Stockwinners Market Radar for March 02, 2022 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:30 EST Cathie Wood's ARK Investment bought 83K shares of Zoom Video today

19:09 EST Rent-A-Center CEO acquires 40,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Rent-A-Center CEO Mitchell Fadel disclosed the purchase of 40,000 common shares of the company on March 1 at a price of $27.08 per share.

18:21 EST Okta CEO: We're going to stay cash flow positive - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Todd McKinnon said he was "really impressed" with what the Okta team accomplished in Q4. The company is up over 15K customers and is investing for growth, he added. The U.S government is going to be a "big part" of Okta's business going forward, McKinnon noted.

18:01 EST Western Digital says output at Yokkaichi, Kitami JV plants back to normal - Western Digital provided an update on the production status of its joint venture flash memory manufacturing facilities. Production at both its Yokkaichi and Kitakami joint venture flash fabrication facilities returned to normal operations in late February 2022. Western Digital's flash availability will be reduced by approximately 7 exabytes, which will occur predominately in its third and fourth fiscal quarters, as the facilities ramp back to full production output.

17:34 EST Snowflake sees Q1 operating margin at negative 2% - CFO Michael Scarpelli states: "Turning to margins. For Q1, we expect on a non-GAAP basis, negative 2% operating margin, and we expect 359M diluted weighted average shares outstanding. For FY23, we expect product revenue between $1.88B and $1.9B, representing year-over-year growth between 65% and 67%. As we have mentioned before, certain product improvements create a revenue headwind for our business. We undertake these initiatives because they benefit our customers and expand our long-term market opportunity. Last year, we called it improvements in storage compression that reduced storage costs for our customers. Similarly, phased throughout this year, we are rolling out platform improvements within our cloud deployments. No 2 customers are the same, but our initial testing has shown performance improvements ranging on average from 10% to 20%. We have assumed an approximately $97M revenue impact in our full year forecast, but there is still uncertainty around the full impact these improvements can have. While these efforts negatively impact our revenue in the near term, over time, they lead customers to deploy more workloads to Snowflake due to the improved economics. Turning to profitability for FY23, we expect, on a non-GAAP basis, 74.5% product gross margin, 1% operating margin and 15% adjusted free cash flow margin. And we expect 360M diluted weighted average shares outstanding. Our gross margin guidance includes performance improvements and investments in additional deployments around the world, most notably, government deployments and international. In order to support our continued growth initiatives, we plan on adding more than 1,500 net new employees during the year."

17:26 EST Boeing awarded $498.31M Navy contract order - Boeing was awarded a not-to-exceed $498.31M firm-fixed-price undefinitized order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement. This order provides for the production and delivery of the Harpoon Coastal Defense System Launch System, or HCDS, in support of the government of Taiwan, specifically 100 Launcher Transporter Units, 25 Radar Units, and HCDS training equipment. Work is expected to be completed in December 2028. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $244.17M will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

17:12 EST Stanley Black & Decker announces $2B accelerated share repurchase program - Stanley Black & Decker announced it entered into certain accelerated share repurchase agreements with Bank of America, N.A. and Citibank to repurchase an aggregate of $2B of the company's common stock. This program is in addition to $0.3B of open market repurchases completed quarter to date.

17:04 EST Okta falls 7% to $170.14 after Q4 earnings and below-consensus guidance

17:03 EST Allscripts to sell Hospitals and Large Physician Practices segment for $700M - Allscripts announced that it has reached an agreement with Constellation Software, through its wholly-owned subsidiary N. Harris Computer, to sell Harris the net assets of Allscripts Hospitals and Large Physician Practices business segment. The Hospitals and Large Physician Practices business segment includes the Sunrise, Paragon, Allscripts TouchWorks, Allscripts Opal, STAR, HealthQuest and dbMotion(TM) solutions. The assets of Allscripts Veradigm business segment are not included in this transaction and will continue to be owned by Allscripts going forward. The purchase price consideration is up to $700M cash, consisting of a fixed price of $670M paid at closing, plus contingent consideration of up to $30M based on performance of the business during the two years following transaction closing. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, and is expected to close during Q2.

16:38 EST Regional Management director Michael Dunn sells 12,000 common shares - In a regulatory filing, Regional Management director Michael Dunn disclosed the sale of 12,000 common shares of the company on March 2 at a price of $49.94 per share.

16:36 EST Veeva drops 10% to $208 after Q1 guidance misses estimates

16:32 EST 908 Devices appoints Repligen CEO Tony Hunt to board - 908 Devices (MASS) has appointed Tony Hunt, president and CEO, Repligen (RGEN), to serve on its board of directors effective immediately. Hunt brings an understanding of the bioprocessing market, with more than 20 years of life sciences management experience. He joined Repligen in 2014 as COO and was promoted to his current role a year later.

16:30 EST Zuora announces $400M strategic investment from Silver Lake - Zuora announced a $400M strategic investment from Silver Lake, a global leader in technology investing. The partnership reinforces Zuora's leadership position and will empower Zuora to accelerate growth, including potential targeted acquisitions to expand its quote-to-revenue product portfolio.

16:29 EST Summit Materials announces $250M share repurchase program - Summit Materials announces that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $250M of Summit's Class A common stock.

16:28 EST Jackson Financial reports $300M increase to share repurchase authorization - Jackson Financial announced that its board of directors has authorized an increase of $300M to Jackson's existing share repurchase authorization. When combined with the approximately $38M of authority remaining as of February 28, 2022 under the prior authorization, Jackson now has approximately $338M of current share repurchase authority.

16:24 EST American Eagle says 'taking a cautious view of 2022' - American Eagle stated: "We are extremely confident in the strength of our brands and pleased with early performance of spring collections. Based on a number of macro uncertainties, however, we are taking a cautious view of 2022. For the year, we expect operating profit to be in the range of $550 to $600 million, compared to adjusted operating profit of $603 million in 2021. Our 2022 guidance reflects structural improvements to our business and significant growth from pre pandemic 2019, which posted adjusted operating profit of $314 million. Due largely to stimulus in the first half of 2021, which contributed to an extraordinary Spring season, combined with continued freight pressures, we are forecasting an earnings decline in the first half, followed by a recovery in the second half as we lap elevated air freight due to factory closures and inventory flow challenges last year."

16:21 EST Allete to acquire New Energy Equity LLC for $165.5M - ALLETE advanced its planned expansion in the solar energy sector, announcing it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the membership interests of New Energy Equity LLC, one of the nation's top distributed solar developers, for approximately $165.5 million, subject to a working capital adjustment.

16:20 EST Samsara names Dave Bossio chief information security officer - Samsara announced Dave Bossio has joined the company as Chief Information Security Officer. Bossio is an industry veteran with over two decades of experience in information security and operating mission-critical services. "At Samsara, information security is at the core of everything we do. We have approximately 14,500 core customers globally that rely on our critical infrastructure, and it's paramount that we have the right leaders in place as we scale our team during this period of rapid expansion," said Sanjit Biswas, CEO of Samsara. "Dave's extensive background and leadership experience will further fortify Samsara's holistic approach to information security, and I'm thrilled to welcome Dave to the Samsara team."

16:17 EST Clearwater Analytics selected by Athora Holding for operations streamlining - Clearwater Analytics has been selected by Athora Holding, an insurance and reinsurance group founded in 2014, to support its growth strategy, streamline the operating model and provide a consolidated view of accounting, regulatory, and operational reporting across all entities. Athora chose Clearwater to enable one consolidated view across all asset classes, currencies, and accounting bases.

16:14 EST Pure Storage jumps 9% to $29.01 after Q4 results, FY23 guidance beat estimates

16:12 EST Snowflake acquires Streamlit, terms not disclosed - Snowflake and Streamlit, a framework built to simplify and accelerate the creation of data applications, announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Snowflake to acquire Streamlit. Closing of the acquisition is subject to the receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. "At Snowflake, we believe in bringing together open standards and open source with industry-leading data governance and security," Snowflake Co-Founder and President of Products Benoit Dageville said. "When Snowflake and Streamlit come together, we will be able to provide developers and data scientists with a single, powerful hub to discover and collaborate with data they can trust to build next generation data apps and shape the future of data science."

16:11 EST Barrett Business sees FY22 gross billings up 7%-9% - Sees FY22 tax rate 24%-25%.

16:10 EST Ampio reports 'positive' data from AP-013 study - Ampio Pharmaceuticals announced positive data from the modified Intent-to-Treat population in the company's AP-013 study, a Phase 3 clinical trial of the company's lead candidate, Ampion, in patients suffering from severe osteoarthritis of the knee. The AP-013 study was designed to confirm the efficacy observed in the first pivotal trial, AP-003-A, and was powered to detect treatment differences between Ampion and saline control. The trial required a larger number of patients to evaluate improvements in function, than it required to evaluate improvements in pain alone. The AP-013 study was initiated in June 2019 and was ongoing when the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, which resulted in a large amount of missing data due to the pandemic. "As a result of the large amounts of missing data, our analyses of the AP-013 data started with applying FDA's recommendation to conduct a sensitivity analysis to determine if there was an impact of COVID-19 on the study, which we outlined and documented in a study plan prior to unblinding the data," said Holli Cherevka, Ampio's President and Chief Operating Officer. "This sensitivity analysis found a statistically significant impact from COVID-19, and as specified in our study plan, we have proposed a mITT population to assess efficacy. In this mITT population (n = 618), which retained more than 85% power to evaluate improvements in pain, Ampion demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in pain (p=0.042) and trended favorably toward improvement in function versus saline control. Further, the results in the Per Protocol efficacy population (n = 580), included in the original AP-013 statistical analysis plan, support these observations with a statistically significant reduction in pain (p = 0.020) and a statistically significant improvement in function (p = 0.027) versus saline control."

16:07 EST Pure Storage announces additional $250M share repurchase plan - Pure's board of directors has authorized incremental share repurchases of up to an additional $250M under its stock repurchase program. The authorization allows Pure to repurchase shares of its Class A common stock opportunistically and will be funded from available working capital.

16:07 EST Pure Storage reports Q4 adjusted gross margin 68.8%

16:06 EST NuCana announces discontinuation of NuTide:121 study following IDMC review - NuCana announced that the NuTide:121 study is being discontinued following a pre-planned futility analysis by the study's Independent Data Monitoring Committee, or IDMC. Although a higher objective response rate, as assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review, was observed in the Acelarin plus cisplatin arm, this did not translate into an overall survival benefit. The IDMC concluded that Acelarin plus cisplatin was unlikely to achieve its primary objective of demonstrating at least a 2.2-month improvement in overall survival as compared to the standard of care, gemcitabine plus cisplatin. Acelarin plus cisplatin was generally well tolerated.

16:04 EST Avita Medical awarded group purchasing agreement with Premier - Avita Medical announced that they have been awarded a group purchasing agreement with Premier. The new agreement allows Premier members, at their discretion, to take advantage of special pricing and terms pre-negotiated by Premier for the Recell System for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients that require treatment for severe burns. The Recell System is a device that enables healthcare professionals to produce a suspension of spray-on skin cells using a small sample of the patient's own skin for the treatment of acute thermal burns. This new agreement enables Avita Medical access to Premier's member hospitals and regional representatives to help facilitate the adoption of the Recell System into their facilities.

