Stockwinners Market Radar for January 07, 2022 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

18:11 EST Tesla CEO says FSD price rising to $12,000 on January 17 - Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that the pricing for its full self-driving feature is rising to $12,000 on January 17. Reference Link

17:16 EST Guardant Health, Foundation Medicine settle digital sequencing litigation - Guardant Health announced that it has reached an agreement to settle all pending litigation concerning the company's digital sequencing technology patents with Foundation Medicine. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, Foundation Medicine will pay Guardant Health $25M as well as future royalties for the remaining term of the licensed digital sequencing technology patents. In turn, Guardant Health will grant Foundation Medicine a non-exclusive license to a defined subset of its digital sequencing technology patents. As a result of this settlement, all pending patent litigation between Foundation Medicine and Guardant Health will be dismissed.

17:03 EST Luokung Technology receives noncompliance notification from Nasdaq - Luokung Technology announced that it has received a notification letter from Nasdaq notifying the company that it is not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rules 5550 and 5810, which require that the closing bid price for the company's ordinary shares listed on Nasdaq be maintained at a minimum of $1.00 and failure to maintain it for 30 consecutive trading days constitutes a compliance deficiency.

17:00 EST SmileDirectClub CFO Kyle Wailes to step down, Troy Crawford named interim CFO - Effective January 7, SmileDirectClub and Kyle Wailes determined that Wailes will step down from his role as CFO of the company. On December 7, 2021, the company announced that Wailes notified the company of his intended departure in order to pursue a role as CEO at a Nashville healthcare company. Wailes had served as CFO of the Company since May 2018. The company has appointed its Chief Accounting Officer, Troy Crawford, as its interim CFO, effective January 8. Crawford has served as the company's Chief Accounting Officer since January of 2020. Prior to that, he served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer of GameStop (GME) beginning in June 2010, after serving as its Vice President, Controller prior to that time. The company is continuing its external search for its next CFO and has engaged an executive search firm.

16:31 EST Stealth Biotherapeutics receives Nasdaq notification regarding minimum bid - Stealth BioTherapeutics announced that on January 4, 2022, it received a letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, notifying the Company that it is currently not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement set forth under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1). It resulted from the fact that the closing bid price of the Company's American Depositary Shares was below $1.00 per share for a period of 30 consecutive business days. The Company also announced that on January 5, 2022 it received a letter from Nasdaq notifying the Company that it is currently not in compliance with the minimum market value of listed securities requirement set forth under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(b)(2)(A). It resulted from the fact that the market value of the Company's ADSs was below $50,000,000 for a period of 30 consecutive business days. This press release is issued pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(b), which requires prompt disclosure of receipt of deficiency notifications. The notifications have no immediate effect on the listing of the Company's ADSs, which will continue to trade uninterrupted on Nasdaq under the ticker "MITO."

16:17 EST Pzena Investment reports preliminary AUM $52.5B at December 31, 2021 - Compared to $49.8B at November 30, 2021 and $43.3B at December 31, 2020.

16:07 EST AutoWeb names Carlton Hamer as CFO, succeeding Michael Sadowski - AutoWeb has appointed Carlton Hamer as executive vice president, CFO, succeeding Michael Sadowski, and Josh Barsetti as vice president, controller and principal accounting officer. Hamer's appointment to CFO is effective Jan. 10, and Barsetti's appointment is effective as of Jan. 17. Sadowski will remain with the company until at least March to facilitate a smooth transition for the company's new finance executives.Hamer is a Certified Public Accountant and brings nearly three decades of experience to AutoWeb, with a significant portion of his career dedicated to the automotive industry. He held several executive leadership positions during his 15 years at Cox Automotive.

14:42 EST Virginia SCC approves grid transformation plan for Dominion Virginia customers - The Virginia State Corporation Commission approved, subject to certain requirements, Phase II of the Grid Transformation Plan, the company's ten-year plan to transform the electric distribution grid. "This is another major step forward in building a clean energy economy in Virginia. This includes the largest offshore wind project in the nation, re-licensure of our nuclear units, energy storage, and solar energy, all of which creates jobs and economic opportunity here in the Commonwealth. As we bring more renewable energy onto our grid to build a cleaner future, and focus on increasing resiliency, we must modernize the way the system works," said Charlene Whitfield, senior-vice president of Power Delivery at Dominion Energy Virginia. "Today's decision by the SCC ensures that we can remain agile as a company to deliver the reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy that our customers want and expect." Phase II of the GT Plan focuses on investments needed to facilitate and optimize the integration of distributed energy resources, such as small-scale solar, energy storage facilities, and electric vehicles. To effectively integrate these energy resources distributed throughout the grid, the Company will continue to deploy smart metering infrastructure and intelligent grid devices that will provide visibility of grid conditions. The Company will also invest in the infrastructure and systems to process, manage, and use that data to optimize grid operations and improve customer reliability. The SCC ruling today approved over $650M of investments in 2022 and 2023. The Company can seek recovery of those costs in a future proceeding.

