Stockwinners Market Radar for April 19, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:07 EDT TTM Technologies completes sale of Mobility Business unit - TTM Technologies announced the completion of the divestiture of its four China manufacturing plants comprising substantially all of the assets of its Mobility business unit. The Buyer is AKMMeadville Electronics, a Chinese consortium consisting of Meizhi Investment, Xiamen Semiconductor, AKM Electronics Industrial, and Anmei Ventures. The transaction is structured as the sale of TTM's Mobility business unit consisting of its four China manufacturing plants on a debt free, cash free basis for a total of $550M in cash, subject to working capital adjustments at closing. Net proceeds from the sale of these four plants are expected to be deployed to invest in the business or reduce debt. The sale does not include certain accounts receivable of the business unit as of the closing date, now estimated to be approximately $95M, which the company's expects to collect during the next 3 to 4 months. The current estimated accounts receivable is less than previously disclosed due to an earlier than expected closing of the transaction. The proceeds shall be paid in U.S. dollars in tranches after regulatory clearance for the funds to be remitted to TTM out of China. If TTM has not received the proceeds by August 7th, TTM will be able to exercise bank guarantees payable in U.S. dollars by the Hong Kong branches of third party banks which were provided by the buyer as security for financing the transaction. In the fiscal year 2019, the Mobility business unit generated revenues of $556M, non-GAAP operating income of $14.8M and adjusted EBITDA of $90.5M.

16:49 EDT Ascendis Pharma announces top-line data from fixed dose portion of PaTH Forward - Ascendis Pharma announced positive top-line results from the four-week fixed dose, blinded portion of PaTH Forward, a global phase 2 trial evaluating the safety, tolerability and efficacy of TransCon PTH in adult subjects with hypoparathyroidism. TransCon PTH is an investigational long-acting prodrug of parathyroid hormone in development as a once-daily replacement therapy for adult hypoparathyroidism designed to replace PTH at physiologic levels for 24 hours each day and address both short-term symptoms and long-term complications of HP. A total of 59 subjects were randomized in a blinded manner to receive fixed doses of TransCon PTH at 15, 18 or 21 microg/day or placebo for four weeks using a ready-to-use prefilled pen injector planned for commercial presentation. All doses of TransCon PTH were well-tolerated, and no serious or severe adverse events were shown at any point. No treatment-emergent adverse events led to discontinuation of study drug, and the overall incidence of TEAEs was comparable between TransCon PTH and placebo. Additionally, there were no drop-outs during the four-week fixed dose period. In the per protocol analysis, TransCon PTH eliminated standard of care in 100% of subjects in the highest dose arm and 82% of subjects across all dosage arms. These results from the fixed dose portion of PaTH Forward demonstrated that TransCon PTH increased serum calcium levels, enabled discontinuation of active D and continuous calcium reduction of supplements over the four-week period. TransCon PTH reduced urinary calcium excretion despite increased serum calcium, and resulted in sustained reductions in serum phosphate and calcium-phosphate product. At four weeks, the 21 microg/day arm and the combined TransCon PTH dosage arms showed a statistically significant response in the primary composite endpoint compared to placebo in the per protocol analysis. Fifty-eight subjects continue in the open-label extension portion of the trial, where they receive a customized maintenance dose of TransCon PTH. The company plans to report six-month data from the open-label extension portion of the trial during the third quarter of 2020. Ascendis Pharma plans to engage with global regulatory authorities on next steps for development of TransCon PTH, and submit regulatory filings to initiate a global phase 3 trial in North America, Europe and Asia in the fourth quarter of 2020.

14:46 EDT Iberiabank reports results related to SBA Paycheck Protection Program - Iberiabank has reported results related to the Small Business Association's Paycheck Protection Program. To date, the company has taken 9,500 applications totaling $1.9B, of which the company reserved funds of over $1.7B, or 90%. Thus far, the company has placed over $640M in clients' checking accounts and approved loans that impact 188,000 small business employees. Since the program concluded, the company has received an additional 500 applications. Like the majority of banks, Iberiabank was not able to fund every application. The team worked through the arduous process 24/7 since the program's inception to take care of every client possible. On April 16, 2020, the Small Business Administration announced that it had exhausted its funding of $349B in the Paycheck Protection Program and stopped accepting applications. Iberiabank is focused on funding the properly completed applications in the queue and is continuing to accept applications in the event Congress appropriates additional funding in the near future. The company also continues to provide relief through loan deferral options and fee waivers.

14:40 EDT Rite Aid expands COVID-19 on-site testing, opens seven new locations - Rite Aid continues to expand COVID-19 testing sites with seven new locations opening Monday, April 20, in New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Ohio, through its partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The testing will take place in each store's parking lot. As part of the testing process, people must remain in their vehicles from the time they arrive and until they depart. Testing will be available at no cost to eligible individuals who meet criteria established by the CDC. Patients are required to provide government issued identification, be at least 18 years old and need to pre-register online at www.riteaid.com in order to schedule a time slot for testing. In coordination with HHS, the company expects to have additional drive-up COVID-19 testing locations opening soon at Rite Aid stores in Delaware, Idaho, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Rite Aid has partnered with Verily and will use its Baseline COVID-19 Program to provide screening, scheduling, and return of results to participants for Rite-Aid testing sites. Rite Aid also selected BioReference Laboratories to provide COVID-19 laboratory testing to all drive-up locations with the goal of flattening the curve through accessible diagnostic testing. Clinical oversight for the COVID-19 testing program is provided by PWNHealth, a national clinician network that enables safe and easy access to diagnostic testing.

14:35 EDT Walmart to require associates wear masks at work - Walmart U.S. President and CEO, John Furner, and Sam's Club President and CEO, Kath McLay, sent a memo Friday evening that partly read, "We will begin requiring that associates wear masks or other face coverings at work. This includes our stores, clubs, distribution and fulfillment centers as well as in our corporate offices. We'll also be encouraging customers and members to wear face coverings when they shop with us. We have evolved our policy on face coverings from optional to mandatory as public health guidance has shifted. The CDC now recommends wearing face coverings in public settings, including grocery stores, to help curb the spread of the virus. Although most state and local governments do not mandate the use of face coverings in public settings, the CDC has reported that recent studies show a significant portion of individuals with the virus lack symptoms and can transmit the virus. With this knowledge, we believe it is simply in everyone's best interest to use masks or face coverings to curb the spread of this disease. Starting Monday, you'll be required to wear a face covering at work. You can provide your own as long as it meets certain guidelines, or we will provide you with one as you pass your associate health screen and temperature check. We're also aware there may need to be exceptions to this policy based on local laws and individual health needs. [...] We're also announcing today that we are extending our emergency leave policy through the end of May to ensure you have the support you need when you have to miss work."