16:02 EST Euronet waives fees on services for Ukrainian citizens - Euronet announced fee waivers on its services for Ukrainian citizens. Ukranian cardholders can withdraw cash at Euronet network ATMs in Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania without fees. Euronet's Ria Money Transfer business is waiving sending fees on transfers to Ukraine and Poland as well as to those with Ukrainian passports in Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova and Hungary. Customers can send the funds in person at any Ria store or agent location. This particular offer is valid through the end of March and will be re-evaluated then.

16:01 EST Everspin Technologies names Sanjeev Aggarwal as new CEO - Everspin Technologies announced the appointment of Sanjeev Aggarwal as Everspin's President and CEO, effective March 14, 2022. Effective on such date, Darin Billerbeck, Everspin's Executive Chairman of the Board and Interim CEO will resign as Interim CEO and will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board. Mr. Aggarwal is also being elected as a member of Everspin's board of directors, effective March 14, 2022.

15:49 EST Scotiabank raises prime lending rate to 2.7% from 2.45% - Scotiabank announced that it is increasing its Canadian dollar prime lending rate to 2.7% from 2.45%, effective March 3, 2022.

15:18 EST Massachusetts AG leads nationwide probe into TikTok - Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey launched a nationwide investigation into whether TikTok is designing, operating, and promoting its social media platform to children, teens, and young adults in a manner that causes or exacerbates physical and mental health harms. Attorneys general nationwide are examining whether the company violated state consumer protection laws and put the public at risk. AG Healey, along with her colleagues across the country, has long expressed concern about the negative impacts of social media platforms on Massachusetts's youngest residents. The investigation will look into the harms such usage may cause to young people and what TikTok knew about those harms. The investigation focuses, among other things, on the methods and techniques utilized by TikTok to boost young user engagement, including increasing the duration of time spent on the platform and frequency of engagement with the platform. Leading the investigation into TikTok is a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont. They are joined by a broad group of attorneys general from across the country. Publicly traded companies in the social media space include Meta Platforms (FB), Snap (SNAP) and Twitter (TWTR). Reference Link

15:02 EST Forbes' Jane Manchun Wong says Twitter working on Podcasts tab - In a tweet, Forbes' Jane Manchun Wong said that, "Twitter is working on Podcasts tab." The tweet also contained a screenshot of the Podcasts tab. Reference Link

14:59 EST Inhibrx treatment of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency granted orphan status - A treatment of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency being studied by Inhibrx was granted FDA orphan designation status, according to a post to the agency's website. Reference Link

14:52 EST Mercury Systems up 5% to $67.80 after Bloomberg says Elliott eying takeover - Shares of Mercury Systems are up $3.30, or 5%, to $67.80 after being halted following Bloomberg's report.

14:49 EST Mercury Systems trading halted, volatility trading pause

14:06 EST Capital City Bank director Bense purchases 10K shares of company stock - Capital City Bank director Allan Bense disclosed in a filing that he had purchased 10,000 shares of company stock at $26.76 per share on March 1, for a total transaction amount of $267,600.

13:38 EST North American rail traffic fell 2.8% in week ended February 26 - Total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 485,190 carloads and intermodal units, down 0.3% compared with the same week last year. Total carloads for the week ending February 26 were 223,330 carloads, up 3.6% compared with the same week in 2021, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 261,860 containers and trailers, down 3.5% compared to 2021. North American rail volume for the week ending February 26, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 314,601 carloads, up 0.2% compared with the same week last year, and 339,541 intermodal units, down 5.5% compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 654,142 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.8%. Publicly traded companies in the space include CSX (CSX), Canadian National (CNI), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), Greenbrier (GBX),Trinity Industries (TRN), FreightCar America (RAIL) and Wabtec (WAB). Reference Link

13:16 EST Vuzix board approves $25M share buyback program - Vuzix announced that its board of directors approved a $25M share buyback program which expires on March 2, 2023. "Under the program, shares of the company's common stock may be repurchased periodically in open market or privately negotiated transactions. The actual timing, manner, number, and value of shares repurchased under the program will be determined by management at its discretion and will depend on a number of factors... The repurchase program will be executed consistent with the Company's capital allocation strategy, which will continue to prioritize aggressive investments to grow the business. Based upon the closing price of Vuzix's common stock on March 1, 2022, the share buyback program would enable the company to repurchase approximately 4 million shares, or about 6% of its outstanding shares should the program be completed as currently contemplated," the company stated.

13:02 EST Brown-Forman names Tim Nall as Chief Global Supply Chain and Technology Officer - Brown-Forman announced changes to its executive leadership team designed to continue the company's brand-building and growth strategies through succession planning. Tim Nall is Senior Vice President and Chief Global Supply Chain and Technology Officer. In this role, Nall is responsible for global production operations, global supply chain, research and development, quality assurance, external manufacturing, and all facets of our information technology infrastructure to include advanced analytics, applications, and cybersecurity. Nall has served as Chief Information Officer since 2015. He joined Brown-Forman in 2000 in bottling and production operations. Crystal Peterson will be named Senior Vice President* and Chief Inclusion and Global Community Relations Officer effective June 15. Jeremy Shepherd will be named Senior Vice President and become President, USA & Canada effective July 15. Alex Alvarez has assumed responsibility for a newly created position of Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer and Director of ESG. Brown-Forman also announced two executive retirements, Ralph de Chabert, Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Citizenship Officer, effective July 1, and John Hayes, Senior Vice President and President, USA and Canada, effective August 17.

12:38 EST EA to pull Russian teams from 'FIFA,' 'NHL' games - Electronic Arts announced in two separate statements that it will be removing both Russian national teams and the country's professional franchises from several sports games, including "NHL 22," "FIFA 22," "FIFA Online," and "FIFA Mobile." "Following the IIHF's suspension of all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from IIHF competitions, we will be removing these teams from NHL 22 within the coming weeks," the company said. In a separate statement, EA said, "In line with our partners at FIFA and UEFA, EA Sports has initiated processes to remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products including: FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile, and FIFA Online. We're also actively evaluating related changes to other areas of our games." Reference Link

12:10 EST DXP Enterprises acquires Drydon, Burglingame, terms not dislcosed - DXP Enterprises announced that it has completed the acquisitions of Drydon Equipment and Burglingame Engineers. Drydon is a distributor and manufacturers representative of pumps, valves, controls and process equipment focused on serving the water and wastewater industry in the Central and Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan territories and markets. Burlingame is a California provider of water and wastewater equipment in the industrial and municipal sectors. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed. DXP funded the acquisitions with cash from the balance sheet and DXP Enterprises, Inc. common stock as consideration. Signing of the definitive agreements occurred on March 1, 2022. Sales and adjusted EBITDA for Drydon and Burlingame for the last twelve months ending December 31, 2021 were approximately $8.9M and $1.4M, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA was calculated as income before tax, plus interest, plus depreciation and amortization, plus non-recurring items that will not continue after the acquisition.

12:03 EST Sinclair Broadcast appoints Del Parks as EVP, CTO - Sinclair Broadcast Group announced the following promotions. Sinclair Broadcast Group: Del Parks to President of Technology from EVP/Chief Technology Officer; Mike Kralec to SVP, Chief Technology Officer from VP, Technical Operations and Deputy Chief Technology Officer; Jason Smith to Head of New Media Enterprises from VP, Chief of Staff to President of Broadcast; Skip Flenniken to VP, GM of Technology Business Development from AVP, Business Development. Sinclair Television Group: Kevin Cotlove to EVP, Chief Operating Officer of Social from SVP, Chief Digital Officer; Amit Mathur to SVP, Chief Digital Officer from SVP, Product Engineering; Don Roberts to SVP, TV Sports Engineering and Production Systems from VP, TV Sports Engineering and Production Systems.

12:01 EST Central European Equity falls -17.1% - Central European Equity is down -17.1%, or -$1.86 to $8.99.

12:01 EST Epam Systems rises 15.1% - Epam Systems is up 15.1%, or $31.89 to $243.10.

12:00 EST Nordstrom rises 37.3% - Nordstrom is up 37.3%, or $7.29 to $26.83.

11:51 EST Google's Fitbit to recall Ionic smartwatches over burn hazard - The CPSC said that Google's Fitbit is recalling certain Ionic smartwatches due to a potential burn hazard. According to the CPSC, the lithium-ion battery in the Ionic smartwatch can overheat, posing a burn hazard. About 1M of such watches were sold in the U.S., with about 693,000 sold internationally. Reference Link

11:41 EST Sorrento Therapeutics announces preclinical results of COVISHIELD nasal drops - Sorrento Therapeutics announced that new preclinical results demonstrate that pretreating an animal with intranasal neutralizing antibody twenty-four hours prior to being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 virus prevents productive infection in the treated animals. These data suggest that an individual who is at high risk of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus could potentially be protected by taking STI-9199 nasal neutralizing antibody. For example, if a member of a household becomes infected, the others in the house could be treated with intranasal STI-9199 to potentially prevent them from being infected. This prevention could work in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals but needs to be confirmed in clinical studies. Other potential use cases for this intranasal STI-9199 include pretreatment of front-line healthcare workers, individuals in long-term care facilities or students in schools, where treatment could potentially provide blanket coverage. In addition, travelers on a plane could be pre-treated, which would potentially allow for air and ocean cruise travel with added protection when mask-wearing is not required. These options will be fully evaluated in clinical studies starting with household prevention and healthcare workers, and the results from these studies will be informative for other blanket protection opportunities. Sorrento previously announced that this antibod has a broad neutralizing activity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and all of its major variants of concern, including the Omicron strain BA.1, Omicron BA.1+R346K and Omicron BA.2. The IND for the intranasal STI-9199 product was cleared by the FDA today to proceed.

11:17 EST Bruker, Newomics collaborate on high-throughput bioanalysis - Newomics and Bruker Corporation announced collaborations on a novel LC-MS platform for drug discovery in the Pharma/Biopharma industry as well as research institutions. The two companies agreed on co-marketing Newomics's Microflow-nanospray Electrospray Ionization product line with Bruker's maxis II and timsTOF Pro 2 mass spectrometers. The joint MnESI-MS platform offers unmatched isotopic fidelity, sensitivity, robustness, and reproducibility for high-throughput analysis of small volumes of biological samples.

10:46 EST TotalEnergies announces Castle Wind joint venture for offshore wind project - TotalEnergies announced it has joined Trident Winds Inc. in the Castle Wind LLC joint venture for the development of a 1 GW offshore wind project off the coast of Morro Bay, off the Central California Coast. The company entered the JV and acquired the shares previously held by EnBW North America. "TotalEnergies is pleased to bring our global expertise in deploying efficient, large-scale offshore assets to Castle Wind in California. The work completed by the teams in the last years has laid a solid foundation with the local communities, and we look forward to working with them to bring clean energy to the state. This partnership in Castle Wind is another important step for TotalEnergies to contribute to the U.S. offshore wind industry ramp-up, and fulfill its global ambition of becoming a top five producer of renewable energy worldwide by 2030," said David Foulon, Head of U.S. Offshore Wind at TotalEnergies.

