Stockwinners Market Radar for March 18, 2024 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:16 EDT Cathie Wood's ARK Investment bought 151K shares of Moderna today

20:00 EDT Starbucks announces new geographic-based leadership structure - Starbucks "announced it will be making several leadership changes, creating a clear geographic leadership structure, supported by global functions with deep functional expertise and the ability to drive impact on a global scale. These changes will go into effect April 1. Michael Conway will take on a newly created role of ceo, North America. Conway has been a Starbucks partner since 2013, is widely respected, and is most currently serving as group president, International and Channel Development. His deep experience in strategic planning and operational excellence, as well as his efforts to support building our brand and culture around the world make him well positioned for this new role. Given the vital nature of her role, Sara Trilling will remain executive vice president and president, North America, focused on enhancing the retail partner experience while growing the North America store portfolio and our North America licensed store business, reporting to Conway. Trilling remains a member of Narasimhan's executive leadership team. Three out of four of the company's new store openings are planned for outside the U.S., and Starbucks intends to grow to 55,000 stores globally as part of the company's strategic plan. With that context, additional regional leaders will include: Brady Brewer will assume the role of ceo, Starbucks International with oversight of the teams across Asia Pacific, EMEA, Japan and LAC, as well as the company's international licensed partners. Over his more than 20 years with Starbucks, Brewer has served in several global, regional and market-specific roles with the company around the world, including as senior vice president in Starbucks Asia Pacific, as chief operating officer of Starbucks Japan, and most recently as evp, chief marketing officer. Belinda Wong, chairwoman and co-ceo and Molly Liu, co-ceo will both continue to lead Starbucks China team, reporting to Narasimhan, as was previously the case. With these appointments, the company will not replace the global chief marketing position most recently occupied by Brewer. Rather, each geographic ceo will have regional marketing support while Narasimhan announced two new global positions: Lyne Castonguay will join Starbucks in the newly created position of evp, chief merchant and product officer, reporting to Narasimhan. Castonguay will oversee a newly created global function focused on global product strategy, developing new products and growth platforms. She will lead both our Global Channel Development team and Siren Retail. Starbucks is an iconic global brand. Throughout its history, the brand has always nurtured the limitless possibilities of human connection- and intends to continue to do so in the future. To that end, the brand's platforms of collaboration in the creative arts, design, architecture, fashion, publishing and music will continue to shape culture while elevating human connection. Starbucks intends to soon appoint a global brand creative leader, reporting to Narasimhan." Reference Link

19:51 EDT SoundHound to offer on-chip voice AI with Nvidia - SoundHound AI (SOUN) "announced an innovative in-vehicle voice assistant that uses a large language model completely on the edge while running on the NVIDIA (NVDA) DRIVE platform. This marks a new chapter for generative AI, proving that the powerful technology can still deliver optimal results in the absence of cloud connectivity. SoundHound's work with NVIDIA will allow it to significantly expand the number of places and situations that generative AI can be deployed. NVIDIA DRIVE will enable SoundHound Chat AI - a breakthrough in-vehicle voice platform that combines both real-time and generative AI capabilities - to provide responses even when there is no connectivity. Among a range of use cases, the new solution will let drivers access SoundHound Vehicle Intelligence, a product that instantly delivers information directly from the car manual and other relevant data sources using natural speech."

19:04 EDT Joyy up 2% at $34.00 after Q4 earnings beat, above-consensus guidance

18:41 EDT FinVolution announces 10.2% increase in year-end dividend to 23.7c per ADS - FinVolution Group announced that its board of directors has approved a cash dividend of 23.7c per American Depositary Share for fiscal year 2023. The dividend is expected to be distributed on or around May 7 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 16.

18:39 EDT PGT Innovations stockholders approve proposed merger with Miter Brands - PGT Innovations "announced that its stockholders voted to approve the definitive merger agreement with MIWD Holding Company LLC and an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company at a special meeting of the Company's stockholders. As previously announced, under the terms of the definitive merger agreement, MITER Brands will acquire all of the outstanding shares of PGTI common stock for $42.00 per share in cash. The transaction will be financed in part by an equity investment from an affiliate of Koch Equity Development LLC, the principal investment and acquisition arm of Koch Industries, Inc., that is a current investor in MITER Brands."

18:35 EDT Supermicro grows AI optimized product portfolio featuring new Nvidia solutions - Supermicro (SMCI) is announcing new AI systems for large-scale generative AI featuring NVIDIA's (NVDA) next-generation of data center products, including the latest NVIDIA GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchip, the NVIDIA B200 Tensor Core and B100 Tensor Core GPUs. Supermicro is enhancing its current NVIDIA HGX(TM) H100/H200 8-GPU systems to be drop-in ready for the NVIDIA HGX(TM) B100 8-GPU and enhanced to support the B200, resulting in a reduced time to delivery. Additionally, Supermicro will further strengthen its broad NVIDIA MGX(TM) systems lineup with new offerings featuring the NVIDIA GB200, including the NVIDIA GB200 NVL72, a complete rack level solution with 72 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs. Supermicro is also adding new systems to its lineup, including the 4U NVIDIA HGX B200 8-GPU liquid-cooled system.

18:31 EDT Google Cloud, Nvidia expand partnership to scale AI development - Google (GOOG) Cloud and NVIDIA (NVDA) "announced a deepened partnership to enable the machine learning community with technology that accelerates their efforts to easily build, scale and manage generative AI applications. To continue bringing AI breakthroughs to its products and developers, Google announced its adoption of the new NVIDIA Grace Blackwell AI computing platform, as well as the NVIDIA DGX Cloud service on Google Cloud. Additionally, the NVIDIA H100-powered DGX Cloud platform is now generally available on Google Cloud. Building on their recent collaboration to optimize the Gemma family of open models, Google also will adopt NVIDIA NIM inference microservices to provide developers with an open, flexible platform to train and deploy using their preferred tools and frameworks. The companies also announced support for JAX on NVIDIA GPUs and Vertex AI instances powered by NVIDIA H100 and L4 Tensor Core GPUs."

18:27 EDT Spire Global jumps 6% to $13.01 after announcing Nvidia collaboration

18:22 EDT KeyCorp, Blackstone Credit announce forward flow origination partnership - The company states: "KeyCorp (KEY) announced a forward flow origination partnership with Blackstone (BX) Credit & Insurance focused on Key's Specialty Finance Lending group. SFL is a leading asset-based lender serving clients nationally across middle market, growth capital, transportation, equipment, and other verticals. In connection with the partnership, Blackstone and Key closed a transaction on a seed portfolio of middle market fund finance facilities. Key will continue to originate, hold, and provide asset management services for new commitments across all sectors."

18:20 EDT Synopsys showcases EDA performance, next-gen capabilities with Nvidia computing - The company states: "Building on more than three decades of collaboration, Synopsys (SNPS) announced it is working with NVIDIA (NVDA) to substantially accelerate chip design and advance automotive prototyping using the power of AI and accelerated computing. The announcement was made at the NVIDIA GTC global AI conference. Synopsys is applying NVIDIA accelerated compute architectures, including the NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip, to achieve significant, projected runtime gains of up to 15X compared to current methods, across the full EDA stack spanning design, verification, simulation and manufacturing. Synopsys is extending its Synopsys.ai LLM-based capabilities, beginning with Synopsys.ai Copilot, to support NVIDIA AI and compute platforms, giving customers more flexibility to customize their data sets and enable air-gapped on-prem deployment. Synopsys.ai Copilot is an industry-first generative AI capability that is designed to help engineering teams accelerate time to market and address systemic complexity through the power of conversational intelligence. Synopsys will utilize the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform, which includes NVIDIA NeMo(TM) framework, and NVIDIA NIM inference and NeMo Retriever microservices deployment containers. Synopsys customers will be able to deploy Synopsys.ai Copilot on air-gapped on-prem environments, leveraging the accelerated computing performance of NVIDIA DGX systems. The Synopys.ai Copilot capability is currently available for early-access trials. The automotive industry is being transformed by digitalization and accelerated computing. Automotive design teams are now building and validating their products in the digital world before manufacturing them in the real world. Synopsys is collaborating with NVIDIA to integrate Synopsys' leading electronics digital twin solutions with the NVIDIA Omniverse(TM) platform to reduce costs and time to market and improve the safety of software-defined and increasingly autonomous vehicles. Synopsys systems software, virtual ECU and electronics digital twin fabric will be connected with Omniverse, a development platform for building interoperable 3D applications for industrial workloads. Synopsys' virtual prototyping solutions provide automotive engineering teams with a digital twin of the electronic system of the car to enable the development, testing and validation of the car's software and electronic systems. Omniverse delivers physically based visualization and simulation of environmental factors."