14:03 EST Smartsheet CFO says will give FY23 revenue guidance with Q4 earnings call - Smartsheet CFO Pete Godbole said the company has already given FY23 billings guidance and plans to give FY23 revenue guidance along with its Q4 earnings call. In terms of reaching a $1B annualized revenue run rate, Godbole said the company is remaining flexible in its view of that milestone being reached at some point during FY24 to FY25. Godbole made the comments during a Q&A portion of the end of the company's 2022 Virtual Investor Day meeting.

13:10 EST Invenergy announces $3B investment from Blackstone Infrastructure Partners - Blackstone announced that funds managed by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners have entered into a definitive agreement with Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and Invenergy for an approximately $3B equity investment in Invenergy Renewables Holdings, the largest private renewable energy company in North America. Blackstone's investment will provide capital to accelerate Invenergy's renewables development activities. CDPQ and Invenergy management remain majority owners of the company and Invenergy will continue as managing member. Invenergy Renewables is a renewable energy developer, with over 175 projects totaling nearly 25,000 megawatts developed across four continents, focused on long-lasting partnerships with utilities, financial institutions and commercial and industrial customers. The generation projects developed by the company power the equivalent of 8.5M homes. The company's developed projects have offset approximately 167M tons of carbon dioxide, or approximately the annual emissions of the state of New York. The company is building both the largest wind and solar projects in the United States, that combined will deliver nearly 3 gigawatts of clean energy by 2023.

13:01 EST Baker Hughes reports U.S. rig count up 2 to 588 rigs

12:05 EST Apple Fitness+ introduces Collections, Time to Run, more starting January 10 - Apple said that Apple Fitness+ is introducing Collections and Time to Run on January 10. Collections are a curated series of workouts and meditations from the Fitness+ library organized to help users reach a goal, and Time to Run is an audio running experience designed to help users become more consistent and better runners, featuring popular running routes in some of the most notable cities. "At the beginning of a new year, we know many people are looking for new ways to go after their goals. With these new additions, Fitness+ makes it easy to get motivated and stay active anywhere, with the most complete library of high-quality and diverse content to train your mind and body, no matter where you are on your fitness journey," said Jay Blahnik, Apple's vice president of Fitness Technologies. "We can't wait for people to get motivated to reach their goals with Collections, and inspired by Time to Run's exploration of iconic cities with rich running history." The same day, Fitness+ will also introduce the third season of Time to Walk featuring guests such as Rebel Wilson, Bernice A. King, and Hasan Minhaj, as well as new Artist Spotlight workouts featuring music from Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Shakira, and the Beatles.

12:03 EST Pacira reported Q4 Exparel revenue $139.9M vs. $125.3M last year - Exparel average daily sales were 110% of the prior year for Q4 and 100% for the month of December, respectively, the company said yesterday morning.

12:00 EST Sunlight Financial falls -10.6% - Sunlight Financial is down -10.6%, or -46c to $3.84.

12:00 EST Franklin Covey rises 9.8% - Franklin Covey is up 9.8%, or $4.47 to $50.21.

12:00 EST Innovid rises 18.6% - Innovid is up 18.6%, or $1.04 to $6.64.

11:14 EST Roblox slides after taking down China app to build new version - Shares of Roblox (RBLX) are down about 7%, to $6.20, to $83.00 after Reuters reported that the LuoBuLesi app, which the company launched in July in partnership with an affiliate of Tencent Holdings (TCEHY), was shut down on December 8 and now shows users a message thanking them for using the test version when they log on. A Roblox spokesperson told Reuters late on Thursday that the move was necessary as the company builds the "next version of LuoBuLeSi," but did not say when the app would return, according to the news service's report. "We always knew that building a compelling platform in China is an iterative process, and we are thankful for the support of LuoBuLeSi users and our global developer community. It is critical that we now make the necessary investments, including investments in our data architecture, in order to realize our long-term vision," a Roblox spokesperson is quoted as having said. Reference Link

10:28 EST Momentive outlines 'opportunities for value creation' in letter on Zendesk deal - Momentive Global (MNTV) announced that it has filed a definitive proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the special meeting of stockholders that has been called to approve proposals relating to the company's previously announced transaction with Zendesk (ZEN). In connection with the filing of the definitive proxy statement, Momentive noted that it will mail a letter to stockholders that states in part: "The Momentive Board of Directors undertook a comprehensive strategic review process before unanimously committing to the Zendesk transaction. Simply put, we believe the combination will maximize value for our stockholders... The combination of Momentive and Zendesk provides Momentive stockholders, who will own approximately 22% of the combined company, with significantly higher value potential than Momentive as an independent company... With Zendesk, Momentive stockholders will have the opportunity to participate in the upside potential and synergies of a larger, faster growing company... The Momentive Board is confident that the transaction with Zendesk is the best path forward. Together, the combined company will have an enhanced profile of diversified and compelling products and the ability to accelerate growth in the near- and long-term, while creating a stronger financial profile. The two companies have highly complementary products that deliver exactly what customers need to drive value for their businesses. And the transaction is the result of a thoughtful, deliberate and highly competitive process to evaluate all opportunities to deliver value to Momentive stockholders." In addition, Momentive announced that it will report fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021 financial results for the period ended December 31, 2021, after the market closes on Thursday, February 10. "Due to the pending transaction with Zendesk, Momentive will not be holding a conference call to discuss these results," the company stated.