10:34 EST Neenah CAO Larry Brownlee to retire, to be succeeded by Kim DeBrock - Neenah announced that Larry Brownlee, Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, has communicated his plans to retire in August. To ensure a smooth transition, Brownlee will remain with Neenah through the August 12 retirement date. "Larry became Controller in 2004 when Neenah first became a public company and has been an integral part of the development and execution of our business strategies," said Paul DeSantis, CFO. The company further announced that it had promoted Kim DeBrock to succeed Mr. Brownlee as Vice President, Controller, CAO, and a Section 16 Officer, effective immediately. DeBrock is being promoted from the Assistant Controller position.

10:25 EST Canada Goose donates to UN, suspends sales in Russia - The company said, "Canada Goose is deeply concerned by the conflict unfolding in Ukraine. We stand with all of those who are impacted by the violence. We are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing aid to assist with the refugee crisis, and taking further actions to help. We have taken a number of actions in response to the conflict. Through the Canada Goose Response Program, we are donating $100,000 CAD to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees who are leading global humanitarian efforts in the region. Further, while no Canada Goose retail locations have been impacted, in light of the challenged operating environment and evolving sanctions against Russian interests, we have decided to suspend all wholesale and e-commerce sales to Russia. We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves and join others around the world calling for peace."

10:06 EST Benchmark Electronics invests in photonics packaging, integration capabilities - Benchmark Electronics, announced it has invested in new optical integration, photonics packaging, and photonics test capabilities at its RF and Photonics Center of Innovation in Phoenix. The expanded capabilities allow Benchmark to support customers in cutting-edge applications such as high-speed digital communications, high performance computing, sensors, and laser systems. Benchmark's photonics team works alongside industry innovators to develop reliable, repeatable manufacturing processes for their pioneering designs.

10:04 EST Truist Insurance Holdings launches new Insurance Services division - Truist Insurance Holdings announced that it has closed on the acquisition of Kensington Vanguard National Land Services, one of the country's largest independent full-service national title insurance agencies. BridgeTrust Title Group, the company's existing title and settlement services business, will be integrated into and operate under the KV brand. The consolidated operation will be one of the largest real estate service agencies in the U.S. Concurrent with the close of this transaction, Truist Insurance Holdings announced the creation of a new Insurance Services Division, which will include not only the combined KV organization but also its Premium Finance business, which is marketed through its AFCO brand in the U.S. and CAFO brand in Canada. The new division will report to Todd Wartchow, executive vice president of business development and strategy for Insurance Holdings. The newly combined KV business will be led by Brian Cooper and Jarett Fein, currently co-chief executive officers of KV. Barbara Jones, title insurance manager at BridgeTrust, will delay a previously planned retirement until year-end to support the transition. Additional KV leadership announcements will follow as the business integrates into Truist Insurance. There are no changes to the Premium Finance organization and leadership as part of its transition to the new Insurance Services Division.

10:00 EST Central European Equity falls -12.4% - Central European Equity is down -12.4%, or -$1.35 to $9.50.

10:00 EST a.k.a. Brands Holding falls -21.3% - a.k.a. Brands Holding is down -21.3%, or -$1.49 to $5.49.

10:00 EST Arlo Technologies rises 26.6% - Arlo Technologies is up 26.6%, or $2.31 to $10.99.

09:50 EST Prudenital Bancorp Inc of Pennsylvania trading resumes

09:47 EST Inovio under pressure on COVID vaccine trial endpoint switch - Shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO) are under pressure on Wednesday after the company said it was seeking to change the main goal of the INNOVATE Phase 3 trial, a late-stage study for its COVID-19 vaccine, as lab tests showed the DNA vaccine INO-4800 had a drop in neutralizing antibodies against the omicron variant. "Based on these preserved T cell responses, INOVIO plans to seek approval to amend the primary endpoint of the INNOVATE Phase 3 trial to prevention of severe disease. INOVIO is also evaluating the feasibility of conducting an additional heterologous boost trial for INO-4800, which, if undertaken, would complement the booster trial underway with INOVIO's partner Advaccine in China," the company said. PRICE ACTION: In Wednesday morning trading, shares of Inovio have dropped over 12% to $2.84.

09:47 EST Abercrombie & Fitch falls -11.8% - Abercrombie & Fitch is down -11.8%, or -$4.22 to $31.63.

09:47 EST Certara trading resumes

09:47 EST Arlo Technologies rises 18.5% - Arlo Technologies is up 18.5%, or $1.61 to $10.29.

09:46 EST BWV Stock trading resumes

09:41 EST BWV Stock trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:40 EST Rocky Brands trading resumes

09:32 EST Citi CEO: 'Definitive yes' to staying in U.S. personal banking

09:30 EST Rocky Brands trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:25 EST Ford reports February EV sales 8,984, down 3.1% - Ford sales of electrified vehicles increased 55.3% through February, providing a record start to Ford's electrified vehicles. Reports February truck sales 66,158, down 25.5%. Reports February SUV sales 58,396, down 11.8%. Ford took in over 72,000 new vehicle orders for February, which were up 54,000 over a year ago. "In addition to our February sales, our retail order bank continues to expand totaling 72,000 vehicles in February - 4 times higher than last year. Our newest products are turning on dealer lots at record rates. More than 33 percent of our retail sales are coming from previously placed orders and leaving dealerships directly upon arrival. Our new products are conquesting from competitors at a rate that is 26 percentage points higher than Ford overall, including Maverick, Mustang Mach-E, Bronco and Bronco Sport," said Andrew Frick, vice president, Ford Sales U.S. and Canada.

09:21 EST TOP Ships announces delivery of 2nd supertanker - TOP Ships announced that it took delivery of the very high specification, scrubber fitted, 300,000 dwt newbuilding Very Large Crude Oil Carrier vessel M/T Legio X Equestris constructed at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea. The vessel is preparing to commence in a few days its previously announced time charter employment with a major oil trader for three years with two yearly extensions at the charterer's option. The revenue backlog expected to be generated by this fixture, assuming all options are exercised, is about $68.5 million. For 2022 alone, this charter is expected to contribute $10.8 million in revenue.

09:15 EST Citi: Mix is 'somewhat disadvantaged,' not a quick fix but a 'multiyear journey'

09:13 EST Bird Global announces availability of Bird Bike throughout the UK - "Bird Global announced availability of its custom designed and engineered e-bike, the Bird Bike throughout the UK. The Bird Bike is now available through its exclusive launch-partner, the UK's largest cycling retailer Halfords via birdbike.co.uk. The UK is investing heavily in its cycling infrastructure and people are now looking to micro-electric vehicles to replace their petrol-powered trips. The Bird Bike not only offers both new and experienced cyclists the thrill of the ride, but also the safety and technology synonymous with our brand," said Brian Buccella, Senior Vice President, Government Partnerships and Consumer Products at Bird. "We are incredibly proud to partner with Halfords to launch Bird Bike in the UK. Their dedication to electric transportation and delivering high quality service, both instore and online, aligns perfectly with our values at Bird." Priced at GBP 1,999, Bird Bike comes in two models: the step-over 'A-Frame', which is available now, and the step-through 'V-Frame', set to follow this summer. Orders can be made via the Halfords website and in-store teams will assemble the bike ready for collection," the company statement read.

09:13 EST OceanPal announces time charter contract for m/v Calipso - OceanPal announced that, it has entered into a time charter contract with Tongli Shipping Pte. Ltd. for its Panamax dry bulk vessel, the m/v Calipso. The gross charter rate is $24,500 per day minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum ninety days up to maximum August 5, 2022. The charter is expected to commence on March 9, 2022. The m/v Calipso is currently chartered, as previously announced, at a gross charter rate of $17,850 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties. The "Calipso" is a 73,691 dwt Panamax dry bulk vessel built in 2005. The employment of "Calipso" is anticipated to generate approximately $2.21 million of gross revenue for the minimum scheduled period of the time charter.

09:11 EST Lumia Wealth to join Focus partner firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth - Focus Financial Partners announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which Lumia Wealth, a registered investment adviser located in Overland Park, Kansas, will join Focus partner firm Buckingham Strategic Wealth. This transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.

09:09 EST Donerail Group says it intends to nominate full slate for Turtle Beach board - Donerail Group said in part in a letter to Turtle Beach shareholders: "Donerail is one of the largest shareholders of Turtle Beach. We believe our sizable shareholdings and future plans for Turtle Beach should signal that our interests are firmly aligned with yours. With that context in mind, we are writing to you today to convey four key points: Turtle Beach has significant potential and can create long-term value for all stakeholders, ranging from shareholders to customers to employees to gamers. Unfortunately, Turtle Beach is currently plagued by governance, financial and strategic issues that need to be addressed by a more focused, open-minded and self-aware leadership team...Over the past year, we have tried to engage in good faith with the Board and management team to share our analysis and provide constructive recommendations. Our engagement included sending numerous letters, having several principal-to-principal discussions and facilitating frequent advisor-to-advisor interaction. ...Rather, we wanted to focus our attention on acquiring the Company, and we worked with a leading global investment bank to help facilitate our efforts. We presented the Board with an offer to acquire Turtle Beach for $36.50 per share in cash, subject to confirmatory due diligence....After our original offer, we attempted to continue engaging with the Board and on December 20, 2021, we sent another acquisition offer the at a proposed price of $32.86 per share in cash. To date, the Board has unfortunately refused to engage with us in a constructive manner. In fact, on five separate occasions since the submission of our Revised Offer, we requested that the Board sign a standard non-disclosure agreement and allow us access to complete confirmatory due diligence. However, on each occasion, the Board refused our request."

09:08 EST Sylvamo may curtail, shut down pulp and paper production at its Svetogorsk mill - Facing inadequate supplies of critical raw materials, Sylvamo announced it may curtail or temporarily shut down pulp and paper production at its Svetogorsk, Russia, mill later this week. The mill is currently operating while the company takes steps to mitigate the supply chain issues and continue production. The Svetogorsk mill, located at the border with Finland, employs approximately 1,700 people and produces uncoated freesheet, coated paperboard and pulp. The mill relies on raw materials and other critical supplies and services imported from Europe. The mill is also the primary water, electricity and water treatment provider for the Svetogorsk community. The company is committed to continuing to provide those critical services. The Svetogorsk mill has an annual capacity of 720,000 short tons of pulp, paper and paperboard. Russian operations accounted for roughly 15% of Sylvamo's 2021 total revenue. Strong momentum in the Latin America and North America regions is unaffected. Sylvamo continues to monitor the rapidly evolving crisis in Ukraine.

09:07 EST Chicken Soup for the Soul to acquire 1091 Media assets for $15.6M - Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of 1091 Media, LLC comprising its distribution business known as "1091 Pictures". The purchase price is approximately $15.6M in cash, Series A perpetual preferred stock and Class A common stock. Acquiring 1091 Pictures accelerates Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment's strategy to build the leading independent AVOD streaming service by approximately doubling the size of the Company's content catalogue. 1091 Pictures' diverse library of approximately 4,000 movies and TV series includes NYT Critic's Picks such as The Ghost of Peter Sellers and Grammy-Award Winner Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, riveting sports stories such as A Kid from Coney Island executive produced by Kevin Durant and featuring Stephon Marbury, Red Bull's The Dawn Wall, audience favorites such as The Last Blockbuster and Pharma Bro, groundbreaking documentaries such as Close Encounters of The Fifth Kind and The Phenomenon, which reveal the latest intelligence on UFOs, and indie film hits such as Academy Award Winner Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Spirit Awards-winner Christine, and the knockout comedy The Overnight starring Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling and Jason Schwartzman. The acquisition also comes with established FAST and AVOD channels in specific verticals, with approximately 1 billion yearly ad impressions. The company expects to recognize in excess of $10 million of revenue with approximately $3 million of incremental EBITDA in the next 12 months as a result of the transaction. The purchase price of $15,550,000 is comprised of $8 million in cash, $2 million in the form of newly issued shares of the Company's Series A perpetual preferred stock valued at $25 per share, and 375,000 shares of Class A common stock valued at $14.80 per share. The acquisition is subject to satisfaction of certain closing conditions and is expected to close in early to mid-March 2022.

