compliance over delayed annual report - As announced on March 16, 2020, RTI Surgical Holdings, filed a Notification of Late Filing on Form 12b-25, indicating that the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 would be delayed pending completion of an internal investigation of current and prior periods relating to the Company's revenue recognition practices involving the timing of revenue recognition with respect to certain contractual arrangements, primarily with OEM customers, including the accounting treatment, financial reporting and internal controls related to such arrangements. Subsequent to filing the Form 12b-25, the Company received a letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC indicating that, as a result of the Company's delay in filing its Form 10-K, the Company is not in compliance with the timely filing requirement for continued listing under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1). The notification letter has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company's common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Nasdaq indicated that the Company must submit a plan of compliance within 60 calendar days, or no later than May 18, 2020, addressing how it intends to regain compliance with Nasdaq's listing rules and, if Nasdaq accepts the Plan, it may grant an extension of up to 180 calendar days from the Form 10-K original filing due date, or until September 14, 2020, to regain compliance. RTI's management is working diligently to complete the Form 10-K, and intends to file the Form 10-K as soon as practicable.

07:32 EDT Waitr Holdings expands partnership with Landry's - Waitr Holdings announced that the company has expanded its partnership with Landry's to a national partnership to ensure Landry's amazing food is available to diners in the comfort of their own home. "This national partnership includes adding carryout services to all markets in which Landry's operates along with opening new delivery markets in Texas and Florida, with plans to expand to other states in the near future. This partnership will be serviced under both the Waitr and Bite Squad brand names within markets. In the new Texas markets, the company will have the ability to deliver alcohol from Landry's locations." Effective immediately Waitr will be offering jobs to Landry's employees who are faced with unemployment due to Landry's restaurant closures as delivery drivers for the company. "These are unprecedented and challenging times for the restaurant industry," said Carl Grimstad, CEO of Waitr. "Landry's has been a longtime partner of Waitr and we are in a unique position to help their employees and community during this difficult period. Anything we can do to ensure the safety, health and well-being of our partners, employees and community, we will do."

07:31 EDT Moleculin Biotech announces patent filing to cover new coronavirus drug - Moleculin Biotech announced that a new patent application has been filed covering the use of WP1122 and its analogs as therapies to limit the ability of coronavirus and other viruses to replicate. The patent application covers joint discoveries which came as a result of an ongoing sponsored research agreement. This patent application coincided with Moleculin entering into an agreement with a major Texas university to conduct research on WP1122 and its analogs for antiviral properties against a range of viruses, including Coronavirus.

07:19 EDT Pipestone Energy reaffirms 2020 production guidance 17,000-18,000 boe/d - Based on the expected outage duration and flexibility to produce through the Tidewater Pipestone Gas Plant, the Company is reaffirming its revised 2020 annual production guidance of 17,000 - 18,000 boe/d, released on March 12, 2020.

07:11 EDT CareDx announces publication on AlloSure monitoring following retransplantation - CareDx announces that the American Journal of Transplantation published a case report from Johns Hopkins on a successful kidney retransplantation in a patient who experienced rejection of a first kidney transplant after undergoing immune-stimulating therapy for the treatment of metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. AlloSure was used following the retransplantation to monitor for allograft rejection. This case study examines a patient who developed CSCC seven years after an initial kidney transplantation. Over the next 18 years the patient underwent multiple pharmacologic and surgical interventions for the treatment of multiple CSCCs, but the disease continued to progress. The patient was then treated with an anti-PDL1 immune checkpoint inhibitor , which stimulates immune system activity. Two months after initiation of the ICI, the patient experienced acute rejection of the transplanted kidney, which was then surgically removed. The patient remained on ICI therapy for another seven months and achieved a complete response. Four years later the patient underwent a kidney retransplantation and was monitored using AlloSure. 10.5 months following the retransplantation, the patient has had successful allograft function.