10:08 EST ITC finds Google violated Sonos patents in certain audio players - The International Trade Commission determined last night that Google (GOOG, GOOGL) violated section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by importing, selling for importation, or selling in the United States after importation certain audio players and controllers, components thereof, and products containing the same that infringe one or more claims of U.S. patents. The Commission determined that the appropriate remedies are a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order against Google. The Commission has also determined to set a bond in the amount of 100% of the entered value of the infringing products imported during the period of Presidential review. On February 11, 2020, the Commission instituted an investigation based on a complaint filed by Sonos (SONO). Shares of Sonos are up 4% to $29.97 following the ruling. Reference Link

10:00 EST Huaneng Power falls -7.2% - Huaneng Power is down -7.2%, or -$1.72 to $22.28.

10:00 EST Tuya rises 10.0% - Tuya is up 10.0%, or 49c to $5.41.

10:00 EST GameStop rises 18.3% - GameStop is up 18.3%, or $23.97 to $155.00.

09:50 EST Mercedes-Benz USA reports Q4 sales down 20.2% to 76,031 vehicles - Mercedes-Benz USA reported Q4 sales of 60,326 Mercedes-Benz models. Additionally, Mercedes-Benz Vans recorded Q4 sales of 15,705, bringing a total of 76,031 vehicles for the quarter, a decrease of 20.2% over the comparable period last year. On a year-to-date basis, Mercedes-Benz USA recorded sales of 276,102 Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles and 53,472 Vans. This brings total year-to-date sales to 329,574 units, an increase of 1.1% versus 2020.

09:47 EST James Hardie falls -6.1% - James Hardie is down -6.1%, or -$2.40 to $36.70.

09:47 EST BP Prudhoe Bay rises 7.2% - BP Prudhoe Bay is up 7.2%, or 32c to $4.76.

09:47 EST GameStop rises 20.7% - GameStop is up 20.7%, or $27.13 to $158.16.

09:38 EST FDA shortens Moderna COVID booster interval to five months - The Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to shorten the time between the completion of a primary series of the vaccine and a booster dose to at least five months for individuals 18 years of age and older. Reference Link

09:27 EST BioCryst begins patient enrollment in REDEEM-1 trial of BCX9930 for PNH - BioCryst announced the enrollment of the first patient in the REDEEM-1 pivotal trial with its oral Factor D inhibitor, BCX9930, in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. REDEEM-1 is a randomized, open-label, active comparator-controlled comparison of the efficacy and safety of BCX9930 monotherapy in approximately 81 PNH patients with an inadequate response to a C5 inhibitor. In part 1 of this trial, patients who have not had an adequate response to a C5 inhibitor will be randomized 2:1 to discontinue their C5 inhibitor and receive BCX9930 as monotherapy or to continue receiving their C5 inhibitor for 24 weeks. All patients will receive BCX9930 in part 2 to assess the long-term safety, tolerability and effectiveness of BCX9930. Patients who are randomized to C5 inhibitor therapy in part 1 will discontinue that therapy at the week 24 visit and start BCX9930 for part 2. The primary endpoint of REDEEM-1 is change from baseline in hemoglobin, as assessed at weeks 12 to 24. In a dose-ranging trial of BCX9930 in C5 inadequate response patients, the company previously reported that BCX9930 increased hemoglobin from baseline by a mean of 2.7 g/dL through weeks 12 to 24 with 80 percent of patients being transfusion-free over the same period. BCX9930 was safe and generally well-tolerated in the trial. BioCryst recently announced it had begun enrolling patients in the REDEEM-2 pivotal trial, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BCX9930 as monotherapy versus placebo in approximately 57 PNH patients not currently receiving complement inhibitor therapy. Additionally, the company is initiating a proof-of-concept trial of BCX9930 in renal complement-mediated diseases including C3 glomerulopathy, IgA nephropathy and primary membranous nephropathy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted both Fast Track status and Orphan Drug Designation to BCX9930 for PNH.

09:05 EST Liquidia refinances debt facility with Silicon Valley Bank - Liquidia announced the closing of a debt facility on January 7, 2022, with Silicon Valley Bank which provides Liquidia with up to $40M in term loans of which the first $20M was funded at closing. Liquidia initially entered a debt facility with SVB in March 2021 that provided up to $20.5M in term loans of which $10.5M had been funded to date. Under the terms of the new debt facility, SVB will make loans available in three tranches. Proceeds from the first tranche of $20M have been used to retire Liquidia's existing SVB term debt and adds $9.5M of cash to Liquidia's balance sheet. The first tranche also provides the option of drawing an additional $5M at Liquidia's discretion through December 31, 2022. A second tranche of $7.5M is available to fund immediately upon receipt of final and unconditional approval for YUTREPIA inhalation powder by December 31, 2022. The third tranche of $7.5M will be available through August 31, 2023, upon generating trailing six-month net product sales of YUTREPIA of $27.5M by June 30, 2023. The debt facility will mature on December 1, 2025 and will consist of interest-only payments through December 31, 2023, unless the third tranche milestone is achieved, and then interest-only through December 31, 2024.