09:06 EST Momentive launches Guided Employee Experience - Momentive announced the release of Guided Employee Experience powered by SurveyMonkey. It's designed to empower companies to shape inclusive, high-performing workplaces through feedback. The solution is tailor-made for value-oriented customers who prioritize speed and ease of use. With it, human resources and People leaders can increase employee satisfaction and retention.

09:05 EST Microchip announces NVMe 4016 SSD controller - Microchip Technology announced the newest member of the Flashtec controller family, the NVMe 4016 SSD controller. As the industry's highest-performing PCIe(R) Gen 5 NVMe SSD controller, the Flashtec NVMe 4016 addresses the market demand for high-reliability, high-performance solid-state drives delivering greater than 14 GB per second throughput and over 3 million IOPS. With advanced Credit Management technology, this next-generation controller offers the stringent Quality of Service required by today's cloud-focused data center applications.

09:04 EST Arcimoto, Directed Technologies launch pilot program - Arcimoto announced that it is partnering with Directed Technologies to introduce the Fun Utility Vehicle and Deliverator to the Australian market. Over the course of the pilot program, Arcimoto vehicles will be tested by Directed Technologies' fleet clients that specialize in last-mile delivery, and will help prepare Arcimoto vehicles for eventual homologation to Australian safety standards. "It's particularly encouraging to see the state governments within Australia, notably New South Wales and Victoria, increase their support for EV adoption with new charging infrastructure and subsidies for individuals as well as businesses," said Arcimoto Founder and CEO, Mark Frohnmayer. "We're proud to work with Directed Technologies to introduce our vehicle family to its vast roster of clients, with potential use-cases across the tourism, delivery, and emergency services verticals."

09:03 EST Star Equity announces director nominations at Servotronics - Star Equity said, "Star Equity Fund (STRR) is a shareholder of Servotronics (SVT). We are an investment fund focused on maximizing shareholder value and improving corporate governance at companies in our portfolio. Servotronics shareholders have long suffered value destruction during the tenure of the Company's incumbent board of directors. We believe significant change to the board is needed to create value for all shareholders. We have nominated a diverse, highly qualified slate of candidates to act in the best interests of all shareholders, and we are fully prepared to take this matter to a shareholder vote at the 2022 Servotronics Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which we expect to be held in the second quarter of 2022. We believe the incumbent Servotronics board has not acted consistent with its fiduciary duty to shareholders. Under the incumbent board's watch, the Company's previous CEO abused his authority and perpetuated a culture of harassment at the expense of employees and shareholders, with an internal investigation finding that he committed willful malfeasance in violation of his employment agreement with the Company. In addition, the incumbent board has overseen and continued to support the Company's unprofitable Consumer Products Group without having taken meaningful action to maximize shareholder value. In addition, the incumbent board has a track record of poor corporate governance. Proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis have cited numerous issues with Servotronics's board of directors and the Company's corporate governance, including in its report on the Company's 2021 annual meeting: The board is not comprised of a majority of independent directors; The chairman of the board's nominating and governance committee is not independent; The board maintains a long-term poison pill that has not been ratified by shareholders; The Company maintains a triennial frequency for the inclusion of say-on-pay on its annual meeting ballot rather than including annually. Servotronics shareholders have the right to vote for new leadership on the board, and we strongly urge the incumbent board not to take any actions to encumber this right or jeopardize shareholder value before shareholders have the opportunity to vote for new representation on the board. Such actions include: Adding anyone to the board before the 2022 annual meeting; Delaying the 2022 annual meeting beyond 13 months after the 2021 annual meeting; Lowering the ownership threshold of, or extending, the poison pill; Selling all or parts of the Company; Making significant acquisitions; Issuing equity or equity-linked securities; Taking any other action harmful to shareholder interests and rights. Star Equity Fund reminds each of the incumbent board members that any actions taken against the interests of shareholders can entail serious personal legal and financial consequences. Personal liability can result from taking certain actions that impair shareholder value or harm shareholder rights. This liability can exceed D&O insurance coverage. Also, D&O insurance and corporate indemnification may not be available or applicable if certain harmful actions are undertaken."

09:02 EST Saia names Norwood as EVP, Chief Human Resources Officer - Saia (SAIA) announced that Anthony Norwood has been named the Executive Vice President, EVP, and Chief Human Resources Officer effective today. In this position, he will lead all aspects of human resources including the development of the company's human capital strategy. Norwood joins the company from Trane Technologies (TT), where he held the role of Vice President, Human Resources - Corporate.

08:55 EST Prudenital Bancorp Inc of Pennsylvania trading halted, news pending

08:47 EST A2Z provides intial performance results from Cust2Mate rollout in Israel - A2Z Smart Technologies released performance data from the Company's roll-out of the Cust2Mate Smart Cart at Yochananof, an Israeli-based supermarket chain. The Company collected operational data for a 30-day period from Cust2Mate Smart Carts deployed in one of the chain's flagship locations. During this 30-day period, the Cust2Mate Smart Carts outperformed both traditional point of sale and self-checkout payment options in average items sold per basket and average total spent in New Israel Shekels per basket. The Cust2Mate Smart Carts averaged 36.2 items sold per basket compared to an average of 31.1 items sold per basket for traditional point of sale, a 15.7% increase; and an increase of 32.1% compared to an average of 27.4 items sold per basket for self-checkout. Cust2Mate Smart Cart purchases averaged NIS 378.40 per basket, an increase of 19.6% compared to an average of NIS 316.50 spent per basket for traditional point of sale; and a 33.9% increase compared to an average of NIS 282.50 for self-checkout. Additionally, Cust2Mate is able to track the amount of time a customer spends in the store, a capability not available for traditional shopping carts or self-checkout kiosks The Company has also carried out customer service surveys during this time period and the feedback has been universally positive with majority of consumers using the Smart Cart on multiple occasions.

08:44 EST Crown Castle announces proposed offering of senior notes - Crown Castle International announced that it is commencing a public offering of senior notes, subject to market and other conditions. The notes will be issued by Crown Castle. Crown Castle intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay a portion of the outstanding indebtedness under its commercial paper program and pay related fees and expenses. Amounts repaid under such program may be reborrowed in connection with redeeming or repaying other outstanding indebtedness in the near term. BofA Securities, Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Mizuho Securities USA LLC, SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc. and TD Securities LLC are the joint book-running managers of the offering.

08:39 EST Hillstream BioPharma provides webcast of R&D Day - Hillstream BioPharma provided a webcast replay of the Company's R&D Day held on February 24, 2022. The event was held virtually for invited investors and guests. HSB-1216 targets solid tumors as a ferroptosis-inducing agent and novel investigational treatment. The active in a clinical pilot study showed a 71% response rate and efficacy against devastating cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer and epithelial carcinomas. HSB-1216 has orphan drug designation for small cell lung cancer, and recently received ODD for Uveal Melanoma. Uveal Melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumor and accounts for 85% to 95% of primary ocular malignancies and 3% to 5% of all melanoma cases. Approximately 50% of patients with UM manifest distant organ metastasis, predominantly to the life-sustaining organs such as the liver, even after removal of primary tumors. Hillstream is rapidly progressing towards an IND filing process and plans to initiate a clinical trial in solid tumor patients. HSB-888, Hillstream's second product candidate is a Quatramer dual loaded with IMCD inducer coupled with our ultra-low dose, next generation anthracycline analogue for solid tumors. HSB-888 has demonstrated highly synergistic tumor killing capacity in a TNBC cell line. HSB-888's active moiety has received FDA's Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Orphan Drug Designation for pediatric osteosarcoma.

08:38 EST AZZ Inc. provides intial performance results from Cust2Mate rollout in Israel - A2Z Smart Technologies released performance data from the Company's roll-out of the Cust2Mate Smart Cart at Yochananof, an Israeli-based supermarket chain. The Company collected operational data for a 30-day period from Cust2Mate Smart Carts deployed in one of the chain's flagship locations. During this 30-day period, the Cust2Mate Smart Carts outperformed both traditional point of sale and self-checkout payment options in average items sold per basket and average total spent in New Israel Shekels per basket. The Cust2Mate Smart Carts averaged 36.2 items sold per basket compared to an average of 31.1 items sold per basket for traditional point of sale, a 15.7% increase; and an increase of 32.1% compared to an average of 27.4 items sold per basket for self-checkout. Cust2Mate Smart Cart purchases averaged NIS 378.40 per basket, an increase of 19.6% compared to an average of NIS 316.50 spent per basket for traditional point of sale; and a 33.9% increase compared to an average of NIS 282.50 for self-checkout. Additionally, Cust2Mate is able to track the amount of time a customer spends in the store, a capability not available for traditional shopping carts or self-checkout kiosks The Company has also carried out customer service surveys during this time period and the feedback has been universally positive with majority of consumers using the Smart Cart on multiple occasions. See one of the shopper's feedback Here.

08:36 EST Skillful Craftsman Education to co-develop technical skills Metaverse platform - Skillful Craftsman Education Technology entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Jiangsu Hibao Tech, a smart factory technology provider, to develop its Meta-Factory, a smart technical skills training Metaverse platform. Both parties agree to develop Meta-Factory for providing vocational colleges and manufacturing industry customers with multi-person collaborative and multi-scene simulation training bases, which are designed to help them effectively cater to the fast-evolving labor market of manufacturing factories. Hibao agrees to provide basic data of manufacturing industry, and the company agrees to be responsible for building the virtual reality smart operation platform and constructing vocational training bases. Meta-Factory is designed to help students simulate the operation of each step in a smart factory.

08:35 EST H&R Block promotes Kate Haynes to VP, corporate secretay, chief ethics officer - H&R Block announced the promotion of Kate Haynes to Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Chief Ethics Officer. In this role, Haynes reports to Chief Legal Officer Dara Redler and leads legal support for the company's securities reporting and compliance, corporate governance, and board of directors-related matters, executive compensation matters, ethics and compliance, capital markets transactions, and other finance-related matters, and mergers and acquisitions. Haynes has been with H&R Block for more than six years.

08:34 EST BTCS to offer a dividend payable in bitcoin in two weeks - BTCS reminds investors that in two weeks it will allocate the first-ever dividend payable in Bitcoin by a Nasdaq-listed company, which the Company refers to as a Bividend. Investors interested in receiving the dividend in Bitcoin should immediately follow the process laid out on www.bividend.com to ensure there is sufficient time to complete the opt-in process. BTCS intends to pay $0.05 per share in Bitcoin, based on Bitcoin's price on the ex-dividend date of March 16, 2022. Investors who do not elect to receive the Bividend in Bitcoin will receive a cash dividend of $0.05 per share.