07:07 EDT Joint Corp. reiterates Essential Healthcare Services statement - The Joint Corp. reiterated its Essential Healthcare Services statement and commitment to keeping its system of chiropractic locations open when and where it is possible. Relying on guidance from governmental agencies, national and state chiropractic associations and local health departments to direct its action, including the International Chiropractors Association, Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards, as well as Texas Chiropractic Association and the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, The Joint Corp. views chiropractic care as an essential healthcare service that can be used by patients with a wide array of health conditions in times of urgent need. Some of those protocols include creating more distance between patients waiting inside clinic locations, eliminating items such as magazines, utilizing alternative spinal adjustment techniques that minimize contact and heightened cleaning and sanitizing practices. While retailers across the country are closing stores, malls and strip centers, as of today, March 20, 2020, more than 95% of The Joint Chiropractic clinics remain open. To further strengthen its cash position and provide financial flexibility, in March 2020 The Joint Corp. drew $2 million under the recently established $7.5M evolving credit facility with J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. In addition, the company is undertaking cost reduction initiatives and deferring capital expenditures. The company is assisting its franchise system by providing a robust platform of support, including guidance on managing liquidity and leveraging government stimulus plans. Additionally, The Joint is proactively communicating to its franchisees, doctors and patients to help them navigate the rapidly-changing environment.

07:06 EDT Hudbay Minerals commences temporary shutdown of Constancia operations - Hudbay Minerals provided an update on the status of its operations and business preparedness plans in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The company has been closely monitoring the status of the virus outbreak and the rapidly changing environment at all of its operations. Company-wide business preparedness plans were activated earlier this month as part of the company's crisis management protocols. In response to the challenging environment in Peru following the Peruvian government's recent declaration of a state of emergency, the company has commenced a temporary and orderly shutdown of operations at Constancia. "It is an uncertain time, but we remain vigilant and ready to respond to the ever-changing environment to ensure we protect all of our stakeholders and the continuity of our business," said Peter Kukielski, Hudbay's President and CEO. The Peruvian government declared a state of emergency on March 15th requiring non-essential businesses to be shut down for 15 days, and subsequently clarified that mining operations could continue in certain circumstances during this period. The company has been actively managing the situation and the Constancia mine continued to operate, and concentrate transportation activities continued this week, including a vessel that completed loading yesterday at the port of Matarani. However, the state of emergency has rapidly changed the environment, causing the manufacturing and transport of critical supplies to be suspended. As such, with the limited availability of certain critical mining supplies, the company has initiated a temporary and orderly shutdown of operations at Constancia. The shutdown process is expected to continue over the next three days. A smaller workforce will be maintained to oversee critical aspects of the operation, with the overarching goal of facilitating a quick and efficient ramp up back to normal levels once the regional situation improves. The Constancia team continues to be focused on the health and safety of its workforce and to actively engage with local stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the business preparedness plan. The company also expects the government processes related to Consulta Previa and permitting applications to be deferred during this state of emergency. In Manitoba, Hudbay's mines continue to operate and ship concentrate and zinc metal. At this point, Manitoba remains a low-risk jurisdiction with no known cases of COVID-19 in northern Manitoba. However, the Manitoba team is actively managing the evolving situation and implementing the business preparedness plan, including planning activities in the event the company needs to reduce or cease operations or construction activities in the future. Hudbay continues to prudently manage its liquidity position and currently has more than $300M in cash and cash equivalents. The company proactively amended its credit facilities in February 2020 to provide additional near-term flexibility and is evaluating a variety of liquidity and capital spending options if the current environment persists. The company has the ability to defer a majority of its 2020 growth capital expenditures at Pampacancha and the New Britannia gold mill and will continue to monitor the macro-environment and adjust its spending programs as necessary.

07:04 EDT Wintrust Financial temporarily suspends lobby services at most branch locations - Wintrust Financial announced that it is temporarily suspending lobby service at most branch locations and providing service at its community branch locations with drive-up facilities and ATMs, as well as through its online and digital banking tools. Most branch lobbies will be closed to all clients and non-essential visitors, beginning Friday, March 20. Six branch lobbies will remain open to visitors, principally in neighborhoods with limited access to other banking services. All community bank locations will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays and from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Clients will be able to use the ATMs and night drop boxes as usual at all of the branches. Clients can call their branch to make an appointment for services, such as safe deposit box access, that cannot be completed at the drive-up. If a branch does not have a drive-up, Wintrust encourages clients to visit another branch with a drive-up, call their branch, or use Wintrust's online banking tools where bills can be paid, funds transferred, and other transactions performed 24/7 from the safety of their homes.