09:04 EST Zillow Group names Jenny Arden as Chief Design Officer - Zillow Group (Z, ZG) announced Jenny Arden is joining as the company's first Chief Design Officer. Arden will take on a range of design leadership responsibilities, all focused on delivering seamless, connected and customer-centric experiences across Zillow Group's brands. Over her 20-year career, Arden has led creative and design teams at Nike (NKE), Lyft (LYFT) and Airbnb (ABNB). An accomplished design leader with a unique background that spans from consumer design to consumer finance, Arden will oversee Zillow Group's product design, research and user experience.

09:02 EST Pacific Biosciences announces Radboudumc adds two new Sequel IIe Systems - PacBio announced Radboud University Medical Center, Radboudumc, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands will increase their SMRT sequencing capacity with the addition of two new PacBio Sequel IIe Systems. Radboudumc has been using PacBio long-read technology for the last three years to identify hidden variants that cause rare diseases. "Worldwide, approximately 80 percent of rare disease cases are genetic, but more than 50 percent of cases remain unsolved with existing technology. With the accuracy of HiFi sequencing, we are seeing a tremendous interest in PacBio WGS as an important new tool for detecting large or challenging variants missed by short-read technology," said Jonas Korlach, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, PacBio. "PacBio is proud to continue to work closely with Radboudumc, as we have done for the last several years, and to see their growth and be part of their research evolution." The Sequel IIe System generates HiFi sequencing reads, which provide the accuracy and completeness required for investigating DNA variation in rare genetic diseases and cancer.

08:35 EST Bleuacacia announces separate trading of ordinary shares, rights, warrants - bleuacacia announced that, commencing January 10, 2022, holders of the 27,600,000 units sold in the Company's initial public offering may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares, rights and redeemable warrants included in the units. Those units not separated will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "BLEUU," and the Class A ordinary shares, rights and redeemable warrants that are separated will trade on Nasdaq under the symbols "BLEU," "BLEUR" and "BLEUW," respectively. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Holders of units will need to have their brokers contact Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the Company's transfer agent, in order to separate the units into Class A ordinary shares, rights and redeemable warrants. The Company is focused on partnering with dynamic leaders to accelerate the growth of globally-relevant consumer-facing brands. The acacia blue team is defined by its deep and diverse operating experience, and is led by co-CEOs and co-Chairmen Jide Zeitlin and Lew Frankfort. The Company's President and COO is Charlie McGuigan and its Executive Director is Tom Northover. While the Company may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, it intends to identify and complete a business transaction in the consumer and retail sectors. The units were initially offered by the Company in an underwritten offering. Credit Suisse and Citigroup acted as joint book-running managers for the offering. Rice Financial Products acted as co-manager.

08:33 EST Cano Health reports Q4 membership 227,000, up 114% year-over-year - Total membership at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 was 227,000, up 114% year-over-year, and above prior year-end 2021 guidance of 218,000 members. Organic membership was 148,000, up 40% year-over-year. Membership at the end of the fourth quarter included approximately 118,300 Medicare Advantage members, 7,700 Medicare direct contracting entity members, 66,500 Medicaid members, and 34,500 ACA members. As of January 1, 2022, Cano Health's total membership increased to approximately 253,000 total members. The increase in membership was entirely organic and includes members from the conclusion of the Medicare Advantage open enrollment period, along with the addition of newly enrolled Medicare DCE members.

08:32 EST ACNB Corp selects Jason Weber as successor for CFO - ACNB announced that Jason Weber has been selected as the successor to ACNB Corporation and ACNB Bank Executive Vice President/Treasurer & Chief Financial Officer, CFO, David Cathell. Weber plans to join ACNB Corporation and ACNB Bank on January 31, 2022, as Executive Vice President/Finance for the period until Cathell's retirement. During this time, Weber will work with Cathell for a smooth transition of the CFO position. Weber comes to ACNB Corporation and ACNB Bank from Atlantic Community Bankers Bank where he held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

08:16 EST Icosavax sees cash balance funding operations through at least 2024 - Icosavax has an unaudited preliminary cash position, including restricted cash, of $281M as of December 31, 2021. The company currently expects its cash balance to be sufficient to fund operations through at least 2024.

08:15 EST Icosavax provides pipeline, corporate updates - Icosavax provided a corporate update and shared anticipated milestones for 2022. Pipeline Updates: Exercised option for patent license for influenza vaccine from the University of Washington and U.S. Department of Human and Health Services. Icosavax has exercised its option for a non-exclusive patent license granted by UW and HHS for use of its computationally designed, two component VLP platform in the influenza field, as the company executes on its strategy to develop combination VLP vaccines targeting the viral causes of pneumonia in older adults. A precursor vaccine candidate on the two-component VLP platform is currently being investigated in a Phase 1 study being run by the NIH, having previously been tested preclinically, including in non-human primates. Icosavax looks forward to providing future updates on its influenza program and development strategy. Evaluating IVX-411, a SARS-CoV-2 VLP vaccine candidate, against the Omicron variant. As part of its ongoing response to emerging variants, the company plans to evaluate preclinical and clinical sera to determine whether antibodies from animals and subjects immunized with IVX-411 neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. In addition, Icosavax has initiated preclinical development of a potential Omicron VLP vaccine candidate, for evaluation as a possible back-up COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Completed dosing of younger adults in the Phase 1 portion of the Phase 1/1b clinical trial for IVX-121. Icosavax has completed dosing in the Phase 1 portion of its ongoing Phase 1/1b clinical trial of IVX-121, a VLP vaccine candidate displaying the prefusion stabilized respiratory syncytial virus F antigen, and the Phase 1b portion of this trial has been initiated. Additionally, the company has completed its pre-IND meeting for the IVX-A12 combination bivalent RSV and human Metapneumovirus VLP vaccine candidate and is on track to begin its Phase 1 trial for IVX-A12 in 2H 2022. Corporate Updates: Appointed Robin Robinson, Ph.D., to Scientific Advisory Board. Recently appointed John Shiver, Ph.D., to Board of Directors. Expanded Seattle headquarters. The company recently signed a lease on a new facility of approximately 25,000 square feet, which provides substantially greater research and development capabilities to support the expansion of Icosavax's computationally designed VLP technology including antigen design capabilities and potential additional indications.