08:33 EST Taoping signs strategic cooperation agreement with Shenzhen Zhihui - Taoping announced that the Company has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Shenzhen Zhihui Yunti IoT to jointly address the market needs of the elevator modernization and maintenance. Pursuant to the Agreement, which has a term of three years, TAOP is responsible for the market development of the elevator modernization and maintenance project through its Taoping Alliance network. Zhihui Yunti is responsible for providing elevator cloud, elevator IoT and elevator ecosystem products and technical support, as well as for the operation and management after product installation. "As TAOP's digital advertising business was started from smart screens in elevators, we do understand the challenges in maintenance for traditional elevators," said Mr. Jianghuai Lin, Chairman and CEO of TAOP. "By utilizing IoT and related technologies, smart elevators solutions can now monitor performance, make real-time maintenance decisions, provide updated status, and report in advance. We are excited to work with Zhihui Yunti to allow more people to have access to the service and create value for the communities and our shareholders."

08:32 EST Artelo Biosciences receives notice of allowance from USPTO for ART12.11 - Artelo Biosciences announced that the Company received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO, for patent application 16/835,383 entitled "Solid Forms of Cannabidiol and Uses Thereof" related to its ART12.11 program, a cocrystal composition of cannabidiol. In addition, the Company has pending foreign patent applications covering cocrystal composition-of-matter and method of use. "The method of use claims of this patent combined with the CBD cocrystal's composition of matter patent already issued in the US further enhances our overall intellectual property portfolio," stated Gregory D. Gorgas, President and CEO of Artelo Biosciences. "Our strategy is to leverage the strength of our science and patents to develop important advancements in the treatment of serious conditions, such as PTSD and cancer, as we target large and underserved markets where we believe our patent portfolio provides a distinct competitive advantage."

08:25 EST American Resources' Rare Earth division partners with IN3 - American Resources Corporation announced that the Company's subsidiary, American Rare Earth has partnered with IN3, an applied research institute and collaborative organization, to help expand its industry relationships and further secure inroads to promote American Rare Earth's commercial production of critical and rare-earth elements such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium at its production facilities.

08:23 EST FINCANNA CAPITAL's QVI provides update on Cherry Kola Farms JV - FinCanna Capital Corp. reports that its portfolio company, QVI is pleased to provide an update further to its previously announced Joint Venture agreement with Cherry Kola Farms and recent activities regarding QVI's new "manufacturer to retail" revenue model featuring its own branded "low-cost" edibles products. In conjunction with QVI's shift in strategic direction to focus on its own branded products and its JV production relationship with CKF, QVI has re-branded its 10,000 square foot cannabis manufacturing facility to "West County Brands", a name reflective of its Sonoma California location. The Cherry Kola Farms JV has been operational since late December. Development activities to date include acquisition of biomass for the continuous production of live rosin, calibration of manufacturing equipment to ensure rapid scalability, flavour profiling, packaging development and production test runs that are now complete. The initial market rollout of Cherry Kola Farms in demand products is currently underway with the live rosin products now on retail shelves in select dispensaries across the state. Additionally, the new "manufacturer to retail" model's streamlined production approach of its own branded products are priced to disrupt the market. West County Brands' "MYTHC Life", "GOTHC Life" and "Huckleberry" are approaching commercial launch. These unique brands are disruptively priced at up to a ~50% discount to current market prices. The "manufacturer to retail" business model is designed to deliver higher volumes in fewer SKU's and is anticipated to eliminate costs and increase margins across the value chain. These savings can be allocated to incentivize QVI's distribution partners, retail dispensary owners, and ultimately create a better priced offering to consumers. Product recipes including SOPs have been finalized and tested in the manufacturing environment. Branding and package design developed with direction from market experts are also nearing completion, and a staged launch of MYTHC Life, GOTHC Life and Huckleberry products is expected to begin in March 2022. To accelerate its sales and market penetration for both Cherry Kola Farms' live rosin products and West County Brands' own line of cannabis edibles, QVI has engaged Petalfast Inc., a full spectrum cannabis growth company specializing in sales & marketing support for its client brands. Additionally, the company has initiated commercial distribution arrangements with Calyx Brands and Royal Distribution who collectively have direct relationships to the vast majority of dispensaries and delivery businesses in the state, enabling them to provide in depth commercial representation across California. These relationships have been instrumental in providing market analysis, product and packaging design guidance, and are directing the market rollout strategy for both Cherry Kola Farms' live rosin and West County Brands' products. To support the launch of this initiative FinCanna intends to issue up to 20,000,000 Units at a price of C$0.10 for total gross proceeds of up to $2,000,000 by way of a non-brokered private placement. Each unit will consist of one common share of FinCanna and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will be exercisable to acquire one common share of FinCanna at an exercise price of $0.20 for a period of 24 months from the date of the closing of the private placement. The Warrants will be subject to acceleration at FinCanna's discretion on the 30th day after FinCanna gives notice in the event that FinCanna's common shares trade on the CSE on a volume weighted average price basis of C$0.30 or more for a period of 10 trading days. If at any time during the term of the Warrants the closing price of FinCanna's common shares quoted on the Canadian Securities Exchange is equal to or greater than $0.30 per common share for 10 consecutive trading days, then FinCanna shall have the right to accelerate the Warrant expiry date to the 30th day after the date on which FinCanna gives notice to the subscriber in accordance with the certificates representing the Warrants FinCanna has agreed to pay a finder's fee by way of Cash and/or Warrants equal to 7% of the aggregate Units subscribed for pursuant to the subscriptions arranged by such finders. Each Warrant shall be exercisable for one common share at a price of C$0.20 for a period of 24 months following the closing date of the Private Placement. The closing of the private placement is expected to occur on or about March 25, 2022 and is subject to be the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a four month hold in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. There is no material factor material change regarding FinCanna that has not been generally disclosed. FinCanna intends to use the net proceeds from the Private Placement to fund the launch of the new "manufacturer to retail" revenue strategy as well as ongoing working capital and general corporate purposes.

08:19 EST IsoRay announces peer review study published on Celsium-131 - Investigators from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have published a clinical study that demonstrates "excellent outcomes for localized intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients treated with Isoray's Cesium-131 brachytherapy, commercially known as Cesium Blu," IsoRay said. The published article on the study was titled "Treatment of intermediate-risk prostate cancer with Cs-131: Long-term results from a single institution." The peer reviewed paper was published in the January-February 2022 issue of BRACHYTHERAPY, an international multidisciplinary journal of the American Brachytherapy Society. The study analyzed the outcomes for 335 intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients treated with Cesium-131 brachytherapy. Study patients had significant follow-up time. The median follow-up was 5.8 years, with a range of 4 to 8.9 years. The study found both the "favorable" and "unfavorable" intermediate-risk groups demonstrated "excellent biochemical outcomes," the company said. Those outcomes were 97.6% and 91.4% respectively at five years. For 135 "favorable" patients treated with Cesium-131 implant alone, the outcome was 98.1%. Commenting on the study, Isoray CEO Lori Woods said, "We are very excited by the results of this study. We believe the import of these findings is significant. We further believe this study provides compelling evidence that strongly suggests patients diagnosed with intermediate-risk prostate cancer should be presented with Cesium-131 as a valuable treatment opportunity by clinicians."

08:17 EST Aeterna Zentaris announces notice of allowance for US patent on AEZS-150 - Aeterna Zentaris announced that its licensor, The University of Sheffield, has received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO, for its patent application No. 16/608,611. The patent application entitled, "Parathyroid Hormone Fusion Polypeptide" includes claims intended to cover the Company's development candidate AEZS-150, and certain analogs. "As we continue to advance our DC-PTH program in collaboration with The University of Sheffield, we are pleased to bolster its intellectual property portfolio. This soon-to-be-issued patent is expected to provide protection for our development candidate AEZS-150 through at least 2038," commented Dr. Klaus Paulini, Chief Executive Officer of Aeterna. Aeterna's lead development candidate, AEZS-150, is a proprietary fusion protein consisting of a modified growth hormone binding protein linked to parathyroid hormone PTH1-34 with the goal to provide a PTH analog with delayed clearance of one or two weeks. AEZS-150 is in pre-clinical development for the potential treatment of chronic hypoparathyroidism in adults.

08:17 EST Real Brands uplists to OTCQB - Real Brands has received approval from with the OTC Markets Group to uplist to the OTCQB from the OTC Pink market. Today, March 2, 2022, Real Brands will join the 900+ fully reporting, certified companies that trade on the OTCQB, the middle tier of OTC Markets.

08:16 EST Catalyst Pharmaceuticals announces additional patent covering FIRDAPSE - Catalyst Pharmaceuticals announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office, USPTO, has notified Catalyst that an additional patent covering FIRDAPSE Tablets 10 mg, the Company's proprietary formulation of amifampridine, will issue on March 8, 2022, and that two additional patents will issue on March 15, 2022. FIRDAPSE is currently the only approved treatment of adults with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, LEMS, in the U.S. The new patents are directed to the treatment of patients suffering from LEMS who have two N-acetyl transferase 2 fast alleles, one fast and one slow allele, or two slow alleles. Along with Catalyst's two current patents, the new patents cover the treatment of all amifampridine metabolizer types within the LEMS patient population. "We are pleased to have been notified about these new U.S. patents that will further fortify our intellectual property estate to provide lasting durability for our flagship product," said Patrick J. McEnany, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst. "As part of our portfolio strategy, we will continue to execute on our key initiatives to strengthen and protect the long-term commercial potential of FIRDAPSE, which currently has patent exclusivity protection in the U.S. until 2034."

08:15 EST Candel Therapeutics appoints Tyagarajan as Chief Technical, Development Officer - Candel Therapeutics (CADL) announced that Seshu Tyagarajan Ph.D., RAC, has been named as the company's Chief Technical and Development Officer. Dr. Tyagarajan brings to Candel over two decades of technical, manufacturing and development experience in biologics and cell and gene therapies. Dr. Tyagarajan joins the company from Novartis (NVS), where she was most recently Executive Director and Global Head, Late Stage CMC Strategy for CGT.

08:14 EST Ford CEO Farley: Each unit to have separate P&L

08:13 EST Casella Waste acquires Northstar Pulp and Paper - Casella Waste Systems announced that it has acquired the assets of Northstar Pulp & Paper, Northstar Disposal, and certain real estate holdings on March 1, 2022. Northstar is a resource management company focused on recycling processing, brokerage services, and collection across the northeast for industrial, institutional, and commercial customers. "We are very excited about the acquisition of Northstar, as their operations and services will integrate well across our footprint and provide a great opportunity to expand services to customers," said John W. Casella, Chairman and CEO of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. "We continue to selectively invest in expanding our resource management services to industrial, institutional and commercial customers as leading organizations strive to reduce their environmental footprint. The Northstar acquisitions fits well with this strategy and gives us a great platform to drive further profitable growth while increasing our resource management services."

08:12 EST iCAD validates its AI cancer detection solutions with NVIDIA AI Enterprise - iCAD (ICAD) announced that it is among the first to validate its AI solutions with the NVIDIA (NVDA) AI Enterprise software suite. The Company's breast health technologies, including ProFound AI, PowerLook Density Assessment and ProFound AI Risk, can now be deployed with the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software suite, which enables thousands of healthcare organizations worldwide to virtualize AI workloads within hospital data centers using VMware vSphere and industry-standard servers. "With iCAD's deep learning algorithms now available to deploy on NVIDIA AI Enterprise and virtualized infrastructure, more facilities can accelerate the rapid deployment, management, and scaling of iCAD's leading-edge solutions," said Stacey Stevens, President and CEO of iCAD, Inc. "For hospitals that are currently using or migrating towards AI - particularly large hospital networks and academic institutions - this will make it a more seamless experience to adopt our technologies and fully unlock their potential, using users' preferred data center virtualization infrastructure."