18:13 EDT ServiceNow expands Nvidia partnership - ServiceNow (NOW) "announced an expansion of its partnership with NVIDIA (NVDA) to advance the use of enterprise-grade generative AI. ServiceNow is one of the first platform providers to access NVIDIA NIM inference microservices, enabling faster, scalable and more cost-effective large language model development and deployment. Announced today by NVIDIA at GTC, NIM are part of new, enterprise-grade GenAI microservices created to optimize inference in LLMs. ServiceNow is using NIM to serve its Now LLMs - domain specific LLMs that power capabilities within Now Assist, ServiceNow's generative AI experience. The NIM-deployed Now LLMs will allow ServiceNow customers to scale generative AI across new use cases."

18:11 EDT Vertiv Holdings joins NVIDIA Partner Network - Vertiv (VRT) announces it is now a Solution Advisor: Consultant partner in the NVIDIA (NVDA) Partner Network, or NPN, providing wider access to Vertiv's experience and full portfolio of power and cooling solutions. NPN is a global program for technology partners who offer solutions built on or powered by NVIDIA technologies. Among leading software vendors, cloud service providers, solution providers, and system integrators, Vertiv joins the network to offer its expertise in addressing the unique infrastructure challenges presented by accelerated computing. NPN provides access to a range of benefits, including technical support, training, and collaboration opportunities, helping partners deliver innovative solutions to their customers.

18:06 EDT HP Enterprise announces updates to AI-native portfolios - Today at NVIDIA GTC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) "announced updates to one of the industry's most comprehensive AI-native portfolios to advance the operationalization of generative AI (GenAI), deep learning, and machine learning applications. The updates include: Availability of two HPE and NVIDIA co-engineered full-stack GenAI solutions. A preview of HPE Machine Learning Inference Software. An enterprise retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) reference architecture. Support to develop future products based on the new NVIDIA Blackwell platform."

17:24 EDT Guaranty Bancshares announces 1.25M share repurchase program - In a regulatory filing, the company stated, "On March 13, 2024, the Board of Directors of Guaranty Bancshares, Inc. approved a new stock repurchase program, which authorizes Guaranty to repurchase up to 1,250,000 shares of Guaranty's outstanding common stock from time to time, subject to certain conditions. This is an increase from the 1,000,000 shares that were authorized for repurchase in April of 2022, which expires on April 21, 2024. The new stock repurchase program will be effective upon expiration of the current program on April 21, 2024 until the earlier of April 21, 2026 or the date all shares authorized for repurchase under the program have been repurchased, unless shortened or extended by the board of directors. The stock repurchase program does not obligate Guaranty to repurchase any specified number of shares of its common stock."

17:17 EDT Chemours receives NYSE notice of non-compliance - On March 18, The Chemours Company received notice from the New York Stock Exchange that the company is not in compliance with Section 802.01E of the NYSE Listed Company Manual due to a delay in filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, with the SEC. The NYSE informed the company that, under the NYSE's rules, the company will have six months from March 15, 2024 to file the Form 10-K with the SEC. The company can regain compliance with the NYSE listing standards by filing the Form 10-K with the SEC before such date.

17:14 EDT AWS, Nvidia: New NVIDIA Blackwell GPU platform coming to AWS - Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company (AMZN), and NVIDIA (NVDA) announced that the new NVIDIA Blackwell GPU platform-unveiled by NVIDIA at GTC 2024-is coming to AWS. AWS will offer the NVIDIA GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchip and B100 Tensor Core GPUs, extending the companies' longstanding strategic collaboration to deliver the most secure and advanced infrastructure, software, and services to help customers unlock new generative artificial intelligence capabilities.

17:12 EDT Largo Inc. announces proposed JV with Stryten Energy - Largo Inc. is pleased to announce the signing of a non-binding letter of intent with Stryten Energy to establish a 50:50 joint venture that would combine the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Largo Clean Energy Corp. with Stryten's vanadium redox flow battery business. This announcement comes in concert with Enel Green Power Espana and LCE's go-live of a 5.5-megawatt hour VRFB in Spain, the deployment of one of the largest utility scale vanadium system in Europe. The combination of the parties' decades of VRFB technology expertise, access to raw vanadium supplies from friendly sources, and high-volume electrolyte production capabilities is expected to transform the long-duration energy storage sector in North America.

17:04 EDT KLA Corp. to exit flat panel display business - In a regulatory 8-K filing, the company stated: KLA Corporation has made the strategic decision to exit the Company's flat panel display, or FPD, business that is part of its PCB, Display and Component Inspection reporting segment. The Company expects to complete the exit through end of manufacturing of FPD products by December 31, 2024. The Company will continue to provide services to the installed base for the discontinued product lines. The decision is based on multiple factors, including the cancellation of a significant new technology project by a major customer, and represents the culmination of our decision to investigate alternatives for our FPD business that was disclosed in our letter to shareholders and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The FPD business accounted for 1.4% of the Company's total revenue in calendar year 2023."

16:52 EDT Bakkt announces Andy Main to succeed Gavin Michael as CEO - Bakkt Holdings announced that Andy Main has been appointed President and CEO, effective March 26. He will succeed Gavin Michael, who is stepping down to pursue other opportunities. Michael will serve in an advisory role through March 2025 to assist in the leadership transition and advise the Board and executive team on strategic matters. Andy Main has served on Bakkt's Board of Directors since its public listing in 2021 and is deeply familiar with Bakkt's business, having advised and mentored the marketing and sales organizations over the last year.

16:47 EDT RB Global appoints Nancy King as chief technology officer - RB Global (RBA) announced the appointment of Nancy King as chief technology officer, effective June 3. King brings information technology leadership experience in Fortune 100 organizations. Most recently, she served as the senior VP of product engineering at Target (TGT), driving the overall vision, strategy and talent development for product engineering.

16:46 EDT Arvinas names Noah Berkowitz as Chief Medical Officer - Arvinas "announced the appointment of Noah Berkowitz, M.D., Ph.D., to the role of Chief Medical Officer and a member of the Executive Committee reporting to President and Chief Executive Officer John Houston, Ph.D. Effective today, Dr. Berkowitz will lead the ongoing clinical development of Arvinas' PROTAC(R) protein degrader programs in oncology and neuroscience."

16:45 EDT Comtech sees FY24 revenue, adusted EBITDA 'better than FY23' - The company states: "We continue to implement many important lean initiatives and process improvement activities anticipated to drive sustainable, profitable growth in our business. Several of these actions have already contributed to our improved financial performance, affording us the opportunity to report our third consecutive fiscal quarter of positive GAAP operating income since fiscal 2021. As we enter the third quarter of fiscal 2024, as described in more detail in our Q2 FY24 Form 10-Q, business conditions continue to be challenging, and the operating environment is largely unpredictable. Nevertheless, despite these business conditions and resulting challenges and although we anticipate some variability from time to time as we move through our One Comtech transformational change, we are targeting net sales and Adjusted EBITDA* for fiscal year 2024 to be better than fiscal 2023."

16:39 EDT Nvidia launches DGX SuperPOD for generative AI supercomputing - Nvidia announced its next-generation AI supercomputer - the Nvidia DGX SuperPOD powered by Nvidia GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchips - for processing trillion-parameter models with constant uptime for superscale generative AI training and inference workloads. Featuring a new liquid-cooled rack-scale architecture, the new DGX SuperPOD is built with Nvidia DGX GB200 systems and provides 11.5 exaflops of AI supercomputing at FP4 precision and 240 terabytes of fast memory - scaling to more with additional racks. Each DGX GB200 system features 36 Nvidia GB200 Superchips - which include 36 Nvidia Grace CPUs and 72 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs - connected as one supercomputer via fifth-generation Nvidia NVLink. GB200 Superchips deliver up to a 30x performance increase compared to the Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPU for large language model inference workloads. The Grace Blackwell-powered DGX SuperPOD features eight or more DGX GB200 systems and can scale to tens of thousands of GB200 Superchips connected via Nvidia Quantum InfiniBand. For a shared memory space to power next-generation AI models, customers can deploy a configuration that connects the 576 Blackwell GPUs in eight DGX GB200 systems connected via NVLink.