08:13 EST Rani Therapeutics appoints Lisa Rometty to board of directors - Rani Therapeutics (RANI) announced the appointment of Lisa Rometty to its board of directors. "Rometty brings significant global commercial leadership experience across a spectrum of start-ups to mature businesses in medical device, technology and pharmaceuticals," the company said. Rometty currently serves as President of CVS Kidney Care (CVS).

08:10 EST Fulcrum Therapeutics reports inducement grants under Nasdaq listing rule - Fulcrum Therapeutics announced the grant of an inducement award outside of the Company's 2019 Stock Incentive Plan to Esther Rajavelu, the Company's newly appointed CFO. The grant was approved by a majority of the independent directors of the Company on January 3, 2022 as an inducement material to the employee entering into employment with the Company in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The inducement grant consisted of a nonstatutory option to purchase up to 200,000 shares of common stock. The option has an exercise price of $17.82 per share, the closing price per share of the Company's common stock as reported by Nasdaq on January 3, 2022. The option has a ten-year term and vests over four years, with 25% of the original number of shares vesting on the first anniversary of the applicable employee's start date and an additional 6.25% of the shares vesting in equal quarterly installments over the twelve successive quarters following the first anniversary, subject to such employee's continued service with the Company through the applicable vesting dates.

08:09 EST Willis Towers Watson announces Nasdaq ticker symbol change to WTW - Willis Towers Watson announced that its ticker symbol on the Nasdaq stock market will change to "WTW" at the open of market trading on Monday January 10, 2022. Willis Towers Watson has traded under the ticker "WLTW" since 2016. No action is required from Willis Towers Watson shareholders relative to the ticker symbol change. Willis Towers Watson's ordinary shares will continue to be listed on Nasdaq and the CUSIP will remain unchanged.

08:08 EST Cerberus Sentinel acquires True Digital Security, terms not disclosed - Cerberus Cyber Sentinel announced that it has acquired True Digital Security, a cybersecurity operations and compliance company with offices in New York, Florida, and Oklahoma. Under the terms of the agreement, True Digital will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Cerberus Sentinel. Rory Sanchez, CEO of True Digital, will continue to manage his team of professionals and serve as an executive of the company. True Digital will continue to be based in New York, Florida, and Oklahoma. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

08:07 EST Soluna Holdings announces multi-year, multi-million-dollar USAF contract - Soluna announced a multi-year and multi-million-dollar contract with the U.S. Air Force, USAF. The total value over the life of the contract is anticipated to be well over $10M. The contract includes a one-year base with four extension years and reflects a reaffirmation of the 24-year relationship prior to this award. The USAF has awarded MTI Instruments this contract for the supply of its turbo fan jet engine vibration analysis and balancing solution, PBS. Moshe Binyamin, President and CEO of MTI Instruments, stated, "We are extremely pleased to announce this multi-year and multi-million-dollar order. This repeat order from the U.S. Air Force is a clear example of the high caliber customers that we have built decades long relationships with due to the high quality, and reliability of our essential products and services. We look forward to our continued partnership with USAF and are proud to support them with their mission of maximum readiness."

08:03 EST Cerence announces VinFast vehicles will use CCVDT platform - Cerence announced that VinFast vehicles will be cloud connected using the Cerence Connected Vehicle Digital Twin, CCVDT, platform. "As VinFast expands globally, it has selected Cerence to provide innovative cloud and AI capabilities that will enhance comfort, security, safety, and convenience and transform the driving experience for VinFast's customers," the company said. Completely cloud- and software-based, Cerence's digital capabilities enable VinFast to create a virtual representation of its entire car, including software, mechanics, electrics, and physical behavior. "The first-of-its-kind Cerence Connected Vehicle Digital Twin platform unites a virtual version of vehicle, its software and sensor data, its surroundings, and key driver behavior and information in the cloud to enable new, neural deep learning- and AI-powered experiences. Cerence's capabilities can analyze behavioral and operational data of the vehicle, overall vehicle performance, and driver-specific elements to deliver personalized service for drivers. In the future, we will be enabling simulation and validation of vehicles on the digital twin platform and testing use cases and vehicle performance using AI," said Prateek Kathpal, CTO, Cerence. "By leveraging Cerence Connected Vehicle Digital Twin, VinFast delivers on key needs for drivers while also differentiating itself from its competitors through innovative new technology."

