Stockwinners Market Radar for February 21, 2022 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:07 EST Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories - Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. McDonald's (MCD) board issued a statement in response to a director notification nomination from Carl Icahn, which said in part, "McDonald's can confirm that Carl Icahn has nominated Leslie Samuelrich and Maisie Ganzler to stand for election at the 2022 Annual Meeting. There is no shareholder action required at this time. The Board will evaluate the nominees as it would any other candidates proposed to it... Mr. Icahn's stated focus in making this nomination relates to a narrow issue regarding the Company's pork commitment, which The Humane Society U.S. has already introduced through a shareholder proposal. This is an issue on which McDonald's has been a leader...Mr. Icahn, who states that he holds 200 shares of McDonald's stock, is the majority owner of Viskase, a company that produces and supplies packaging for the pork and poultry industry. Mr. Icahn's ownership provides him with unique exposure to the industry-wide challenges and opportunities in migrating away from gestation crates. Thus, it's noteworthy that Mr. Icahn has not publicly called on Viskase to adopt commitments similar to those of McDonald's 2012 commitment. Despite McDonald's progress, Mr. Icahn has instead asked for new commitments, including to require all of McDonald's U.S. pork suppliers to move to 'crate free' pork, and set specific timeframes for doing so. While the Company looks forward to promoting further collaboration across the industry on this issue, the current pork supply in the U.S. would make this type of commitment impossible." 2. The boards of Clipper Logistics (CLPLF) and GXO Logistics (GXO) announce that they have reached agreement on the key terms of a possible cash and share offer for Clipper by GXO. The board of Clipper has confirmed to GXO that, should a firm offer be made on the financial terms of the possible offer, it is minded to recommend it unanimously to Clipper shareholders. The possible offer is to acquire each Clipper ordinary share for a combination of cash and new GXO shares as follows: 690 pence in cash; and such number of new GXO shares as would imply a valuation of 230 pence based on the trailing GXO 3-month volume weighted average price and a trailing 3-month average USD/GBP exchange rate in each case calculated for the period ending on the last practicable date prior to any firm offer announcement. Accordingly, on the basis of the exchange ratio, the possible offer will imply a total valuation of 920 pence per Clipper ordinary share. 3. It may be time for some changes at Berkshire Hathaway as CEO Warren Buffett starts to look ahead to his 92nd birthday later this year, Andrew Bary wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. Over 57 years, Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) into a company with a $700 billion market value and $27 billion of annual operating earnings. Yet the author's view has been that he now needs to do more to prepare for the transition to a new generation of leadership at Berkshire. Stepping down as CEO while remaining chairman would allow his heir apparent, Greg Abel, to demonstrate that he can handle the tough job of running a giant conglomerate, Bary added. 4. Sony's (SONY) "Uncharted" won the long Presidents Day weekend with a $51M debut, including $44.2M for the three days. The movie, a video game adaptation, stars Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg. Overseas, "Uncharted" grossed an estimated $139M through Monday. The movie will only hit cinemas in China on March 14. 5. Ethan Allen (ETD), DuPoint (DD), and Nokia (NOK) saw positive mentions in this week's edition of Barron's.

17:47 EST David Antoniuk to be succeeded by Brian Regan as Manitowoc CFO - The Manitowoc announced that David Antoniuk will step down as Chief Financial Officer effective May 2, 2022, and will be succeeded by Brian Regan. Antoniuk will transition into an advisory role to the CEO until January 2, 2023, at which time he will retire from the Company.

17:35 EST InnovAge says CMS denied application to develop PACE center in Terre Haute, IN - In a regulatory filing after the close on Friday, InnovAge Holding Corp. disclosed that on February 14, the company received notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or "CMS," stating that CMS denied the company's application to develop the previously announced PACE center in Terre Haute, IN, which was projected to open in fiscal year 2024. "The denial was based on deficiencies detected during CMS' 2021 audits of the company's Sacramento and Colorado PACE programs. The company continues to be committed to operating in the state of Indiana and is evaluating its options for the future. The company cannot guarantee the outcome of this process," InnovAge stated in its filing.

17:04 EST Aaron's Directors raise cash dividend 12.5% - The Aaron's announced that its Board of Directors has raised its quarterly cash dividend to $0.1125 per share and declared such dividend payable April 5, 2022, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 17, 2022. This is an increase of 12.5% from the previous quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share.

16:37 EST 3D Systems, Saremco Dental AG enter strategic partnership - 3D Systems and Saremco Dental AG announced a strategic partnership to bring together "the power of 3D Systems' industry-leading NextDent digital dentistry solution with Saremco's materials science expertise - enabling dental laboratories and clinics to address a variety of indications with unparalleled accuracy, repeatability, productivity, and lower total cost," the companies said. To facilitate these capabilities, the companies are also announcing the immediate availability of CROWNTEC material to be used with 3D Systems' award-winning NextDent 5100 dental 3D printer and industry-leading software for the production of patient-specific permanent crowns.

15:41 EST Marathon Oil promotes Rob White to VP, Controller, Chief Accounting Officer - Marathon Oil announced that Rob White has been promoted to Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, effective March 1, 2022. White will replace Gary Wilson, who is retiring following more than 7 years with the company as previously announced September 23, 2021.

14:05 EST Warrior Met Coal raises cash dividend by 20% to 6c per share - Warrior Met Coal announced that its board of directors has approved an increase in the regular quarterly cash dividend by 20%. The board of directors declared on February 18 a regular quarterly cash dividend of 6c per share to be paid on March 10 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 3.