16:34 EDT National CineMedia jumps 11% to $4.68 after Q4 results, guidance, and buyback

16:34 EDT Nvidia announces Blackwell platform - Nvidia announced that the Nvidia Blackwell platform has arrived - enabling organizations everywhere to build and run real-time generative AI on trillion-parameter large language models at up to 25x less cost and energy consumption than its predecessor. The Blackwell GPU architecture features six technologies for accelerated computing, which will help unlock breakthroughs in data processing, engineering simulation, electronic design automation, computer-aided drug design, quantum computing and generative AI. Among the many organizations expected to adopt Blackwell are Amazon Web Services, Dell Technologies, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, Tesla and xAI.

16:31 EDT Li-Cycle discloses $75M strategic financing from Glencore - Li-Cycle Holdings provided a business update, with CEO Ajay Kochhar stating: "Since embarking on our comprehensive review, we are pleased to report significant progress, including improving our current liquidity position and conducting an internal technical review of the Rochester Hub. We recently announced $75 million of strategic financing from Glencore to enhance our liquidity position and further build on our long-term strategic partnership. Additionally, as part of our internal technical review of the Rochester Hub project, we confirmed the technical viability of producing lithium carbonate and mixed hydroxide precipitate. We also continue to work closely with the DOE on the conditional commitment for a loan of up to $375 million. We believe the strategic value of the Rochester Hub is underpinned by strong industry fundamentals driving robust demand for domestic sources of critical battery materials."

16:27 EDT LPL Financial announces Christa Carone joins firm as EVP and CMCO - LPL Financial announced Christa Carone has joined the firm as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communication Officer. Carone leads the firm's Client and Prospect Marketing, Corporate Communication, Digital & Content Operations, and Brand teams. Carone's decades of marketing, communication and operational experience within financial services, digital media and advertising technology will help fast-track the evolution of LPL's brand and go-to-market strategy. She reports to Divisional President, Chief Growth Officer, Rich Steinmeier, and is based in San Diego. "The LPL value proposition for advisors and financial institutions in terms of affiliation optionality, products and platforms, and business support has never been stronger," said Steinmeier. "Christa's extensive leadership and experience in the marketing, fintech and operations space, as well as her entrepreneurial mindset and understanding of marketing as a key growth driver, demonstrate that she's the right leader to help us tell that story and deliver impactful marketing strategies that build awareness and engagement."

16:20 EDT DraftKings names Jason Park chief transformation officer, Alan Ellingson CFO - DraftKings announced that Jason Park, DraftKings' CFO, will become the company's chief transformation officer, effective as of May 1. In this newly created role, Park will lead initiatives to deploy technologies to capture additional operating efficiencies as well as oversee the integration of the proposed acquisition of Jackpocket. Alan Ellingson, DraftKings' senior VP, finance and analytics, will be elevated to CFO, effective as of May 1. Park joined DraftKings as CFO in June 2019 and oversaw the company's transition to the public markets.

16:17 EDT FreightCar America CEO James Meyer to change roles, Nicholas Randall to succeed - FreightCar America announced effective May 1, the appointment of Nicholas Randall, the company's current COO, as president and CEO and member of the company's board of directors. Randall will succeed James Meyer who has been appointed as the company's executive chairman of the board of directors. William Gehl, the company's current chairman, will remain on the board of directors and serve as lead independent director. Randall joined FreightCar America in 2023 as COO.

16:14 EDT DallasNews promotes Cathy Collins to CFO - DallasNews announced that Cathy Collins had been promoted to CFO effective March 18, reporting to Katy Murray, president of DallasNews Corporation. Over the last six years, Cathy has served in multiple progressive finance leadership roles. Prior to joining the company, Cathy worked for 16 years with ALM Media as controller for seven years and regional publisher for nine years.

16:13 EDT DLocal appoints Dr. Veronica Raffo as an independent board member - dLocal announces the appointment of Dr. Veronica Raffo as an independent board member, effective March 18, 2024. Dr. Raffo will join the esteemed ranks of our Audit Committee, bringing with them a wealth of experience and expertise in corporate governance. Dr. Raffo brings a distinguished track record of accomplishments as a partner in Ferrere, one of the top legal firms in Uruguay and the region. At Ferrere, she participates actively in its management and strategic leadership. She has more than 25 years of experience advising a stellar list of global clients, managing highly complex and sensitive cases with a focus on corporate issues, dispute negotiation, compliance audits and corporate governance.

16:11 EDT Alpine Immune Sciences says cash sufficient to fund operations into 2026 - As of December 31, 2023, Alpine's cash and investments totaled $368.2 million compared to $273.4 million as of December 31, 2022. The Company anticipates its current cash and investments are sufficient to fund planned operations into 2026.

16:08 EDT Blackbaud to terminate stockholder rights plan - Blackbaud announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously voted to terminate the company's stockholder rights plan effective as of the close of business on March 18. The Rights Plan was scheduled to expire on October 2. Stockholders do not have to take any action as a result of this termination. In deciding to terminate the Rights Plan, the Board determined that an active Rights Plan is not necessary, at this time, to serve the best interests of all stockholders.

16:06 EDT KBR awarded new subcontract with Bering Straits Information Technologies - KBR announced it has won a new subcontract with Bering Straits Information Technologies, a subsidiary of Bering Straits Native Corporation, in support of the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command to provide human performance optimization services at various military bases around the world. The Human Performance Optimization contract is a multi-award IDIQ anticipated to be executed over a span of ten years, extending until March 2034, and was assembled as one of the U.S. Air Force's newest programs to enhance human performance. In support of BSIT and the customer, KBR will provide resiliency and well-being services for military personnel throughout the country and abroad. The contract was specifically designed to optimize physical and cognitive performance, decrease occupational injury rates, accelerate return to duty, and ensure combat readiness across aircrew and warfighter communities.

16:02 EDT National CineMedia announces new $100M share repurchase program - National CineMedia announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the purchase of up to $100M of the Company's common stock through April 1, 2027. During the course of the program, NCM plans to use operating cash flow distributions from NCM LLC to opportunistically repurchase shares at prevailing market prices, while continuing to invest capital in growing its advertising network through strategic initiatives.

15:43 EDT Orchard Therapeutics announces FDA approval of Lenmeldy - Orchard Therapeutics announced the U.S. FDA has approved Lenmeldy, formerly known as OTL-200, for the treatment of children with pre-symptomatic late infantile, pre-symptomatic early juvenile or early symptomatic early juvenile, collectively referred to as early-onset-metachromatic leukodystrophy. Orchard Therapeutics will provide more details about the launch of Lenmeldy in the U.S. through a separate announcement this week.

13:43 EDT Trian urges Disney shareholders to vote for director candidates - The Trian Group, which beneficially owns $3.5B of common stock in The Walt Disney Company, released a letter to its fellow Disney shareholders, which read in part, "For more than a century, Disney has captivated millions of people all over the world with unforgettable films and experiences. Like you, Trian loves Disney and wants to see the Company succeed. With its iconic franchises, global presence and scale, unparalleled customer loyalty and enviable commercial flywheel, Disney and its shareholders should prosper. But despite its many advantages, Disney has lost its way. Disney fell from its #1 position at the box office, was late to enter the streaming business and doubled down on linear TV at the wrong time. As a result, financial performance has deteriorated, with earnings per share, free cash flow, operating income and many other key metrics lower than they were five years ago. Consequently, shareholders have suffered. Disney's stock has underperformed its media peers and the broader market over most relevant periods: over the past one, two, three, four and five years. To help ensure a better future for this great company, we believe Disney needs new independent directors who have a shareholder mindset, deep and relevant experience and a sense of urgency. We have nominated two such candidates: Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo, each of whom have invested their own money in Disney stock and are dedicated to helping Disney. Nelson was a public company CEO and has served on the boards of many public companies facing performance, governance and CEO succession challenges, just like Disney. Jay is the former Chief Financial Officer of Disney and ran the Company's parks and resorts business before that...Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo have dedicated themselves to helping build a better future for this iconic company. Like you, we want Disney to improve the guest experience at its parks and on its cruises; create unforgettable, industry-leading films and television content; and deliver sustainable growth and value for shareholders for generations to come. We are confident that, given its many advantages, Disney can do better. But we need your help. Together, we can elect two new independent directors who will bring focus, alignment and accountability to the Company's boardroom. Together, we can Restore the Magic at Disney. To ensure the election of Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo, it is essential that shareholders vote FOR Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo and WITHHOLD on Michael B.G. Froman, Maria Elena Lagomasino and all three Blackwells Nominees."