08:09 EST NV5 Global acquires River City Testing - NV5 Global announced that it has acquired River City Testing, a provider of materials testing and special inspection services primarily focused on public education facilities in Southern California's Inland Empire Region through an asset purchase. "The addition of RCT strengthens NV5's testing, inspection, and consulting capabilities in the region and gives NV5 a materials testing laboratory to support NV5's engineering operations in Riverside County and San Bernardino County," the company said. NV5 acquired RCT in an all-cash transaction, and it will be immediately accretive to NV5's earnings. "The Inland Empire is one of the most populous regions in California with approximately four million residents, and NV5's presence in the region has expanded in recent years," said Dickerson Wright, PE, Chairman & CEO of NV5. "The addition of RCT broadens our footprint in Southern California and expands our service capabilities throughout the region."

08:08 EST Ford CEO Farley says legacy organization 'has been holding us back' - Comments taken from the company's conference call discussing its transformation.

08:07 EST Conformis suspends all distribution operations, business development in Russia - Conformis announced that it was suspending all distribution operations to Russia and any Russian-based entities for its orthopedic medical devices. Additionally, until further notice, the company will no longer pursue future business development opportunities in Russia. Conformis is the long-time leader in fully personalized orthopedic implants. "To support our continued expansion into international markets, we had recently entered into a distribution arrangement for representation of our orthopedic devices in Russia," said Mark Augusti, Chief Executive Officer and President of Conformis. "While we were looking forward to working with our agents and surgeons in Russia, we believe it is important that our business aligns with our values. Therefore, we have notified our representatives that we would not be starting our distribution operations in Russia. We will monitor this closely and look to resume development when appropriate."

08:06 EST Graphite Bio appoints Alethia Young as CFO - Graphite Bio announced the appointment of Alethia Young as chief financial officer. Ms. Young joins Graphite Bio from Cantor Fitzgerald, where she served as senior biotech analyst and head of research, managing the equity research department covering small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap biotechnology companies. In this newly created position, Ms. Young will oversee the company's finance, investor relations and corporate communications functions, and will play a key role in overall corporate strategy.

08:06 EST ADT Inc. sets goal of $10B in revenue by 2025 - ADT yesterday held an investor day event and outlined its long-term strategy to grow the business and drive long-term shareholder value. Mission: ADT revealed its evolved mission - Safe, Smart, Sustainable - which reflects how the company meets consumers' expanding safety needs. Safe - protecting what matters most; Smart - delivering innovative, customer-focused products, technology and services; Sustainable - making life better for our customers and communities we serve. Long-Term Strategy: ADT presented its long-term strategy to grow across its consumer and small business, commercial and solar segments. The strategy builds on the growth momentum provided by the company's Google partnership and its commercial and solar businesses. Innovative offerings - ADT is building ADT+, a next-generation smart home security platform. In addition, ADT expects to offer bundled services that provide greater customer choice and flexibility, bringing together smart home security and energy management as well as mobile and vehicle security and smart aging products. Unrivaled safety - ADT is investing in its core monitoring capabilities, designed to improve alarm handling times and reduce false alarms while helping to protect customer data and privacy with encrypted and patented methods. Premium experience - ADT is modernizing its customer experience with the planned introduction of flexible installation options, like "do-it-with-me," no-contract options, e-commerce and retail sales, as well as virtual service, which reduces the need to send a technician into the home. Long-Term Financial Goals: ADT believes this strategy will create sustainable, long-term revenue and earnings growth and significant free cash flow. As part of today's investor day event, management provided 2025 financial goals including: Total revenue: $10 billion total revenue, representing approximately 15 percent compounded annual growth; Earnings: Approximately $3 billion adjusted EBITDA and more than $0.50 earnings per share; Cash flow: $3 billion cumulative adjusted free cash flow from 2022-2025l Debt reduction: $1 billion debt reduction versus year-end 2021.

08:04 EST Cue Biopharma to present updated overview of immuno-STAT platform - Cue Biopharma announced it will give an oral presentation at the Festival of Biologics World Immunotherapy Congress which is being held at the Marriott Marquis in San Diego, California March 9-11, 2022. "We are very pleased to have Dr. Levisetti present an updated overview of the IL-2 based CUE-100 series at the 2022 Festival of Biologics, with a particular emphasis on the promising clinical data that provides clear differentiation for our strategy focused on selective activity of IL-2 on tumor-specific T cells," said Dr. Anish Suri, president and chief scientific officer of Cue Biopharma. "IL-2 has been a validated therapeutic target with significant hurdles pertaining to lack of specificity, systemic immune activation and serious toxicities. We believe the preliminary anti-tumor activity and positive tolerability profile of CUE-101 is highly encouraging and supportive of its mechanistic advantages and superior differentiation from all other IL-2 variants in development. CUE-101 has demonstrated an impressive tolerability profile as a monotherapy and has achieved targeted engagement of tumor specific T cells without reaching a maximum tolerated dose (MTD). With its unique mechanism of action, we believe CUE-101 has the potential to change the treatment landscape and improve the lives of patients with head and neck cancer as well as a broad range of other indications."

08:02 EST Pyxis announces completion of sale of two small tankers, chartering update - Pyxis Tankers announced that it has completed the sales of the Northsea Alpha and Northsea Beta, two 2010 built 8,600 dwt product tankers, for the aggregate sale price of $8.9 million. After repayment of bank debt and related transaction costs, Company received aggregate net cash proceeds of approximately $3.1M. The sale of these non-core assets will improve our liquidity and reduce outstanding loans. Valentios Valentis, Chairman & CEO, provided the following brief chartering update: "Since the start of the year, the chartering environment has remained relatively flat despite increasing demand for refined petroleum products as low inventories have limited cargo flows to some extent. Hopefully, increasing crude oil production as the year progresses combined with strong refinery throughput and ton-mile demand should lead to greater global trading activity and better charter rates. However, the impact from last week's events in eastern Europe have further increased uncertainty in many ways. As of March 2, 2022, our MR's were booked at over $14,300 /day for 75% of Q1, 2022 available days. In February, the Pyxis Epsilon experienced a minor accident at her discharge port and will consequently incur approximately 45 days of off-hire, including vessel repairs. There were no injuries nor pollution. After insurance claims, we estimate total cash costs to the Company of approximately $0.5 million during this period. The 2015 built tanker should be back in commercial service later this month."

08:02 EST Alaska Air recalibrates Boeing 737-9 order - Alaska stated, "Alaska Airlines announced plans today to broaden our mainline fleet by adjusting our current 737-9 aircraft order with Boeing to include the bigger 737-10 and longer-range 737-8, which are all part of the 737 MAX family of planes. These additional 737 models will enhance Alaska's ability to meet specific market requirements with optimal aircraft size and capability. Prior to today's announcement, Alaska's contractual 737 order featured 145 firm orders and options for 737-9 aircraft for delivery between 2021-2026. There are currently 14 737-9s in Alaska's fleet. Of the remaining 131 aircraft, 79 are firm orders and 52 are options. We now envision a mix of 70 737-9s, 60 737-10s and 15 737-8s for the 145 planes."

07:50 EST Flora Growth signs distribution agreement with JustCBD partner Speedy - Flora Growth announces that its Vessel brand has signed a distribution agreement with Florida-based Speedy Distribution one of JustCBD's core partners. This agreement represents Vessel's first entry into traditional smoke shop channels, a category that offers promising growth for the brand over the short term. The initial product offering will include some of the highest demand SKUs from its vape and dry herb categories. Looking forward, Vessel will continue to innovate and design new products and accessories specifically for this newly formed channel partnership. "We are excited to bring the Vessel product offering to one of our core distribution partners in Speedy," commented Hussein Rakine, JustCBD CEO. "The Vessel team designs excellent customer experiences, and whether through e-commerce or traditional wholesale, the products are always well received by customers. We see this agreement as the first of many where we leverage JustCBD's existing distribution network and Flora's diverse product portfolio to amplify growth for our combined Company."

07:48 EST Citi sees 2022 expense growth of 5%-6% ex-divestiture impacts - Sees Q1 expense growth 10%-12% ex-divestiture impacts.

07:47 EST Citi sees 2022 revenue growth across NII, NIR - For FY22, sees low single digit growth in total revenue, with a mid-single digit decline in Q1 total revenue. Sees ROTCE returns of 11%-12% in medium-term. Comments taken from Investor Day presentation slides.

07:40 EST Statera BioPharma submits Phase 1 clinical trial protocol for STAT-205 to FDA - Statera Biopharma announced submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of its pilot study protocol for STAT-205 treatment of post-acute COVID-19. "Submitting this study protocol to the FDA is a critical milestone in the development of our COVID-19 program," said Michael K. Handley, President and Chief Executive Officer, Statera Biopharma. "As the world continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, post-acute COVID syndrome remains a widespread, often debilitating condition that is not well understood. With STAT-205 Statera looks to potentially offer a promising treatment approach to those patients facing the long-lasting burden of the illness." The Phase 1 pilot study, A Randomized, Double-blind Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of STAT-205 in Patients with Post-acute Sequalae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, will evaluate the efficacy of STAT-205 compared with placebo for reducing fatigue in PASC. In addition, the study will evaluate the efficacy of STAT-205 compared to placebo for cognition improvement in patients, as well as safety of the therapy. Approximately 84 patients will be enrolled.

07:39 EST Siga Technologies announces start of TPOXX PEP clinical trials - SIGA Technologies announced that it has initiated the clinical program to support a U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, label expansion for Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, PEP, for oral TPOXX, approved in July 2018 for the treatment of smallpox. The first study is a comparison of the enrolled participants' immune response with the Jynneos smallpox vaccines compared with the immune response with Jynneos while on TPOXX treatment. The study is designed to determine if TPOXX interferes with the development of an effective immune response to the vaccine. A second clinical study, also expected to commence in 2022, will look at developing an expanded safety dataset to support 28 day dosing of TPOXX for the post-exposure prophylaxis indication compared with the currently approved 14 days for treatment of smallpox indication. "The use of TPOXX for post-exposure prophylaxis has always been an important opportunity for TPOXX use in an outbreak of smallpox," said Dr. Phil Gomez, CEO of SIGA. "This was highlighted by the US Government during our initial 2011 procurement, and discussed extensively at our FDA Advisory committee meeting in 2018 where TPOXX received a unanimous vote to recommend approval for treatment of smallpox. The COVID-19 pandemic has also shown vaccine hesitancy is a real issue for pandemic response, and the balance of vaccines and anti-viral drugs in stockpiles must be reevaluated in light of current experience."

07:38 EST Harpoon Therapeutics receives FDA fast track designation for HPN217 - Harpoon Therapeutics announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to HPN217, a BCMA-targeting TriTAC, for the treatment of patients with relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four lines of therapy. A Phase 1/2 clinical trial is currently ongoing for HPN217 in the RRMM patient population.