07:03 EDT Axsome Therapeutics accelerates completion of ADVANCE-1 Phase 2/3 trial - Axsome Therapeutics announced that it is accelerating the completion of the ADVANCE-1 Phase 2/3 trial of AXS-05 in patients with Alzheimer's disease agitation to ensure the safety of this vulnerable patient population during the COVID-19 pandemic, while maintaining the integrity of the clinical trial. AXS-05 is a novel, oral, investigational NMDA receptor antagonist with multimodal activity. Randomizations into the study have concluded and patient participation is concluding. With the acceleration of trial completion, topline results from ADVANCE-1 are now expected in early second quarter of 2020, versus previous guidance of the third quarter of 2020. The decision to accelerate the completion of this trial was made in light of the newly issued U.S. Food and Drug Administration Guidance on Conduct of Clinical Trials of Medical Products during COVID-19 Pandemic, which discusses the potential impact of the pandemic on the conduct of clinical trials and on the resulting need to ensure the safety of trial participants. The ADVANCE-1 trial is enrolling only patients 65 years of age or older, the demographic at highest risk for COVID-19 related fatalities. The conclusion of patient randomization and participation in the ADVANCE-1 trial enables patient compliance with recent and evolving COVID-19 related national, state and local government directives and executive orders that persons 65 years and older isolate at home. In the original design of the trial, approximately 435 patients were to be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive AXS-05, bupropion, or placebo for 5 weeks. The AXS-05 and placebo arms are fully enrolled and more than 90% of patients in these arms are estimated to have completed the study. In December 2018, an independent data monitoring committee performed an unblinded, pre-specified interim analysis for futility on the first approximately 30% of the targeted number of patients. The IDMC recommended continuation of the AXS-05 and placebo treatment arms and no further randomization of patients to the bupropion treatment arm. Subsequently, patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive AXS-05 or placebo.

06:56 EDT Coty says has ample, sufficient liquidity to meet covenants - The company has reviewed its financial position in view of the current market conditions, which are expected to amplify moving into Q4. Coty confirms that following the amendment of its financing arrangements in 2019, it has ample and sufficient liquidity and headroom to meet its covenants based on management's current view of market conditions. The company is continuing to pursue with confidence the strategic review of its Professional hair and Brazilian businesses.

06:52 EDT Coty implements key initiatives in response to COVID-19 - Coty announced that in response to the rapidly evolving global situation brought on by COVID-19, Coty has implemented a number of key initiatives focusing on the safety of its key stakeholders while also providing for business continuity and opportunity. The company is also taking appropriate financial measures, including recommending to the Board that shareholders be given the option to receive up to 100% of their quarterly dividend in kind for the coming two quarters. Additionally, Coty's largest shareholder, JAB, has notified the company that it has decided to fully repay the loan it used to finance the tender offer in 2019. The company's first and foremost priority is the safety of its employees, customers, consumers and partners Coty is taking appropriate measures in all countries in which it operates, in compliance with local public recommendations. A global response team has been set up and is operational. And alongside other industry players, Coty is taking initiatives to begin manufacturing and supplying hand sanitizer to medical and emergency services where needed. Coty has been adjusting its business focus as part of its response to COVID-19. First, the open channels and markets are being prioritized, with the acceleration of a number of initiatives, in particular e-commerce. These include activations on Amazon, with sales in the U.S. nearly doubling in recent weeks, as well as launching Kylie skin-care Europe in the coming weeks. The teams are also getting prepared for an increase in demand post-COVID 19 disruptions, starting in Asia. Second, management has increased further its focus on cost control and cash-flow, and is taking a number of additional measures, temporary or structural, to adjust its expenses and protect its cash flow. In light of the impact of COVID-19 on its business, Coty now expects its net revenues for the third quarter of FY20 to decline roughly 20% like-for-like, with a meaningful impact on profit. As the situation evolves, Coty intends to continue actively adjusting its priorities, and has decided to withdraw its guidance for FY20, so as to have the necessary flexibility. The company has reviewed its financial position in view of the current market conditions, which are expected to amplify moving into Q4. Coty confirms that following the amendment of its financing arrangements in 2019, it has ample and sufficient liquidity and headroom to meet its covenants based on management's current view of market conditions. The company is continuing to pursue with confidence the strategic review of its Professional hair and Brazilian businesses. Pierre-Andre Terisse, COO and CFO of Coty, stated: "The work performed by Coty over the past 18 months has been incredibly helpful given the current exceptional circumstances, not only because our brands have been improved, but also because we have considerably strengthened our cost and financial structures. To further strengthen it, we will propose to the Board of Directors, to increase from 50% to 100% the option for shareholders to receive their $0.125 quarterly dividend in kind for the coming two quarters. Having faced several financial crises in my career, I know they always contain opportunities as well, and we will look to seize them and accelerate our transformation for the benefit of our stakeholders." Peter Harf, Founding Partner of JAB and Chairman of Coty, declared: "We are very confident in Coty's ability not only to navigate well through this crisis, but also to exit stronger, as the management continues to reduce its costs aggressively and to accelerate top line initiatives. We support management's proposal to adjust the dividend in Q3 and Q4, and JAB will elect for full payment in shares. Having decided to repay in full the loan we used to finance the tender offer in 2019, we are more than ever standing by Coty and its transformation agenda."