13:05 EDT Deutsche Bank fined EUR 50,000 by BaFIN over 2023 IT security incident - The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, announced that it has imposed an administrative fine of EUR 50,000 on Deutsche Bank AG. The fine was imposed because BaFin ascertained that the institution had communicated incorrect information regarding a major customer-relevant IT security incident occurring in the provision of payment services in 2023. Moreover, the bank had informed BaFin of the incident with a significant delay. The administrative fine order is final and binding, BaFin said. Reference Link

12:55 EDT Freedom Holding down 6% amid report on Turlov's assets - The Kazakh Telegraph Agency, or KazTAG, reported that the assets of Kazakh billionaire Timur Turlov were arrested in the case of withdrawing funds from Russia, which has been pointed to by traders as related to weakness seen in shares of Freedom Holding, which are down about 4% to $71.97 in New York trading. Reference Link

12:21 EDT Dogness Internationa trading halted, volatility trading pause

12:02 EDT Rivian up 3% to $11.42 after saying owners have access to Tesla chargers

12:00 EDT Lithium Americas falls -9.0% - Lithium Americas is down -9.0%, or -58c to $5.89.

12:00 EDT Getty Images falls -11.8% - Getty Images is down -11.8%, or -61c to $4.56.

12:00 EDT Soho House rises 11.1% - Soho House is up 11.1%, or 55c to $5.52.

11:35 EDT ATN International boosts quarterly dividend to 24c from 21c - ATN International's board declared a quarterly dividend of 24c per share, payable on April 5, on all common shares outstanding to stockholders of record as of March 31. The dividend is increased from 21c per share.

11:16 EDT Disney says Glass Lewis recommends holders support company board nominees - The Walt Disney Company announced that independent proxy voting and corporate governance advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co. recommended shareholders vote the white proxy card in support of all of Disney's 12 director nominees and no other nominees at the company's Annual Meeting on April 3. "We are pleased that Glass Lewis recognizes the strength of our highly qualified nominees and supports our plans to return this iconic company to a period of sustained growth and shareholder value creation. In its recommendation, Glass Lewis clearly identifies the strength of the diverse skillsets across our Board nominees, the credibility of our succession planning process and recent changes to the Board and compensation program and the promise of our recent efforts to bolster growth and value creation to position Disney for the future," said Mark Parker, Chairman of The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors.

10:38 EDT UnitedHealth advanced $2B to providers impacted by cyberattack - UnitedHealth Group in a statement on its website Friday saud it "continues to make progress in mitigating the impact to consumers and care providers of the unprecedented cyberattack on the U.S. health system and the Change Healthcare services, while continuing to expand financial assistance to affected providers." Change Healthcare began releasing medical claims preparation software on Friday, which will be made available to thousands of customers over the next several days. The company expects to have third-party attestations available prior to services becoming operational. On March 15, the company restored Change Healthcare's electronic payments platform and is proceeding with payer implementations. To assist care providers whose finances have been disrupted by the cyberattack, UnitedHealth has advanced more than $2B n thus far through multiple initiatives. "The company recognizes the high level of fragmentation of the U.S. health system can result in uneven experiences, therefore it continues to enhance and expand funding support to make it easier for care providers to access funding help at no cost. To further assist care providers, the company also suspended prior authorizations for most outpatient services and utilization review of inpatient admissions for Medicare Advantage plan," it said. Reference Link

10:00 EDT Lithium Americas falls -6.6% - Lithium Americas is down -6.6%, or -43c to $6.04.

10:00 EDT a.k.a. Brands falls -10.3% - a.k.a. Brands is down -10.3%, or -$1.07 to $9.31.

10:00 EDT Annovis Bio rises 9.1% - Annovis Bio is up 9.1%, or 83c to $9.92.

09:58 EDT Vor Bio treatment of acute myeloid leukemia granted FDA orphan designation - The FDA granted orphan designation to Vor Biopharma's treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, according to a post to the agency's website. Reference Link

09:55 EDT HCM Acquisition Corp trading resumes

09:47 EDT Shift4 Payments falls -9.5% - Shift4 Payments is down -9.5%, or -$7.37 to $70.13.

09:47 EDT XPeng rises 7.1% - XPeng is up 7.1%, or 68c to $10.32.

09:47 EDT Nuscale Power rises 11.6% - Nuscale Power is up 11.6%, or 91c to $8.76.

09:40 EDT CareMax trading resumes

09:39 EDT DHC Acquisition Corp trading resumes

09:38 EDT Lifetime Brands trading resumes

09:34 EDT DHC Acquisition Corp trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:30 EDT CareMax trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:25 EDT Buenaventura obtains key operating permit for Yumpag Mine - Compania de Minas Buenaventura is pleased to announce it has received its final operating permit from the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines to begin production at its Yumpag mine Leandro Garcia, Buenaventura's CEO, commented, "Receipt of this final permit for our flagship Yumpag mine represents a significant milestone for Buenaventura and also reflects our proficiency in handling mining projects as well as regulatory processes efficiently and effectively. Securing the necessary project stages and approvals in a timely manner demonstrates our readiness to capitalize on opportunities and execute strategic objectives with precision." He continued, "We're very enthusiastic about Yumpag's future prospects to produce high-grade silver resources, with promising exploration campaigns. We've therefore achieved a key pillar to support Buenaventura's overall growth strategy which, coupled with our focus on operational excellence and commitment to responsible resource management, position us to unlock significant value for our stakeholders." The final operating permit approval for Buenaventura's flagship Yumpag mine signifies the culmination of rigorous planning and preparation. This milestone marks the start of 1,000-ton-per-day uninterrupted mining at Yumpag, enabling Buenaventura to achieve its 2024 production guidance of 6.5 - 7.2 million silver ounces

09:22 EDT Ideal Power enters distribution agreement with Richardson Electronics - Ideal Power (IPWR) announced an agreement with Richardson Electronics RELL) for the global distribution of Ideal Power's products including the discrete B-TRAN device and SymCool power module.

09:16 EDT Landstar System appoints chief sales offericers - Landstar System announced that two Landstar veterans have been promoted to lead Landstar's sales organization as executive officers of the Company. Effective today, Matt Dannegger has been appointed Chief Field Sales Officer, and Jim Applegate has been appointed Chief Corporate Sales, Strategy and Specialized Freight Officer. In his role as Chief Field Sales Officer, Mr. Dannegger will be responsible for the recruiting and growth of Landstar's independent sales agents. His focus will be to support the more than 1,000 independent agents in their business planning, sales and marketing efforts, cross-selling the full spectrum of Landstar services, and implementation of new tools and technologies to help unlock sales productivity. Mr. Dannegger has been with Landstar for more than 15 years serving in various field sales leadership roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Senior Executive Vice President in charge of all agent field sales. As Chief Corporate Sales, Strategy and Specialized Freight Officer, Mr. Applegate will be responsible for Landstar's corporate sales efforts, strategic growth initiatives, specialized freight offerings, and business development. Since joining Landstar in 2009, he has served as a vice president in various sales roles including business development, business solutions and corporate sales. Most recently, Mr. Applegate served as Executive Vice President of Business Intelligence and Strategy.

09:13 EDT WaveDancer, Firefly Neuroscience receive stockholder approvals for merger - WaveDancer and Firefly Neuroscience, each received the requisite stockholder approvals required to consummate the merger between both companies. The WaveDancer stockholder approval was obtained at a special meeting of its stockholders held on March 14, 2024. The Firefly approval was obtained through a written consent by the holders of a majority of the outstanding voting shares of Firefly. Approval of the proposals by the WaveDancer stockholders will enable WaveDancer to proceed with its merger with Firefly, a medical technology and AI company developing and pioneering innovative neuroscientific solutions to improve outcomes for patients with mental illnesses and neurological disorders. Firefly has developed its FDA 510(k)-cleared Brain Network Analytics software platform and is focused on advancing diagnostic and treatment approaches for people suffering from mental illnesses and cognitive disorders, including depression, dementia, anxiety disorders, concussions, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Given stockholder support, WaveDancer will continue forward with its merger efforts and expects the deal to close in Q2 2024, subject to satisfying the closing conditions which include meeting the requirements for the combined company to be listed on Nasdaq. The combined company will focus on continuing to develop and commercialize Firefly's BNA platform, which was previously approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Upon closing, the combined company is expected to operate under the name Firefly Neuroscience, Inc., and trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

09:08 EDT Vox Royalty announces dividend reinvestment plan, share repurchase program - Vox Royalty announced that its Board of Directors has adopted a dividend reinvestment plan and approved a share repurchase program. The DRIP provides eligible shareholders of Vox with the opportunity to have all, or a portion of any cash dividends declared on common shares by the Company automatically reinvested into additional common shares, without paying brokerage commissions. At the current time, the common shares will be issued under the DRIP at a 5% discount to the Average Market Price, as defined in the DRIP. The Company has the discretion to cause share issuances under the DRIP to be satisfied by issuing common shares from treasury or through purchases of common shares on the open market including the facilities of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq, or any other alternative open market in Canada or the United States, and will advise as such with each dividend declaration. The Company has adopted the DRIP commencing with its upcoming Q1 2024 dividend. In order to be eligible to receive DRIP shares in lieu of cash for the Q1 2024 dividend, enrollment must be completed by registered shareholders by 5:00 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Beneficial shareholders will need to make arrangements in advance of such time through their brokers and/or nominees in accordance with such parties' internal requirements. For its Q1 2024 dividend, the Company intends to issue common shares from treasury. The Board of Directors of the Company has approved the adoption of an SRP for the repurchase of up to US$1,500,000 of its common shares. The SRP is structured to comply with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Plan will be administered through an independent broker.