07:36 EST Missfresh expands China-wide vegetable supply network - Missfresh has just signed an agreement to add nearly 70 hectares of land in Luliang County in Yunnan Province to its China-wide vegetable farm network. This increases Missfresh's nationwide network of vegetable farms - which directly supply the Company with fresh vegetables - to more than 1,300 hectares. Missfresh currently sources its products - such as fresh seafood, vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, and fast-moving consumer goods - directly from almost 200 farms and 350 factories and processing facilities across China.

07:31 EST CME Group reports February ADV up 19% to 29M contracts

07:22 EST PolyPid announces 750th patient enrolled in SHIELD I Phase 3 clinical trial - PolyPid announced that the 750th patient has been enrolled into its ongoing pivotal Phase 3 SHIELD I study evaluating D-PLEX100 for the prevention of surgical site infections in abdominal surgery. Upon completion of the 30-day follow-up assessment for the 750th patient, based on an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an unblinded interim analysis will be conducted. This interim analysis is expected to occur during the second quarter of this year, and will allow for early trial conclusion due to efficacy, futility, or for sample size re-assessment. The FDA has previously agreed, provided the Phase 3 study results are adequate, that a single pivotal study is sufficient for potential approval of D-PLEX100 for the prevention of SSIs in colorectal surgery.

07:21 EST Baudax Bio announces seventh Orange Book listable patent for ANJESO - Baudax Bio announced that it has secured the issuance of United States Patent No.11,253,478. The '478 Patent covers ANJESO and other injectable, nanoparticulate meloxicam compositions and methods of administering such compositions by intravenous, intramuscular or subcutaneous injection. The '478 Patent will be listed in the United States Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book: Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations as it relates to ANJESO. The '478 Patent is exclusively licensed from Alkermes Pharma Ireland Limited. The ANJESO '478 patent, with an expiry date of May of 2030, joins two other ANJESO Orange Book listed patents with the same expiry month. The '478 Patent will join a total of six other patents listed in the Orange Book, amongst others owned or licensed by Baudax Bio that currently provide exclusivity to the ANJESO franchise. The '478 Patent emphasizes ANJESO's superior stability.

07:19 EST Aterian announces pricing of $27.5M private placement - Aterian announced that it has entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors for a private placement transaction. Aterian will issue and sell 9,450,172 shares of common stock and accompanying warrants exercisable six months from closing to purchase up to 7,087,630 shares of Common Stock for a period of five years at an exercise price of $3.20 per share. Each share of Common Stock and accompanying Warrant will be sold at a combined purchase price of $2.91. The Pre-Funded Warrants will have an exercise price of $0.0001 per share of Common Stock, be immediately exercisable and remain exercisable until exercised. The Company expects to receive gross proceeds from the Offering of approximately $27.5 million before deducting Offering expenses. Aterian intends to use the net proceeds from the Private Placement for working capital purposes, the conduct of its business and other general corporate purposes, which may include acquisitions, investments in or licenses of complementary products, technologies or businesses, operating expenses and capital expenditures. The Private Placement is expected to close on or about March 4, 2022, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

07:17 EST Digihost arranges $10M credit facility - Digihost Technology is pleased to announce the closing of a $10,000,000 committed, collateralized revolving credit facility with Securitize. The Loan Facility provides Digihost with significant, non-dilutive, liquidity options to assist in the financing of its aggressive growth strategy. The Loan Facility has a one-year committed term and an interest rate of 7.5% per annum and has been fully drawn by the Company. Proceeds from the Loan Facility, collateralized by the Company's growing Bitcoin inventory, will be used to fund both operating and capital costs thereby giving Digihost the ability to continue to add to its Bitcoin inventory, a key component of the Company's value creation strategy. The Loan Facility, combined with alternative equity issuing options available to the Company, will allow Digihost to continue to optimize the design of its capital structure, improve profitability, and add working capital flexibility.

07:16 EST Tilray's Manitoba to unveil new product lineup - Manitoba Harvest, a subsidiary of Tilray, will unveil its new product lineup at the upcoming Natural Products Expo West, to be held March 10-12 in Anaheim, CA. "Hemp has been one of the most misunderstood plants for decades, and we're thrilled to see consumers beginning to understand its nutritional value. These new items take full advantage of Hemp's Protein and Omega content and will be a perfect option for consumers looking to enhance their wellness routine," said Sam Garfinkel, VP of Marketing at Manitoba Harvest. Manitoba Harvest's Power of Hemp Lineup Includes: Hemp+ Matcha; Hemp+ Supergreens; Hemp+ Chia & Flax; Ground Hemp Seed; Roasted Hemp Seeds with Sea Salt.

07:14 EST Dine Brands sees FY22 capital expenditures $33M-$38M - Sees FY22 consolidated FY22 adjusted EBITDA $235M-$250M. The company said, "Domestic development activity by IHOP franchisees and area licensees are expected to result in net new openings between 50 and 65 restaurants. Domestic development activity by Applebee's franchisees is expected to result in between 5 and 15 net fewer restaurants. In 2021, Applebee's concluded a strategic initiative to close underperforming domestic restaurants to improve the performance of the franchised system."

07:14 EST Enthusiast Gaming, Hut 8 Mining sign multi-year strategic partnership - Enthusiast Gaming (EGLX) announced a multi-year partnership with Hut 8 Mining (HUT). The partnership marks the first time Hut 8 has come together with a gaming and esports organization, and Enthusiast Gaming's first partnership with a digital asset miner. Enthusiast Gaming and Hut 8 will collaborate on new experiences and content within mobile and blockchain gaming, Web 3.0, NFTs, and cryptocurrency. The ongoing partnership will see Hut 8 content integrated across Enthusiast Gaming's flywheel of communities, games, and experiences. Hut 8 is also positioned to provide critical infrastructure support by hosting Enthusiast Gaming in its data centres. "As we consider new opportunities in Web 3.0, the Metaverse, NFTs and cryptocurrency, we're proud to join a partnership that will really deliver for our creators, communities and fans, and to kick things off with Hut 8 by bringing our flywheel of opportunities to them, through our latest launch from Addicting Games, and as a partner on Luminosity Gaming," said Adrian Montgomery, CEO of Enthusiast Gaming. "With one of the highest inventories of self-mined Bitcoin of any publicly-traded company globally, Hut 8 has established itself as an innovative leader by bridging digital asset mining with the traditional data centre industry, and is now serving both traditional high-performance applications and applications in the gaming and blockchain space."

07:13 EST Surface Oncology sees cash runway through 2023 - Based upon its current operating plan, Surface continues to project cash runway sufficient through 2023.

07:11 EST Lee Enterprises sends letter to shareholders, says to vote 'FOR' board nominees - Lee Enterprises sent a letter to shareholders urging them to vote "FOR" the Board's three nominees standing for reelection at Lee's 2022 Annual Meeting on March 10: Chairman Mary Junck, Lead Independent Director Herb Moloney and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Mowbray. "The letter highlights the recent recommendation from leading independent proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, ISS, to vote the WHITE proxy card "FOR" all of Lee's director nominees; the significant progress Lee is making on the continued execution of its Three Pillar Digital Growth Strategy; and the strength of Lee's incumbent, highly qualified and recently refreshed Board," the company said. The letter also reminds shareholders that in the last few weeks, Alden Global Capital, LLC has also filed two lawsuits against Lee as part of its campaign, both of which were recently rejected by the Delaware Court of Chancery.

07:09 EST Ford backs commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050

07:07 EST Summit Carbon Solutions announces $250M investment from Continental Resources - Summit Carbon Solutions announces a strategic investment from Continental Resources to create the largest carbon capture and sequestration project of its kind in the world. Continental Resources will commit $250M over the next two years to help fund the development and construction of the project's associated capture, transportation, and sequestration infrastructure, while also leveraging its operational and geologic expertise to help ensure the safe and secure storage of CO2. Summit Carbon Solutions will primarily capture CO2 from ethanol plants and other industrial sources in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. The CO2 will be aggregated and transported to North Dakota via pipeline, where it will be safely and permanently sequestered in extensively researched subsurface geologic formations. The project has commitments from 31 partner ethanol facilities to deliver more than 8.0 million metric tons per annum of CO2, with initial pipeline capacity of 12.0 MMtpa, and expansion capabilities to handle up to 20.0 MMtpa. Recognizing the significant growth in demand for low carbon fuels, Summit began developing plans for the project and its partnerships with ethanol producers in 2019. By leveraging decades of experience and relationships across the biofuels and agriculture industries, Summit Carbon Solutions was launched in early 2021, and is on track to achieve its target of being operational in the first half of 2024.

07:07 EST Ford Blue, Ford Model e to operate as distinct businesses

07:07 EST Ford to form two auto units to accelerate EV scaling - Ford announced it is accelerating the development and scaling of electric, connected vehicles. The company said, "Last May, Ford President and CEO Jim Farley introduced the Ford+ plan, calling it the company's biggest opportunity for growth and value creation since Henry Ford scaled production of the Model T. The formation of two distinct, but strategically interdependent, auto businesses - Ford Blue and Ford Model e - together with the new Ford Pro business, will help unleash the full potential of the Ford+ plan, driving growth and value creation and positioning Ford to outperform both legacy automakers and new EV competitors. Driving the change was recognition that different approaches, talents and, ultimately, organizations are required to unleash Ford's development and delivery of electric and digitally connected vehicles and services and fully capitalize on the company's iconic family of internal combustion vehicles. The creation of Ford Model e was informed by the success of small, mission-driven Ford teams that developed the Ford GT, Mustang Mach-E SUV and F-150 Lightning pickup as well as Ford's dedicated EV division in China. Ford Model e and Ford Blue will be run as distinct businesses, but also support each other - as well as Ford Pro, which is dedicated to delivering a one-stop shop for commercial and government customers with a range of conventional and electric vehicles and a full suite of software, charging, financing, services and support on Ford and non-Ford products. Ford Model e and Ford Blue will also support Ford Drive mobility... Ford Model e also will lead on creating an exciting new shopping, buying and ownership experience for its future electric vehicle customers that includes simple, intuitive e-commerce platforms, transparent pricing and personalized customer support from Ford ambassadors. Ford Blue will adapt these best practices to enhance the experience of its ICE customers and deliver new levels of customer connectivity and satisfaction." With the creation of Ford Blue and Ford Model e, Ford is announcing several leadership appointments. Farley will serve as president of Ford Model e, in addition to his role as president and CEO of Ford. Doug Field will lead Ford Model e's product creation as chief EV and digital systems officer. He will also lead the development of software and embedded systems for all of Ford. Marin Gjaja will be Model e's chief customer officer, heading the division's go-to-market, customer experience and new business initiatives. Kumar Galhotra will serve as president of Ford Blue. Stuart Rowley and Hau Thai-Tang will take on new global roles to support Ford's transformation. Rowley will be chief transformation and quality officer. He will establish quality as a reason to choose a Ford and lead Ford's drive to improved efficiency, reduced complexity and a lean, fully competitive cost structure across the enterprise.

07:06 EST Ford Blue to build out portfolio of ICE vehicles, Ford says

07:05 EST Intercept sees 2022 Ocaliva net sales $375M-$405M - We are announcing 2022 Ocaliva net sales guidance of $375 million to $405 million. In addition, we are announcing 2022 non-GAAP adjusted operating expense guidance of $360 million to $390 million.