14:01 EST Lenovo selected as constituent stock of Hang Seng Index - The Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited has announced that effective March 7, Lenovo Group (LNVGY) will be included as a constituent stock on the Hang Seng Index, "Hong Kong's benchmark stock gauge." "This selection means Lenovo is included alongside other 'blue chip' companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange such as HSBC, Tencent, and Meituan. Lenovo's addition to the Index follows the review of the Hang Seng Family of Indexes for the quarter ending 31st December 2021," the company stated.

13:57 EST AstraZeneca reports 'positive high-level results' from DESTINY-Breast04 trial - AstraZeneca (AZN) reported "positive high-level results" from the pivotal DESTINY-Breast04 Phase 3 trial showed Enhertu demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in both progression-free survival, or PFS, and overall survival, or OS, in patients with HER2-low unresectable and/or metastatic breast cancer regardless of hormone receptor status versus physician's choice of chemotherapy. Enhertu is a HER2-directed antibody drug conjugate being jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo (DSNKY). DESTINY-Breast04 met its primary endpoint, where Enhertu demonstrated superior PFS in previously treated patients with HR-positive HER2-low metastatic breast cancer compared to the standard-of-care chemotherapy. The trial met the key secondary endpoint of PFS in patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer regardless of HR status. The trial also met the key secondary endpoints of OS in patients with HR-positive disease and in patients regardless of HR status at interim analysis. The safety profile of Enhertu was consistent with previous clinical trials, with no new safety concerns identified. Overall interstitial lung disease rates were consistent with that observed in late-line HER2-positive breast cancer trials of Enhertu, with a lower rate of Grade 5 ILD observed as determined by an independent adjudication committee, the company said. The data will be presented at a forthcoming medical meeting and shared with global health authorities. Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca said: "Today's historic news from DESTINY-Breast04 could reshape how breast cancer is classified and treated. A HER2-directed therapy has never-before shown a benefit in patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer. These results for Enhertu are a huge step forward and could potentially expand our ability to target the full spectrum of HER2 expression, validating the need to change the way we categorize and treat breast cancer."

13:09 EST Cleveland-Cliffs announces indefinite idle of Indiana Harbor #4 blast furnace - Cleveland-Cliffs announced that it will indefinitely idle its Indiana Harbor #4 blast furnace. "This action is a result of the successful implementation of operational improvements, particularly the addition of significant amounts of HBI to the burden of blast furnaces and the maximization of scrap usage in BOFs. The employees allocated to IH#4 will be reassigned to other positions within Indiana Harbor Works, as the number of available job openings at the Indiana Harbor complex exceeds the amount of jobs associated with IH#4. The company will continue normal operations of the entire Indiana Harbor Works, including its two steel shops, the hot strip mill and all its finishing facilities, as well as the nearby Riverdale Works. With both Indiana Harbor blast furnaces #3 and #4 now indefinitely idled, going forward, all downstream operations including Riverdale Works will be supplied exclusively by the company's flagship high-productivity IH#7 blast furnace. The IH#4 furnace, which has a production capacity of 2.1 million net tons of hot metal per year, is expected to cease production within the next two months. This action will reduce the number of operational blast furnaces in Cliffs' footprint from 8 to 7. The company does not expect any change to full-year 2022 steel shipment volumes as a result of the indefinite idle of IH#4," the company said.

09:01 EST Abbott announces FDA approval for CardioMEMS HF System expansion - Abbott announced that the Food and Drug Administration has approved an expanded indication for the company's CardioMEMS HF System to support the care of more people living with heart failure. With the expanded indication, an additional 1.2M U.S. patients are now eligible for advanced monitoring with the CardioMEMS sensor, which marks a significant increase over the current addressable population, the company said in a statement. The sensor provides an early warning system enabling doctors to protect against worsening heart failure.

08:55 EST RingCentral, Zoom Video agree with withdraw various legal proceedings - RingCentral (RNG) and Zoom Video Communications (ZM) announced that the companies have agreed to mutually withdraw from various legal proceedings and will continue to work together while RingCentral transitions existing customers from the legacy RingCentral Meetings service to the new RingCentral Video. The agreement resolves all of the parties' claims in the litigation, and the parties have dismissed their complaints with prejudice. "We are pleased to have resolved this matter in a way that allows the parties to continue the wind down of their partnership," said Jeff True, General Counsel at Zoom. "Today's agreement with Zoom removes any uncertainty in the ability of RingCentral's existing customers to migrate to RingCentral Video in an orderly manner, and in a time frame that is customer driven," said John Marlow, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel at RingCentral. Additional details regarding the settlement agreement were not disclosed.

08:52 EST Laix announces one-for-14 reverse ADS split via change ratio - Laix announced that it plans to change the ratio of its American depositary shares to its class A ordinary shares from the current ADS ratio of one ADS to one class A ordinary share to a new ADS ratio of one ADS to 14 class A ordinary shares. The company anticipates that the change in the ADS ratio will be effective on or about March 4. For Laix's ADS holders, the change in the ADS ratio will have the same effect as a one-for-fourteen reverse ADS split.

08:47 EST Westlake announces plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions - Westlake announced its target to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 equivalent emissions per ton of production by 20% by 2030 from a 2016 baseline. "To further reduce its carbon footprint, Westlake's strategy is to optimally allocate capital to both proven and emerging technologies, including additional product and operational innovations. This strategy includes energy-efficiency projects, increasing power from less carbon-intensive electricity providers, adding more hydrogen as a fuel gas, and other continuous operational improvements," the company said in a statement. In 2022, Westlake plans to continue reporting sustainability metrics informed by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board voluntary disclosure framework, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures guidance, and the Global Reporting Initiative framework.