09:07 EDT Interpublic Group announces MullenLowe global CEO Kristen Cavallo to retire - Interpublic Group announced that Kristen Cavallo will be retiring as Global CEO of MullenLowe this spring and will remain available to the company in an advisory capacity until 2025. Cavallo announced that her next move will include applying her deep and varied communications experience to political and societal causes. Cavallo recently announced her successors as CEOs appointing Frank Cartagena at MullenLowe U.S. and Danny Robinson at The Martin Agency. Both were previous Chief Creative Officers who bring those skill sets to the role. Alex Leikikh, Interpublic Executive Vice President and MullenLowe Global Chairman, will resume Global MullenLowe CEO responsibilities, a role he held previously.

09:06 EDT Airgain in distribution deal with Techship for NimbeLink product line - Airgain announced that it signed a distribution agreement with Techship for its NimbeLink product line of embedded cellular modems and other wireless-enabled products. Under the agreement, Techship will distribute Airgain's NimbeLink family of plug-in cellular modems globally, supporting OEMs in designing and producing connected devices. "With our new agreement with Techship, Airgain expands its product distribution on two continents," said Lance Laing, Vice President of US Sales for Airgain. "Techship's hyper-focus on embedded wireless designs combined with its strong presence in the European market allow us to capitalize on the interest we have seen in these key geographies. We are excited to work with the Techship team to simplify bringing wireless products...Expanding on the new offering, he stated, "We guide thousands of global companies through deploying wireless solutions in their desired launch regions. Navigating the tedious certification journey in every regional market often involves high costs and extra development time. With Airgain's end-device certified modems, however, we can offer companies a quicker path to global deployment."

09:04 EDT International Petroleum announces results of normal course issuer bid - International Petroleum announced that IPC repurchased a total of 87,600 IPC common shares during the period of March 11 to 15, 2024 under IPC's normal course issuer bid / share repurchase program. IPC's NCIB, announced on December 1, 2023, is being implemented in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014 and Commission Delegated Regulation No 2016/1052 and the applicable rules and policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stockholm and applicable Canadian and Swedish securities laws. During the period of March 11 to 15, 2024, IPC repurchased a total of 55,000 IPC common shares on Nasdaq Stockholm. All of these share repurchases were carried out by Pareto Securities AB on behalf of IPC.

09:04 EDT Sarcos Technology changes name to Palladyne AI - Sarcos Technology announced that effective immediately, the company has changed its name to Palladyne AI. Effective April 8, the company's ticker symbol will change to (PDYN). The new name reflects the company's narrowed focus on commercializing the artificial intelligence and machine learning software that it has been developing since 2020.

09:02 EDT T2 Biosystems announces new publication on T2Resistance Panel - T2 Biosystems announced the publication of a new study highlighting the clinical benefits and performance of real-world use of the T2Resistance Panel in The Journal of Clinical Microbiology. The European study demonstrated high accuracy for the T2Resistance Panel, faster detection times, and the impact of faster test results on clinical interventions based on T2 sepsis test results. "This publication is the strongest demonstration to date of the clinical impact the T2Resistance Panel in a real-world hospital setting," said John Sperzel, Chairman and CEO of T2 Biosystems. "We believe the growing dataset will be a catalyst for increased adoption in countries that accept the CE Mark where the T2Resistance Panel is currently available. We also believe the international clinical experience with direct-from-blood detection of resistance genes is an important precursor to our launch in the U.S. market, where we have already received Breakthrough Device designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and plan to submit a 510(k) premarket notification to the FDA later this year."

08:58 EDT Arhaus presents Outdoor 2024 Collection - Arhaus reveals its Outdoor 2024 Collection, 'Echoes.' Showcasing new silhouettes in striking all-weather materials and durable performance fabrics, 'Echoes' encourages the creation of new memories in everlasting style, while reflecting upon the unforgettable moments that make outdoor living cherishable. The complete Outdoor 2024 Collection is now available online at Arhaus.com and in more than 90 Arhaus showrooms nationwide.

08:50 EDT Wearable Devices publishes report by XR team on Mudra Band - Wearable Devices published a comprehensive report by its XR team reviewing the latest developments in the wearable technology market, focusing on extended reality. This comprehensive report draws on extensive research into Human-Computer Interaction to present a detailed overview of the innovative strides made by industry leaders such as Apple and Meta, as well as the pioneering role of the company's Mudra Band in advancing smart glasses technology. In their report, the XR team from Wearable Devices elucidates the growing dynamism and mainstream appeal of the smart glasses market, notably accelerated by the entrance of major players such as Meta and Apple. This strategic participation not only energizes the market but also serves as a dual endorsement of the underlying technology and user experience. The report puts a spotlight on the myriad methods of HCI currently revolutionizing the field of smart glasses. These range from touchless and hands-free interfaces, advanced eye-tracking, to the cutting-edge realms of neural interface wristbands and thought-based brain implants. Apple has leaned in its Spatial experience and Apple Vision Pro, towards integrating gesture cameras and sensors for pointing and eye tracking for navigation, focusing on blending advanced user experiences with accessibility and intuitiveness. On the other hand, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are championing the cause of neural interfaces in the Meta Quest series, pushing forward the frontier of HCI with a belief in the vast potential of neural control to provide even more natural and intuitive digital interactions.

08:48 EDT Omniq secures contract from restaurant chain for self-ordering platform - OMNIQ announced a landmark contract with a renowned American hamburger chain. This collaboration marks a significant milestone as the company ventures into the Israeli market, with its first branch now open in Tel Aviv. The contract signifies the beginning of a strategic partnership, with plans to equip four more branches within Israel by the end of this year. This endeavor not only underscores OMNIQ's pivotal role in enhancing the dining experience but also its commitment to innovation and quality. Under this agreement, OMNIQ will furnish the restaurant's Israeli branches with full OMNIQ equipment, integrating state-of-the-art computer systems designed for the Kitchen Display System. This technology streamlines kitchen operations, ensuring orders are prepared efficiently and accurately, enhancing customer satisfaction. Additionally, OMNIQ will introduce new, special Fintech self-order compact kiosks to these Israeli outlets. These kiosks are designed to optimize the ordering process, allowing customers to place orders conveniently, thus reducing wait times and improving the overall dining experience.

08:41 EDT Landsea Homes commences private offering of senior notes - Landsea Homes intends to offer $300,000,000 aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2029. subject to market conditions and other factors. The Notes will be guaranteed, jointly and severally, on a senior unsecured basis, by all of the Company's material wholly owned subsidiaries as of their issuance and will rank pari passu with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of the Company and Guarantors. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the Notes to pay down a portion of the outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

08:40 EDT Nextracker CFO David Bennett to transition to CAO, Charles Boynton to succeed - Nextracker announced the appointment of Charles Boynton as CFO, effective after he completes his tenure with his current employer, which is expected in May. Nextracker's current CFO, David Bennett, will continue to serve in this role until transitioning to chief accounting officer, or CAO, once Boynton joins the company. Boynton has more than 30 years of finance and accounting experience, as well as significant experience in the solar industry. Boynton will lead Nextracker's global finance and accounting organization and will report directly to founder and CEO, Dan Shugar. Boynton has been on Nextracker's board since February 2023 and will step down from that position effective immediately.

08:40 EDT New Fortress Energy sells emergency power plants in PR to PREPA for $373M - New Fortress Energy announces two transactions that further solidify our commitment to providing affordable and sustainable energy solutions in Puerto Rico. The Company sold the emergency power plants it constructed on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in San Juan and Palo Seco to PREPA for $373M in cash, subject to certain items and conditions. These plants were developed by the Company in 2023 in rapid response to a competitive bid by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide emergency power in order to stabilize the power grid in Puerto Rico. They have become a cornerstone of Puerto Rico's energy portfolio, delivering critical baseload power to stabilize the grid in the aftermath of recent natural disasters, and as contemplated, their ownership has been transferred to PREPA.