08:01 EST Nisun International enters cooperative supply chain agreement with Henan Shiwugu - Nisun International announced that it has signed a cooperative supply chain agreement with Henan Shiwugu Co., Ltd. Under this agreement, Nisun will adhere to an open policy to import grain products, providing procurement and other services, to help Shiwugu broaden its market share. Under this agreement, Nisun will leverage its technological advantages, fully mobilize and integrate market resources to improve efficiency and optimize resource integration in Shiwugu's supply chain. Simultaneously, Nisun will rely on its sufficient capital resources to further support Shiwugu by importing grains and other agricultural products from overseas markets, while reducing costs and developing a new development pattern. Nisun will continue using its advantages to support small and medium-sized enterprises, such as Shiwugu, by providing tailored services.

07:38 EST Ayr Wellness provides update on stock repurchase program - Ayr Wellness provided an update on its stock repurchase program. Under the program to date, the Company has repurchased 568,000 Subordinate Voting Shares for a total of over C$11M. The Company previously announced that its Board had authorized the repurchase of up to 5%, or ~2.5M, of the Company's Shares, the maximum amount allowed for CSE listed companies, for a 12-month period pursuant to a normal course issuer bid.

07:33 EST Cytokinetics, Royalty Pharma announce funding agreements totaling up to $450M - Cytokinetics, Incorporated (CYTK) and Royalty Pharma (RPRX) announced that Cytokinetics has secured long-term capital from Royalty Pharma to support the potential commercialization of omecamtiv mecarbil and the further development of aficamten. In addition, Cytokinetics sold to Royalty Pharma royalties on future worldwide sales of aficamten. Omecamtiv mecarbil is an investigational, selective, small molecule cardiac myosin activator, that was granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and was the subject of GALACTIC-HF, a positive Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Aficamten is an investigational selective, small molecule cardiac myosin inhibitor that is under investigation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and was granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the U.S. FDA. Royalty Pharma will provide Cytokinetics long-term capital of up to $300M to support the potential commercialization of omecamtiv mecarbil and the further development of aficamten, and other general corporate purposes. The capital is available in five tranches, including an initial tranche of $50M upon closing and four additional tranches in the aggregate amount of $250M upon the occurrence of certain regulatory and clinical development milestones related to omecamtiv mecarbil and aficamten. Each tranche has an interest-free and payment-free period of six calendar quarters, followed by 34 calendar quarters of installment re-payments totaling 1.9 times the amount drawn. In addition, Royalty Pharma has purchased from Cytokinetics a royalty on aficamten of 4.5% on sales up to $1B and 3.5% on sales above $1B subject to certain potential step-downs, in exchange for payments of up to $150M, comprised of $50M at closing and two additional $50M payments, conditional upon the initiation of potential pivotal clinical trials for oHCM and nHCM, respectively. From these transactions, Cytokinetics anticipates receipt of up to $150M in near-term funding. Together with its proforma cash at the end of 2021 which was bolstered by transactions executed by Cytokinetics last year, this funding from Royalty Pharma enables Cytokinetics to have at least two years of cash runway based on expected 2022 expenditures, inclusive of planned commercialization activities and expanded pipeline development programs.

07:22 EST US Energy Initiatives Corp places orders for green energy mining initiative - US Energy Initiatives Corp announces that management has put in orders for its green energy mining initiative, continuing to execute its business plan. According to Anthony Miller, CEO, "Today, we announce that USEI currently has a standing order for a number of L3+ miners Bitmain Antminers. These miners have the ability to mine numerous script algorithm coins and tokens, diversifying USEI's coin holdings and increasing its potential to maximize profitability. USEI's use of renewable green energy will also give USEI the ability to increase its level of profitability one step further. The focus for renewable energy will remain with solar power as its main source of energy. The use of renewable energy solves the issue that has been created with crypto mining decreasing its carbon footprint. USEI will continue to grow in the blockchain community, Metaverse and new mining of future profitable coins. USEI continues its focus on growth and maximizing its profits. Last month, we placed $10M dollars of USEI's digital assets under management for liquidation; we plan for this currency to be all sold in the first quarter of 2022. This money will give USEI the capital to continue exploring all of the possibilities the crypto ecosystem and Metaverse holds for this fim...we will grow this business as far as our money will take us. We have an incredible business model that is built for the future. Finally, I continue to reiterate, over and over again, we will not increase the authorized shares of USEI and there is no reverse split contemplated for the present or the future. The fundamentals of this firm are fixed and changing this structure is not in anyone's best interest. Additionally, there is no toxic debt in this firm...and no stock debt contemplated in the immediate future or long term future."

07:07 EST Atea Pharmaceuticals highlights strategic priorities for 2022 - Atea Pharmaceuticals (AVIR) provided an update on the company's clinical development priorities for 2022, including broadening its portfolio to include Phase 2 programs across three severe viral diseases. Bemnifosbuvir COVID-19 Clinical Development Program Update: Building on the findings from Phase 2 clinical studies of bemnifosbuvir in high-risk patients with mild or moderate COVID-19, Atea plans to initiate a Phase 2 outpatient study designed to obtain additional safety, tolerability and virology data. The Company expects to report topline data from this Phase 2 study in late 2022. About Ruzasvir and Hepatitis C Program with Bemnifosbuvir : Atea is announcing that it has obtained exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize RZR, an oral NS5A inhibitor, through a recently completed license agreement with Merck (MRK). Atea plans to initiate a Phase 2 combination study of bemnifosbuvir and RZR in the second half of 2022. AT-752 Development Program for Dengue Fever Update: Atea successfully completed the Phase 1 clinical trial of AT-752. Atea plans to initiate a global Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial and a human challenge study in the US during the first half of 2022. Atea expects to report results from these studies in late 2022.