06:46 EST Pfizer granted FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for PF-06482077 - Pfizer announced that its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine candidate, PF-06482077 or RSVpreF, received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. FDA for prevention of RSV-associated lower respiratory tract illness in infants from birth up to six months of age by active immunization of pregnant women. The FDA decision is informed by the results of the Phase 2b proof-of-concept study of RSVpreF, a global, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study that assessed the safety and immunogenicity of RSVpreF in healthy pregnant women ages 18 through 49 years old, who were vaccinated between 28- and 36-weeks gestation, and their infants. Pfizer will publish outcomes from this clinical trial at a future date.

06:38 EST ChromaDex's Niagen shows potential as neuroprotective therapy in Parkinson's - ChromaDex announced "promising" findings from a first-of-its-kind clinical study, as reported in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Metabolism by a team of scientists. The clinical trial was part of the ChromaDex External Research Program and investigated the company's proprietary Niagen ingredient - patented nicotinamide riboside, or "NR" - in patients with Parkinson's disease - PD -. Results of the phase I clinical trial showed that NR supplementation significantly increased cerebral nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide levels, and resulted in altered cerebral energy metabolism and decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines in patients with PD. The results of the trial nominate NR as a potential neuroprotective therapy for PD, warranting further investigation in larger trials. A phase II study is already ongoing and estimated to conclude by the end of 2023. The results of the study demonstrated that NR-recipient patients showed significantly increased brain NAD levels, an altered brain metabolic pattern, and decreased levels of inflammatory cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid. Moreover, patients experienced a mild but significant clinical improvement, and this correlated with the change in the brain's metabolic pattern.

06:32 EST Exxon Mobil targets annual structural reductions of $9B a year by 2023 - ExxonMobil detailed plans at its annual Investor Day to deliver industry-leading earnings, cash flow growth and shareholder returns, and lead in the energy transition across a range of lower-emissions scenarios. Company plans include annual structural reductions of $9 billion a year by 2023 compared to 2019, building on $5 billion annual structural reductions achieved to date. These savings and other improvements, including a streamlined organizational structure, will enable ExxonMobil to double earnings and cash flow potential by 2027 versus 2019, reduce breakeven costs by roughly $10 per barrel, boost returns on capital employed, and sustainably grow total shareholder returns and distributions. Full-year 2021 results of $23 billion in earnings and $48 billion in cash flow from operating activities were the highest among competition and demonstrate how structural improvements, combined with focused investments during the down cycle, positioned the company to realize the full benefit of the economic recovery. The 2021 results enabled repayment of about $20 billion in debt -- nearly all of the debt borrowed during the pandemic downturn, the 39th consecutive year of dividend increases, and a $10 billion share-repurchase program that started earlier this year. To improve future earnings, ExxonMobil is upgrading its portfolio with low-cost-of-supply opportunities by investing in advantaged assets, including Guyana and the U.S. Permian Basin. It is also investing in competitively advantaged chemicals and downstream projects, including Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, to grow high-value product sales of performance products and lubricants. The company expects capital investments of $21-$24 billion in 2022 and $20-$25 billion per year through 2027. These investments are directed toward low-cost-of-supply Upstream projects in unconventional, deepwater and LNG, and high-value products including chemical performance products, biofuels and lubricants in the new Product Solutions business, which will combine downstream and chemical operations into a single company on April 1. Spending plans also include more than $15 billion over the next six years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in company operations and for investments in lower-emission business opportunities to help customers reduce emissions and generate attractive returns for shareholders. "Investment in emission-reduction opportunities will accelerate with advances in technology, market incentives and supportive policy," said CEO Woods. "We've built a portfolio with flexibility to adjust investments between our traditional oil, gas and products business and new lower-emissions opportunities, consistent with the pace and scale of the energy transition, creating long-term value across a broad range of scenarios." ExxonMobil established its Low Carbon Solutions business in early 2021 to commercialize its extensive experience in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and biofuels. Since that time, the company has announced progress on multiple carbon capture and storage opportunities around the world. It also is planning strategic investments in hydrogen, including at its integrated refining and chemical complex in Baytown, Texas, and in lower-emission biofuels at the Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Canada. ExxonMobil has stated its ambition to achieve Scope 1 and Scope 2 net zero greenhouse gas emissions for operated assets by 2050, backed by a comprehensive approach to develop detailed emission-reduction roadmaps for major facilities and assets. The company's 2030 emission-reduction plans include net-zero emissions for Permian Basin operations by 2030 and a 20-30% reduction in company-wide Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions intensity, compared to 2016. The plans are anticipated to achieve a 40-50% reduction in upstream greenhouse gas intensity, supported by a corporate-wide 70-80% reduction in methane intensity and a 60-70% reduction in flaring intensity. In total, the plans are expected to reduce company-wide absolute greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 20% and the company's upstream emissions by 30%. Absolute flaring and methane emissions are expected to decrease by 60% and 70%, respectively. These plans are expected to achieve the goals of the World Bank Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative.

06:17 EST Tesla investing 'more than double' GM, Ford combined, says Musk - Elon Musk said via Twitter: "Tesla (TSLA) has created over 50,000 US jobs building electric vehicles & is investing more than double GM (GM) + Ford (F) combined." Musk was responding to a post on U.S. President Joe Biden's official Twitter account, which said: "Ford is investing $11B to build electric vehicles-creating 11,000 jobs across the country. GM is making the largest investment in its history-$7B to build electric vehicles, creating 4,000 jobs in Michigan." Reference Link

06:16 EST Adagene signs multi-target collaboration with Sanofi for oncology candidates - Adagene (ADAG) announced a collaboration and exclusive license agreement with Sanofi (SNY) to generate masked monoclonal and bispecific antibodies for development and commercialization by Sanofi. Adagene will be responsible for early stage research activities to develop masked versions of Sanofi candidate antibodies, using Adagene's SAFEbody technology. Sanofi will be solely responsible for later stage research and all clinical, product development and commercialization activities. Sanofi will make an upfront payment of $17.5M to Adagene and will have the ability to advance two initial Sanofi antibody candidates in the collaboration, followed by an option for two additional candidates. Additionally, Adagene will be eligible to receive total potential development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to $2.5B for advancement of the candidates, which will be exclusively developed and commercialized by Sanofi. Adagene is eligible to also receive tiered royalties on global net sales of approved collaboration products. SAFEbody technology is designed to address safety and tolerability challenges associated with many antibody therapeutics by using precision masking technology to shield the binding domain of the biologic therapy. Through activation in the tumor microenvironment, this allows for tumor-specific targeting of antibodies, while minimizing on-target off-tumor toxicity in healthy tissues.

06:14 EST Apple CEO Tim Cook 'deeply concerned with situation in Ukraine' - Apple CEO Tim Cook said via Twitter on Tuesday night: "I am deeply concerned with the situation in Ukraine. We're doing all we can for our teams there and will be supporting local humanitarian efforts. I am thinking of the people who are right now in harm's way and joining all those calling for peace." Reference Link

06:10 EST SAB Biotherapeutics: NIH to discontinue enrollment in Phase 3 trial of SAB-185 - SAB Biotherapeutics reported that due to low hospitalization and death rates in the trial, the National Institutes of Health's ACTIV-2 Program is discontinuing enrollment in its Phase 3 COVID-19 trial. SAB-185 was being assessed as part of the Phase 3 ACTIV-2 master protocol evaluating treatments for COVID-19 in patients with mild-moderate infections at higher risk for progression to hospitalization. Reductions in hospitalization and death rates were included as primary endpoints of the Phase 3 trial. However, low hospitalization and death rates recently observed in the study have led the sponsors to conclude that, notwithstanding the potential efficacy of SAB 185, it would not be possible to demonstrate statistically significant clinical efficacy with the existing study design, since so few of the enrolled COVID-19 patients had an observable study endpoint event such as hospitalization. While SAB-185 previously met the initial pre-specified safety and efficacy criteria to continue to the next phase of the Phase 3 ACTIV-2 trial, the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board recommended that the study be stopped for reasons of "operational futility", meaning that hospitalization rates had declined to the point where the study was no longer large enough to ensure that statistically significant findings could be obtained. "The NIH-sponsored ACTIV-2 Phase 3 master protocol was designed when previous COVID-19 variants resulted in high infection and hospitalization rates," said Eddie J. Sullivan, Ph.D., co-founder, President, and CEO of SAB Biotherapeutics. "The good news is that infections and hospitalizations are now falling sharply in the US. But this decrease also has had the effect of making the current ACTIV-2 Phase 3 study design statistically unworkable, and the NIH has therefore decided to stop patient enrollment."

06:06 EST Ford suspending operations in Russia 'until further notice' - In a statement, Ford said: "As part of the global community, Ford is deeply concerned about the invasion of Ukraine and the resultant threats to peace and stability. The situation has compelled us to reassess our operations in Russia. In recent years, Ford has significantly wound down its Russian operations, which now focus exclusively on commercial van manufacturing and Russian sales through a minority interest in the Sollers Ford joint venture. Given the situation, we have today informed our JV partners that we are suspending our operations in Russia, effective immediately, until further notice. While we don't have significant operations in Ukraine, we do have a strong contingent of Ukrainian nationals working at Ford around the world and we will continue to support them through this time. Ford Fund is also making a $100,000 donation to the Global Giving Ukraine Relief Fund for humanitarian aid to assist Ukrainian citizens and families who have been displaced during this crisis." Reference Link

06:02 EST Snap halts advertising in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus - Snap said on Tuesday that it has halted all advertising in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to comply with sanctions placed against Russian businesses and individuals. In a public note titled "We Support Ukraine," Snap said the platform will still be available in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia to help users communicate with one another, but that all ad sales to Russian and Belarusian companies and individuals had been stopped. The message also noted that 300 of Snap's "most creative and talented team members" are from Ukraine, which was also the birthplace of Looksery, the augmented reality platform that Snap acquired in 2015. It added: "We have been providing emergency assistance around the clock and helping team members safely relocate. We have pledged over $15M in humanitarian aid to support organizations providing direct relief to the people of Ukraine." Reference Link

05:17 EST Celyad announces CYAD-101-002 trial placed on clinical hold by FDA - Celyad announced that on March 1, the company was informed via e-mail communication from the FDA that the CYAD-101-002, or KEYNOTE-B79, Phase 1b trial has been placed on clinical hold due to insufficient information to assess risk to study subjects. As previously disclosed, on February 28, the company announced that it was voluntarily pausing the CYAD-101-002 trial to investigate reports of two fatalities in the study.

05:12 EST STMicroelectronics receives EUR 600M loan from EIB - The European Investment Bank, or EIB, is providing financial support to STMicroelectronics: a EUR 600M loan for the semiconductor group's research and development, or R&D, and pre-industrialisation activities in Europe. The operation concerns investments in R&D activities for technologies and components, as well as in pilot production lines for advanced semiconductors. These investments will be implemented in STMicroelectronics' existing facilities in Italy and France. They will contribute to the development of technologies and products to address the major challenges of environmental transition and digital transformation in all sectors.

04:58 EST I-Mab granted orphan status for gastric cancer treatment - The FDA granted I-Mab orphan status for its treatment of gastric cancer including cancer of the gastroesophageal junction. Reference Link

04:56 EST Harpoon Therapeutics granted orphan status for lung cancer treatment - The FDA granted Harpoon Therapeutics orphan status for its treatment of small cell lung cancer. Reference Link