08:39 EDT Safety Shot appoints Long to board of directors - Safety Shot announces that David Long, the CEO and co-founder of Orangetheory Fitness, has joined the company's Board of Directors. Long has over 20 years of experience in the fitness and wellness industries, leading and increasing growth for companies.

08:38 EDT Elevai Labs announces the launch of its online E-commerce portal - ELEVAI LABS announces the launch of its online E-commerce portal. The new E-commerce portal serves as a business-to-business extension of the Company's existing B2B relationship with physician dispensed providers currently offering ELEVAI products in the $19.7 billion global industry. Through the Company's online platform, retail customers can now select a physician provider to start their personalized skin care journey. Dr. Jordan Plews, CEO, expressed his enthusiasm, "As a physician-dispensed skincare line, ELEVAI believes that the purchase of ELEVAI Skincare products is best made through an authorized ELEVAI Skincare Professional. This reflects our commitment to our valued and carefully selected Dermatologists, Plastic Surgeons, and other Skincare Professionals with the medical knowledge and experience needed to guide patients on their skincare journey and maintain the fidelity of the brand."

08:37 EDT Mobileye winds down aftermarket solutions unit impacting 130 employees globally - Mobileye has chosen to wind down its aftermarket solutions unit that provides retrofitted advanced driver assistance technology, after a thorough review of this unit's business prospects and investment needs. As automakers and other vehicle manufacturers have steadily increased the rate at which integrated ADAS solutions are installed on new vehicles, the demand and future addressable market for retrofitted ADAS solutions has declined. As a result, this division has seen its revenues decline meaningfully, to roughly $40M on an annual basis, and in recent years has not positively contributed to Mobileye profitability. "This was a very difficult decision," said Prof. Amnon Shashua, President and CEO of Mobileye. "The IMS division, formerly known as Aftermarket, was an early driver of Mobileye's leadership, demonstrating that road safety can be effectively delivered at a low cost, a key catalyst for increasing adoption of ADAS technologies on new vehicles. Unfortunately, the success of Mobileye's built-in ADAS solutions has diminished the opportunities for retrofit solutions to the point where it is no longer viable to continue the retrofit solutions activity." This move will focus Mobileye's resources on the tremendous opportunities for delivering more advanced forms of driver assist technologies and autonomous driving. The company will work to support about 130 employees affected by the shutdown worldwide over the near-term and remains committed to satisfying the needs of existing IMS customers over the medium-term. Mobileye will also continue offering and servicing customers of its General Safety Regulation GSR solutions for commercial vehicle manufacturers. This action is not expected to have any material impact on Mobileye's 2024 results.

08:36 EDT NRx Pharmaceuticals announces plan to distribute shares of HOPE Therapeutics - NRx Pharmaceuticals announced that its Board of Directors has authorized its Chairman and management to take all necessary steps to affect a dividend of HOPE Therapeutics stock along with a royalty right of 1% of Ketamine sales to NRXP Shareholders and applicable warrant holders. The intent of the Board is to distribute 49% of HOPE stock in this dividend. Shares of HOPE are planned to be publicly listed. Instructions and further details will be communicated through the company's website and usual channels as they become available.

08:35 EDT Tenaya announces publication of TN-401 gene therapy preclinical data - Tenaya Therapeutics announced the publication of its preclinical research related to its gene therapy candidate, TN-401, in the current issue of Nature Communications Medicine. "Following a single infusion of our AAV9-based PKP2 gene therapy in a severe knock-out mouse model of the disease, PKP2 protein levels were restored. This led to dose-dependent improvements in right ventricular dilation and ejection fraction, reductions in arrhythmia frequency and severity, and prevention of adverse fibrotic remodeling, with near-maximal efficacy achieved at the 3E13 vg/kg dose." said Tim Hoey, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Tenaya.

08:34 EDT Edgio to delay filing 10-K due to onboarding of new audit team - The company states: "As previously disclosed, on December 18, 2023, the Company received notice that the Company's previous independent registered public accounting firm had decided to resign as independent registered public accounting firm of the Company, effective that day. The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company accepted the previous independent registered public accounting firm's resignation. The Audit Committee engaged in a thorough search for a new independent registered accounting firm and on January 26, 2024, the Company engaged a new independent registered public accounting firm. The onboarding of a new audit team takes considerable time in order for the new audit firm to familiarize itself with the Company's accounting and financial processes. Due to the engagement of a new independent registered public accounting firm in the first quarter of 2024, which is late in the normal auditing process, the completion of the Company's public company audit is delayed and the annual report on Form 10-K will be late."

08:33 EDT Collective Audience launches AudienceDesk powered by AudienceCloud - Collective Audience has launched AudienceDesk powered by AudienceCloud. The powerful new AdTech and MarTech solution brings together publisher supply, brand and agency demand, together with unique audience data, into a unified cloud platform. AudienceCloud's AI-driven capabilities and data infrastructure empowers users with a next generation technology stack. It includes applications that enable them to easily and cost-efficiently build, reach, connect and monetize using the singular AudienceDesk interface. The easily deployed AudienceCloud API can also be used to integrate the technology into existing third-party platforms and environments.

08:33 EDT Journey Medical announces U.S. FDA acceptance of NDA for DFD-29 - Journey Medical Corporation announced that the FDA has accepted the Company's New Drug Application, NDA, for DFD-29 for the treatment of inflammatory lesions and erythema of rosacea in adults. The FDA has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act, PDUFA, goal date of November 4, 2024. "We are pleased that the FDA has set a PDUFA date of November 4, 2024 for DFD-29 and we look forward to collaborating with the agency throughout the review process in order to bring this unique treatment option to patients suffering from rosacea," said Claude Maraoui, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Journey Medical. "If approved, we believe that DFD-29 will be the only oral medication to address both inflammatory lesions and erythema from rosacea, and will be a preferred treatment option by physicians and their patients to address the condition."

08:24 EDT Fisker reports financing commitment, negotiations with automaker for investment - Fisker announced a financing commitment from an existing investor providing up to $150M of gross proceeds. The financing is being provided by the holder of the company's 2025-dated convertible notes and will be organized in four tranches. The financing is subject to certain conditions, including the filing of Fisker's 2023 Form 10-K. Fisker is also continuing negotiations with a large automaker for a potential transaction which could include an investment in Fisker, joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms, and North America manufacturing. The closing of any transaction would be subject to satisfaction of important conditions, including completion of due diligence and negotiation and execution of appropriate definitive agreements. Fisker has produced approximately 1,000 vehicles in 2024 through March 15, and has delivered approximately 1,300 globally in that same timeframe. The company has approximately 4,700 vehicles in its currently inventory, carried over from 2023 and including 2024 production. While it has not completed an NRV analysis for 2024, Fisker believes the completed vehicle value for its inventory as of March 15 is in excess of $200M. Fisker will pause production for six weeks starting the week of March 18, 2024, to align inventory levels and progress strategic and financing initiatives.

08:20 EDT Intrusion announces 1-for-20 reverse stock split, exchange agreement - Intrusion announced that following approval from stockholders at the Special Meeting of Stockholders on March 15, 2024, the Company intends to effectuate a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share. The Company also announced today that it has entered into an exchange agreement with Streeterville Capital, LLC to exchange an aggregate $9,275,000 in senior debt pursuant to notes issued in March and June of 2022 for a newly designated Series A Preferred Stock. The 1-for-20 reverse stock split and entry into the Exchange Agreement are part of the Company's plan to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement of $1.00 and the equity standard for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Markets.

08:19 EDT Digital Ally's Kustom Entertainment launches Kustom Tickets Platform - Kustom Entertainment, current subsidiary of Digital Ally, unveils Kustom Tickets, an advanced online ticketing platform designed to offer users a seamless and enjoyable ticket-buying experience. Stan Ross, CEO of Kustom Entertainment, expressed his enthusiasm about the launch, stating, "Kustom Tickets is a testament to our commitment to providing exceptional experiences for our audience. We believe that buying tickets should be as enjoyable as attending the events themselves. We've combined innovative design, user-friendly features, cutting-edge technology, and transparent pricing to create a platform that sets a new standard in the world of online ticketing and introduces a new revenue stream for Kustom Entertainment. Along with the recent acquisition of the Country Stampede Music Festival, the launch of Kustom Tickets positions Kustom Entertainment for a tremendous 2024."