07:06 EST CareDx announces publication of results of NIH study using AlloSure Lung - CareDx announced the results of a study led by the National Institutes of Health, published in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, "Donor-derived Cell-free DNA as a Composite Marker of Acute Lung Allograft Dysfunction in Clinical Care," that validates the ability of AlloSure Lung to detect signs of organ rejection and infection in asymptomatic lung transplant recipients in a real-world, home-based surveillance setting. The use of AlloSure Lung also identified episodes of acute rejection and infection that would have been missed using a biopsy strategy alone. ALARM was a real-world, multicenter, prospective study conducted from March 24 to September 1, 2020, at the height of the pandemic. Four lung transplant centers used AlloSure Lung donor-derived cell-free DNA instead of surveillance bronchoscopy for transplant rejection surveillance in a home-based setting using CareDx RemoTraC, an at-home blood draw phlebotomy service. The study showed that non-invasive AlloSure Lung effectively identified acute cellular rejection, antibody-mediated rejection, and infection in asymptomatic lung transplant patients during routine surveillance screening. For diagnosis of ACR, AMR, or infection in these patients, dd-cfDNA yielded a sensitivity of 73.9%, specificity of 87.7%, positive predictive value of 43.4%, and negative predictive value of 96.5%, with an area under the curve of 0.82 using the ALARM investigator's protocol. Using an AlloSure Lung surveillance strategy, there were 83% fewer invasive biopsies than would have been performed under a surveillance biopsy program. AlloSure Lung's ability to offer early warnings to physicians of possible infection or organ rejection can help inform timely therapeutic interventions. Lung transplant patients have one of the lowest median survivals of any solid organ transplant recipient, with a five-year survival rate of approximately 53%. Introduced in October 2021, AlloSure Lung has already been adopted in over 20 lung transplant centers.

07:04 EST Color Star Technology to create auto non-fungible token generation system - Color Star Technology announced that on January 30, the company will launch Color World auto non-fungible token generation system to create an NFT-concept ecosystem. Currently, the company has developed a brand-new NFT auto-generation system. Once logged in, all registered users can automatically generate their own NFT products from the songs, dances, musical performances, and other activities done by their avatars in Color World, the copyrights of which will be owned by the users themselves. In addition, users can design their avatars' clothing, cars, housing, and other products, all of which can be self-generated as NFT products, and the users will be the copyright owners. Through this self-service software, Color Star hopes that more users can learn about NFT products and get more copyright revenue while encouraging more original creators to generate their very own NFT products through Color World entertainment metaverse.

07:04 EST Dana enters deal with Icahn Capital to add two directors to board - Dana announced that it has entered into an agreement with Icahn Capital, whereby Brett Icahn and Gary Hu, both of whom are portfolio managers at Icahn Capital, will join the Dana board of directors, effective immediately, and stand for election at the company's 2022 annual meeting of shareholders. With these appointments and the previously announced addition of Ernesto Hernandez, the board will temporarily expand to 12 directors. Following the retirement of Raymond Mabus at the 2022 Annual Meeting, consistent with the company's director retirement policy, the board will be composed of 11 directors, 10 of whom are independent. In connection with today's announcement, Icahn Capital and its affiliates, which collectively own approximately 9.9% of Dana's outstanding stock, have agreed to support the company's slate of director nominees, which will include Hu and Icahn, at Dana's 2022 annual meeting of shareholder. Icahn Capital has also agreed to other customary standstill provisions.

07:02 EST Regeneron, Ultragenyx collaborate to commercialize Evkeeza outside U.S. - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical (RARE) announced a license and collaboration agreement for Ultragenyx to clinically develop, commercialize and distribute Evkeeza in countries outside of the U.S. This includes the European Economic Area, where Evkeeza was approved in June 2021 as a first-in-class therapy for use together with diet and other low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol lowering therapies to treat adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. Regeneron discovered and developed Evkeeza, and launched the medicine in the U.S. in February 2021 when it was approved by the FDA. Under the terms of the agreement, Regeneron will receive a $30M upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to $63M in additional potential regulatory and sales milestones. Ultragenyx will receive the rights to develop, commercialize and distribute the medicine in countries outside of the U.S. and make payments to Regeneron based on net sales. Ultragenyx will share in certain costs for global trials led by Regeneron and also have the right to continue to clinically develop Evkeeza in countries outside of the U.S. for HoFH and other potential indications. Regeneron has also granted Ultragenyx an exclusive option to negotiate a separate agreement to collaborate on the development and commercialization outside of the U.S. of Regeneron's investigational antibody currently in Phase 2/3 development for the treatment of the ultra-rare disease, fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva under terms to be agreed upon by both companies. Regeneron will continue to solely commercialize Evkeeza in the U.S., where more patients with HoFH are now being treated with Evkeeza than the prior standard-of-care. In countries outside of the U.S., Ultragenyx will be responsible for commercialization efforts.