06:48 EDT Tiffany reports net inventories at January 31 'largely unchanged' y/y - Net inventories at January 31 were largely unchanged from the prior year.

06:44 EDT Tiffany says not providing FY guidance due to pending merger with LVMH - CEO Bogliolo also said, "Our primary focus now is on preparing our company, business and communities for the COVID-19 pandemic and the return to normal operations. The health and well-being of our employees and customers are critical and we continue to adopt recommended safeguards and plans at our stores, offices and factories as circumstances change. We have had to temporarily close or shorten operating hours of certain stores around the globe. For example, in the Chinese Mainland, since January 24, 2020, we have lost approximately half of our total normal retail trading days as a result of closures or shortened hours of operations. Our agile teams are aligned to continually assess the dynamic conditions resulting from the global outbreak to determine our near-term actions." Bogliolo concluded, "Due to the pending completion of the merger, we will not be communicating an outlook for the full year as we have traditionally done."

06:37 EDT Gold Standard Ventures takes actions to minimize risks of COVID-19 - Gold Standard Ventures has taken actions to minimize the risks of the Covid-19 virus, for both employees and people interacting with the company's programs and activities in response to Covid-19. Although there are no known or suspected cases of the virus reported at any of the company's workplaces in Canada or USA, Gold Standard is following government health protocols and is closely monitoring its activities. Gold Standard has implemented a formal work from home protocol until it is safe to return to its workplaces.

06:35 EDT New Gold suspends operations at Rainy River Mine for two weeks - New Gold reports that its Rainy River Mine, which is close to the United States border, has temporarily suspended operations for a period of two weeks so that its local workforce can follow the fourteen day period of self-isolation as recommended by federal and provincial authorities relating to travel outside Canada as frequent border crossing is a common practice in the region. "The requirement to self-isolate is consistent with our company-wide policy currently in place for all New Gold operations and projects. Approximately 70% of the workforce of the Rainy River Mine is made up of local residents and making frequent short trips across the border to the local Minnesota communities is a common practice in the region. A significant number of employees have voluntarily indicated that they have recently made such trips and are now in self-isolation, following the guidance of the Canadian and Ontario governments with respect to COVID-19. Accordingly, the company has made the decision to temporarily suspend operations at the Rainy River Mine, for precautionary reasons for a period of fourteen days, consistent with this recommended period of self-isolation. The closure of Canada - United States border to all non-essential travel is imminent, so no additional members of the workforce are expected to be required to self-isolate. The suspension will continue to be assessed over the fourteen day period to determine when full or partial operations can be resumed in the safest possible environment for our employees. The company does not anticipate making any adjustments to annual guidance for Rainy River. During the next two weeks, the Rainy River Mine will maintain a minimum crew to monitor and maintain essential activities, ensure there is no impact to the environment and fully sanitize the mine site, camp, and mobile and fixed equipment to ensure the safest possible environment for our employees when operations resume. We will also continue to work on optimizing our plans for transport and employee accommodation to reflect the principals of social distancing and other guidance to prevent COVID-19. The New Afton Mine continues to operate at normal levels with a minimal proportion of their workforce currently in self-isolation. The company will continue to monitor this situation to ensure the ongoing safety of our New Afton team. The company has a comprehensive COVID-19 response plan in place and is monitoring the situation closely. Currently there are no suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 at any of our sites. The health and safety of our workforce and our communities remains our number one concern and we will support all initiatives that align with that objective."