08:18 EDT ContextLogic files proxy statement regarding proposed transaction with Qoo10 - ContextLogic announced that a special meeting of its stockholders has been called to consider and vote on its proposed transaction with Qoo10, among other related proposals. As previously announced on February 12, 2024, a Qoo10 wholly owned subsidiary will acquire substantially all of the Company's operating assets and liabilities, principally comprising its Wish ecommerce platform, for approximately $173 million in cash, subject to certain purchase price adjustments. Taking into account the Company's current estimates of the impact of those purchase price adjustments, the Company estimates that ContextLogic's cash on hand would be approximately $150 million to $157 million if the Asset Sale closes on or about April 16, 2024. The Special Meeting will be held virtually on April 12, 2024 at 10 a.m. Pacific time, and ContextLogic stockholders of record at the close of business on March 7, 2024 are entitled to vote at or in advance of the Special Meeting. The ContextLogic Board of Directors unanimously recommends that ContextLogic stockholders vote "FOR" all proposals to be voted on at the Special Meeting. Following the close of the Asset Sale, ContextLogic will have limited operating expenses and a balance sheet that will be debt-free and will include net cash proceeds from the Asset Sale, approximately $2.7 billion of Net Operating Losses carryforwards and certain retained assets. The Board intends to use the proceeds from the transaction to help utilize its NOLs. The Board also intends to explore the opportunity for a financial sponsor to help ContextLogic realize the value of its tax assets. The Board is unanimous in its view that the proposed sale of the Company's operating assets and liabilities, while preserving the significant NOLs and certain other tax attributes, represents the best path forward to maximize value for ContextLogic stockholders. The Company's post-closing Board will conduct a careful and extensive review of available opportunities for the Company's NOLs and certain other tax attributes, and there is no set timeframe for completing the exploration of alternatives. The expectation is that, after that review has run its course, the Board will authorize the Company to distribute its cash to stockholders if the Board eventually determines that it will be unable to utilize the NOLs and certain other tax attributes. The Company expects to complete the transaction in the second quarter of 2024, subject to the approval of ContextLogic's stockholders and other customary closing conditions. To facilitate the solicitation of proxies in connection with the Special Meeting, the Company has filed definitive proxy materials with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

08:16 EDT Baijiayun receives Nasdaq notice of non-compliance - Baijiayun Group announced that it received a notification letter dated March 14 from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market indicating that the company is not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Rule 5450(a)(1) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules as the closing bid price of the company's Class A ordinary share has been below $1.00 per Share for a period of 30 consecutive trading days. The company intends to monitor the closing bid price of its Shares and will continue to consider its available options to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement under the Nasdaq Listing Rules. The company is currently in compliance with all other Nasdaq continued listing standards. The Notification Letter does not affect the company's business operations, its U.S. SEC reporting requirements or contractual obligations.

08:15 EDT LifeVantage wraps up Momentum Academy 2024 - LifeVantage Corporation proudly celebrated Consultant success at Momentum Academy 2024 from March 14-16 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The event was a significant milestone in the Company's commitment to growth, embodying the 'Rise Up' theme and showcasing the U.S. launch of a revamped TrueScience Activated Skincare Collection as well as the introduction of TrueScience TrueProtect Daily Mineral Sunstick, a broad-spectrum, mineral-based, sheer sunscreen. Momentum Academy 2024 offered attendees an extraordinary chance to advance their businesses through an innovative format. Workshops, seminars, and keynotes provided deep dives into enrollment, retention, and advancement strategies, laying a robust foundation for entrepreneurial growth consistent with the 'Rise Up' theme. In addition to the new products, the event saw the launch of new Consultant Enrollment Packs and Subscription stacks, highlighting the best of inside Activation, outside Activation and the best of both, Liquid Collagen. In addition, New Activation videos were introduced along with targeted Enrollment Pack promotions to help drive growth. A Rise Retreat was also announced as part of the Rise Era Incentive for Consultants achieving specific milestones.

08:14 EDT AstraZeneca announces analysis from its DUO-E Phase III trial - The latest analysis of the results from the DUO-E Phase III trial showed Imfinzi plus platinum-based chemotherapy followed by Imfinzi plus Lynparza demonstrated an improvement in multiple key secondary efficacy endpoints, particularly in patients with mismatch repair proficient advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer compared to chemotherapy alone. These results will be presented in a late-breaking session at the 2024 Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer in San Diego, California. A post-hoc exploratory subgroup analysis assessed patients by mismatch repair status, a biomarker of interest in endometrial cancer. In this analysis, median duration of response in pMMR patients in the Lynparza and Imfinzi arm was more than double versus the control arm. Additional secondary endpoints showed consistent results for pMMR patients treated with Lynparza and Imfinzi, demonstrating a reduction in the risk of second progression or death by 32% for the combination versus the control arm, and improvement in time to first and second subsequent treatments. Imfinzi plus chemotherapy followed by Imfinzi monotherapy showed consistent benefit regardless of MMR status, with the greatest benefit observed in patients with mismatch repair deficient disease across all secondary endpoints. In the overall trial population, results in the Lynparza and Imfinzi arm showed extended ORR and DoR, as well as consistently improved benefit in secondary endpoints, including overall survival, time to first subsequent therapy, PFS2 and time to second subsequent therapy. These data are consistent with the positive primary analysis presented last year, which showed that the Imfinzi arm and the Lynparza and Imfinzi arm both demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in PFS compared to chemotherapy alone in the overall trial population. The safety profiles of both experimental regimens were manageable, well-tolerated and broadly consistent with the known profiles of the individual agents. Regulatory filings for DUO-E have been accepted for review by regulatory authorities across the world including in the US, Europe and Japan.

08:11 EDT Aspira Women's Health appoints Milligan as President - Aspira Women's Health announced that it has expanded its senior management team with the addition of Sandra Milligan, M.D., J.D. as President effective April 1, 2024. Dr. Milligan will report to Nicole Sandford, who will remain CEO. The Company has also promoted Dr. Todd Pappas, Vice President of Research & Development, to lead the Company's product development team reporting directly to Dr. Milligan, following the departure of Dr. Jody Berry. Dr. Milligan is an accomplished and proven leader with 25+ years of experience in the healthcare sector, with corporate experience that includes executive roles of increasing responsibility at innovative biopharmaceutical companies.

08:10 EDT Aligos Therapeutics initiates Phase 2a HERALD study of ALG-055009 - Aligos Therapeutics announced the initiation of the Phase 2a HERALD study of ALG-055009 in subjects with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, MASH. Screening of subjects has begun at clinical study sites across the U.S. "ALG-055009 has enhanced potency, greater beta selectivity, and a favorable PK profile. We believe that these optimized pharmacologic properties may result in improved therapeutic outcomes for patients living with MASH. The initiation of the HERALD study is an important next step in achieving our goal to create a best-in-class thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist," stated Lawrence Blatt, Ph.D., MBA, Chairman, President, and CEO of Aligos Therapeutics. "This is an exciting time in the MASH space with the first drug recently approved, but we believe there is still a need for additional treatment options. We look forward to sharing topline HERALD data in Q4 this year."

08:08 EDT DZS introduces DZS Saber 2200 transport switch - DZS introduced its next expansion of the category-defining Saber portfolio - the DZS Saber 2200 transport switch. This hardened, high capacity, low latency, Layer 2 solution transforms the economics of deploying the flexible 100G transport circuits necessary for advanced mobile front/midhaul and edge transport. Featuring an array of critical time sensitive networking features including integrated Grand Master Timing, the compact 1RU Saber 2200 supports standard 100G direct detect optics, a variety of coherent optics including OpenZR+ and XR and can function as a high-precision time protocol Class C Boundary Clock with Synchronous Ethernet support.

08:07 EDT Voip-Pal.com announces special advisor appointments - VoIP-Pal.com announcde three new advisory appointments. Clay Perreault, Austin McDonald, and Ray Leon have been appointed as special advisors to the Board of Directors. Mr. Perreault will serve as Technical Consultant, Mr. McDonald as Business Advisor, and Mr. Leon as Mediation and Settlement Advisor. Clay Perreault is the founder and Ex-President of Digifonica. Austin McDonald is a past Adjunct Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ. Ray Leon is a former engineer for GE and IBM, has founded and or cofounded multiple successful startup companies, and has extensive business mediation and arbitration experience.