06:47 EST AstraZeneca, Neurimmune to partner on commercializing NI006 - AstraZeneca states that "Alexion, AstraZeneca's Rare Disease group, has entered into an exclusive global collaboration and licence agreement with Neurimmune AG for NI006, an investigational human monoclonal antibody currently in Phase Ib development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy. NI006 specifically targets misfolded transthyretin and is designed to directly address the pathology of ATTR-CM by enabling removal of amyloid fibril deposits in the heart, with the potential to treat patients with advanced ATTR-CM. Under the agreement, Alexion will be granted an exclusive worldwide licence to develop, manufacture and commercialise NI006. ATTR-CM is a systemic, progressive and fatal condition that leads to progressive heart failure and high rate of fatality within four years from diagnosis.1 It remains underdiagnosed and its prevalence is thought to be underestimated due to a lack of disease awareness and the heterogeneity of symptoms. Alexion will pay Neurimmune an upfront payment of $30m with the potential for additional contingent milestone payments of up to $730m upon achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as low-to-mid teen royalties on net sales of any approved medicine resulting from the collaboration. Neurimmune will continue to be responsible for completion of the current Phase Ib clinical trial on behalf of Alexion, and Alexion will pay certain trial costs. Alexion will be responsible for further clinical development, manufacturing and commercialisation." Reference Link

06:32 EST Nuvalent announces first patient dosed in ARROS-1 trial - Nuvalent announced that the first patient has been dosed in ARROS-1, its Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating NVL-520 in patients with advanced ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, and other advanced solid tumors. NVL-520, Nuvalent's lead product candidate, is a novel ROS1-selective inhibitor designed to address the clinical challenges of emergent treatment resistance, CNS adverse events, and brain metastases that may limit the use of currently available ROS1 kinase inhibitors.

06:17 EST XP Inc., Banco Modal join forces - XP Inc. announced the signing of a binding agreement to merge up to 100% of Banco Modal S.A., which will be paid with up to 19.5M newly issued XP Inc. Class A shares or Brazilian Depositary Receipts, implying a premium of 35% over Banco Modal's last thirty days average price. The parties agreed to implement the transaction through a corporate reorganization that would result in the merger by one of XP Inc.'s subsidiaries, of up to 100% of Banco Modal's capital stock. If Banco Modal fails to obtain the necessary consents to implement such reorganization, including the approval of its minority shareholders, XP Inc. will merge 55.7% of Banco Modal's share capital from its controlling shareholder in a stock for stock transaction and will grant the right for all the minority shareholders of Banco Modal to sell its equity participation for the same consideration.

06:03 EST Papa John's partners with FountainVest to open over 1,350 new stores in China - Papa John's announced a partnership with FountainVest Partners to open more than 1,350 new stores across South China by 2040. The franchisee development agreement, the biggest in Papa Johns history and the largest master franchise deal announced in the pizza industry in recent years, is expected to greatly expand the company's footprint in China, one of the world's fastest-growing pizza delivery markets. FountainVest has also purchased a majority stake in current Papa Johns franchisee CFB Group, which owns and operates approximately 160 restaurants in Shanghai and across southern China. The addition of a committed new franchisee partner to the brand begins another strong year of development activity for Papa Johns, following last year's major international and domestic development deals, accelerating store openings across all markets, and continued innovation and strong comparable sales growth globally. "This partnership with FountainVest marks another major milestone in achieving Papa Johns global growth potential, reflecting both the scale of our brand's global opportunity and the quality of franchisees that are investing in our future," said Rob Lynch, President and CEO of Papa John's. "Papa Johns has enormous global development whitespace in the US and in attractive growth markets, especially relative to our peers. Our new development agreement with FountainVest alone stands to grow Papa Johns current global unit count by 25%."

05:16 EST Royal Dutch Shell sees Q4 integrated gas production 910,000-950,000 boepd - Sees Q4 upstream production 2.15M-2.25M boepd. The indicative refining margin is around $6.55/bbl, compared to $5.7/bbl in Q3. The following is an update to the Q4 outlook. Impacts presented may vary from the actual results and are subject to finalization of Q4 results, published on February 3. Unless otherwise indicated, all outlook statements exclude identified items. The remaining $5.5B of proceeds from the Permian divestment will be distributed in the form of share buybacks at pace. This decision was taken on December 31, 2021, at the first board meeting held in the UK following the decision to implement the simplification of the company's share structure. The Permian related distributions are in addition to the distributions of 20%-30% of cash flow from operations as per our existing capital allocation framework. Further details of the amount and pace of total shareholder distributions will be disclosed at the fourth quarter results announcement.

05:06 EST Daqo New Energy subsidiary obtains energy consumption approval for projects - Daqo New Energy announced that its subsidiary Xinjiang Daqo had obtained energy consumption approval for its polysilicon projects in Baotou, in China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The abovementioned polysilicon projects consist of a 100,000 MT polysilicon project for the solar industry and a 1,000 MT polysilicon project for the semiconductor industry with an estimated total investment of RMB 8.55B. Construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2022 and to be completed in the second quarter of 2023.