06:21 EDT Elon Musk says Tesla 'working on ventilators' - Elon Musk said on Twitter his factories are "working on ventilators" for a possible shortage caused by coronavirus. On Thursday, Musk tweeted: "We're working on ventilators, even though I think there will not be a shortage by the time we can make enough to matter." Reference Link

06:05 EDT Sysco withdraws FY18-FY20 three-year plan guidance due to COVID-19 impact - Sysco announced business and financial updates in response to changes in the foodservice industry due to the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Sysco's strong balance sheet provides meaningful financial flexibility for the company to navigate current challenges in the "food-away-from-home" market resulting from the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent actions taken across the country to increase social distancing. The company has cash on hand of approximately $2B as of March 20, including a recent $1.5B withdrawal under its revolving credit facility. Importantly, Sysco has no debt maturities for the next six months. In addition, Sysco is working with its banking partners to explore opportunities to raise additional funds and further strengthen its liquidity. The company is taking aggressive action to further strengthen liquidity by reducing variable expenses in response to reduced customer demand, aligning inventory to current sales trends, reducing capital expenditures to only urgent projects, and tightly managing receivables. "Sysco is operating from a position of financial strength and will weather this storm. We continue to prioritize the health and wellbeing of our associates, customers and communities around the world," said Kevin Hourican, Sysco's president and CEO. "In addition to ensuring the safe delivery of food and related products, we are taking decisive actions to manage our costs, capital spend and working capital to maintain a positive free cash flow position." In addition to efforts to reduce costs, the company is actively pursuing new sources of revenue by leveraging its supply chain expertise to provide services to the retail grocery sector. This net new business will help off-set some of the declines in the food-away-from-home segment and also positions the company well to capitalize on growth opportunities after the COVID-19 crisis subsides. Examples of growth initiatives that are being implemented include: Providing logistics services to retail grocery customers; Becoming a supplier of product to retail grocery customers; Enabling small restaurants to stand up home delivery operations and online order pick-up service; and Distributing cleaning supplies to keep kitchens safe and virus free. The company has also determined to withdraw its FY18-FY20 three-year plan guidance due to the rapidly evolving impact of COVID-19 on the global economy.

05:22 EDT Epam Systems acquires Deltix - Deltix announced that it has been acquired by EPAM Systems. As part of EPAM, Deltix will form a real-time computing lab that provides a center of excellence for industry-leading real-time event processing and analytics. The lab will focus on capital marketing trading, risk and market data, as well as crypto trading, IoT and real-time signal processing. Deltix will continue to develop its current business of providing software and services for systematic and algorithmic trading clients, while EPAM will leverage Deltix's technology and expertise across its various practices that span multiple industries, including financial services, travel and hospitality, retail and distribution, media and entertainment, business information services, healthcare and life sciences, energy and utilities, insurance, automotive, and software and hi-tech.

05:17 EDT Biofrontera implements measures to reduce costs during COVID-19 pandemic - Biofrontera announced that it has adopted comprehensive measures to reduce costs during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Biofrontera management anticipates declining demand for its product Ameluz(R) due to current measures and regulations implemented by governments worldwide in an attempt to control the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures will very likely lead to different priorities for medical treatments and cause a delay of actinic keratosis treatment for most patients. As such, the company must be prepared for a transiently declining global demand for Biofrontera's products due to the Coronavirus pandemic. "With the COVID-19 situation continuously evolving, we must at all times consider what is best for the health and safety of our staff as well as our operations," says Prof. Hermann Lubbert, CEO of Biofrontera. "As we are navigating and assessing the situation on a daily basis, we have no choice but to implement drastic cost cutting measures for the near term in response to the spread of the Coronavirus in Europe and North America. We expect the lower demand for our products to continue for several months but currently have very limited visibility for our business in the near term." Effective next week, Biofrontera will implement short-time work for all employees in Germany. Similar measures are currently being assessed for its subsidiaries in Spain and the UK and will be implemented shortly. Biofrontera Inc., the US-based wholly owned subsidiary, will also initiate substantial cost cutting measures by significantly reducing its workforce and implementing a mandatory furlough program, by which all employees will be required to take temporary periods of unpaid time off. In addition, the members of the Management Board of Biofrontera AG as well as the management of Biofrontera Inc. are voluntarily waiving a substantial portion of their salaries until further notice. While these cost-cutting measures are in place, the company ensures full medical and financial regulatory compliance and continuous disclosure of its business is maintained at all time.