08:07 EDT Paramount Group signs 74,000 square foot lease at 1301 Avenue of the Americas - Paramount Group announced that it has signed a 74,000-square-foot lease with Citizens at 1301 Avenue of the Americas, a 1.7 million square-foot Class A office building, located between 52nd and 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. With this lease signing, the Company has made further progress leasing vacant space at 1301 Avenue of the Americas. "We are delighted to welcome Citizens Bank to 1301 Avenue of the Americas as the latest addition to Paramount's world-class tenant roster," said Peter Brindley, Executive Vice President, Head of Real Estate. "This new lease builds on the momentum of recent leasing activity along Avenue of the Americas, and in our portfolio specifically. Paramount Club, located at 1301 Avenue of the Americas, is a members-only club created for corporate employees across our New York portfolio. Paramount Club is scheduled to open May 1, 2024 and continues to be a key differentiator in the market."

08:06 EDT Tesla says U.S. Model Y prices will increase $1,000 on April 1 - Tesla North America on Friday night said via X that prices in the U.S. will increase by $1,000 for all Model Y trims on April 1. Reference Link

08:05 EDT NetApp appoints Alessandra Yockelson as CHRO - NetApp announced Alessandra Yockelson has joined the company as Chief Human Resources Officer, reporting to CEO, George Kurian. Alessandra will lead all aspects of people and organizational strategy, including talent development and growth, performance management, team engagement, recruiting, DEIB, and compensation and benefits. Alessandra joins NetApp from Pure Storage, where she served as Chief Human Resources Officer since August 2021 and led organizational change efforts that resulted in global performance scaling.

08:04 EDT Concentra Group submits draft registration statement relating to IPO - Concentra Group Holdings Parent announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. SEC relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The initial public offering is expected to occur after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions. Concentra is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Select Medical Holdings.

08:00 EDT Shift4 sinks 8% to $71.25 after CEO tells staff takeover bids not high enough

07:56 EDT Embraer sees commercial aviation deliveries of 72-80 aircraft in 2024 - Sees 2024 Executive Aviation deliveries between 125-135 aircraft. Total company revenues in a $6B-$6.4B range, adjusted EBIT margin between 6.5%-7.5%, and adjusted free cash flow of $220M or higher for the year.

07:39 EDT Eightco Holdings appoints Vassilakos as CEO, Executive Chairman - Eightco Holdings announced that Paul Vassilakos has been named as the Company's Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Kevin O'Donnell, who served as the Company's Executive Chairman since October 2021 and Interim Chief Executive Officer for the last month, will remain a member of the Board of Directors. Brian McFadden, a member of the Company's Board who had previously served as the Company's Chief Executive Officer, will be resigning from the Board. Vassilakos co-founded Forever 8 Fund, the Company's largest subsidiary, in July 2020 and has served as a Managing Director of Forever 8 since such time.

07:38 EDT Titan Medical enters all-stock merger agreement with Conavi Medical - Titan Medical has entered into a definitive amalgamation agreement dated March 17, 2024 with Conavi Medical to combine the companies in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will focus on continuing to commercialize Conavi's Novasight Hybrid System designed to guide common minimally invasive coronary procedures. Under the terms of the Agreement, Titan will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Conavi and in exchange Conavi shareholders will be issued common shares of Titan. This transaction will constitute a reverse takeover of Titan and will be carried out subject to the terms and conditions. In connection with the Transaction, Titan expects to delist its common shares from the Toronto Stock Exchange and apply to have them listed instead on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Transaction is anticipated to close on or around July 15, 2024. Conavi is focused on designing, manufacturing, and marketing imaging technologies to guide common minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures. Its patented Novasight Hybrid System is the first system to combine both intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography to enable simultaneous and co-registered imaging of coronary arteries. The Novasight Hybrid System has 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and regulatory approval for clinical use from Health Canada, China's National Medical Products Administration, and Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Conavi is organized under the Business Corporations Act and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Provided the Transaction is completed in accordance with the provisions of the Amalgamation Agreement, the following benefits are anticipated for the combined entity; Strong Balance Sheet with institutional investor support; Established product development and manufacturing capability; Proven product being commercialized in the coronary imaging space; A large and diverse market opportunity addressed with a proprietary product offering which provides patient benefit and a sustainable economic value proposition to users; and Increasing market traction and key opinion leader engagement. The journey to this announcement started over 15 months ago, when Titan announced the commencement of a strategic review process and the engagement of Raymond James as financial advisor. With limited cash resources and limited access to new capital, Titan announced a series of cost-cutting measures to extend the runway for the strategic review process. After outreach to over 40 potential counterparties and concerns expressed by potential counterparties on Titan's stage of development, financial circumstances, and time to commercialization, Titan announced a further cost reduction and a halt to all expenditures related to the development of its ENOS single access robotic-assisted surgery system in February of 2023. To generate cash and avert the possibility of insolvency, Titan also announced a strategic pivot to asset sales and licensing of its IP. This pivot has proven successful as Titan announced non-exclusive licensing and intellectual property sales agreements with established players in the RAS industry in May, June and August of 2023. Throughout 2023, it was made clear to Titan that a merger with another RAS company was not a viable option and Titan broadened its search for a merger partner beyond RAS. This expanded search resulted in a number of proposals and after careful evaluation, Titan's management and board of directors decided on a merger with Conavi.The Titan Board is unanimous in its decision to execute the Amalgamation Agreement and to recommend this Transaction to its shareholders. Under the terms of the Agreement, Titan will effect a consolidation of the Titan Shares based on a ratio of pre-consolidation shares to post-consolidation shares to be mutually agreed upon. As a condition to the completion of the Transaction, Conavi will complete a concurrent financing of subscription receipts, the terms of which will be announced at a later date, for minimum gross proceeds of $15 million up to a maximum of $20 million. The subscription receipts are expected to convert into Conavi Shares immediately prior to completion of the Transaction. Following the Consolidation and the Concurrent Financing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Titan will amalgamate with Conavi, pursuant to which issued and outstanding post-Consolidation Titan Shares will be issued to holders of Conavi Shares on the basis of an exchange ratio to be determined using the pre-money valuation of Conavi of $69,840,000 and a pre-transaction valuation of Titan including an allocation of $5,000,000 plus the amount of cash held in Titan at the closing of the Transaction less certain liabilities of Titan. However, the exchange ratio will be adjusted, if necessary, strictly to the extent required to result in the holders of Titan Shares prior to the closing of the Transaction holding at least 10% of the Combined Entity Shares following completion of the Transaction. In addition, the Combined Entity will establish a new equity incentive plan for key employees, directors and officers of the Combined Entity and will issue stock options in exchange for the outstanding Conavi outstanding stock options under the plan. The parties to the Transaction are at arm's length. Titan intends to hold a special and annual meeting of shareholders, at which, among other things, the Titan Shareholders will be asked to approve: the change of name from Titan Medical Inc. to Conavi Medical Inc., or such other name as Conavi may determine and the Titan Board may approve, the Consolidation, a new equity incentive plan for the Combined Entity, and the Transaction.

07:36 EDT SciSparc granted patent for core-technology - SciSparc announced that it has been granted a patent for its core-technology, the combination of cannabinoids and n-acylethanolamines, by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. The Patent aligns seamlessly with the Company's proprietary technology and is designed to enhance the safety of cannabinoids by using low dosages of active components while maintaining their therapeutic benefits. This patent grant adds to the patent portfolio of the Company, thereby supporting the innovation of SciSparc's technologies. Oz Adler, CEO of SciSparc, commented, "With this patent, we continue to strengthen our global intellectual property rights. SciSparc is a unique company in the cannabis space. We believe we are building value for our investors, as the Company continues to develop technologies for the treatment of central nervous system disorders."

07:34 EDT Abeona Therapeutics announces FDA completed PLI of its Ohio facility - Abeona announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA , has completed a Pre-License Inspection, PLI, of its Cleveland, Ohio manufacturing facility related to the Company's Biologics License Application, BLA, for pz-cel for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. During the inspection, the FDA reviewed the facilities, systems, and processes at the Cleveland site. The FDA also observed the manufacturing process for pz-cel, as well as performance of in-process and release assays. The two-week PLI, which was conducted by five FDA inspectors, concluded on March 1, 2024. Upon completion of the inspection, a Form 483 was issued with observations related to process controls. On March 15, 2024, the Company submitted a response to the FDA, outlining already implemented and ongoing steps toward resolution that follow FDA guidance provided during the audit. In addition, the FDA has completed the clinical study site inspections of Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, CA and University of Massachusets Medical School in Worcester, MA, both of which enrolled subjects in the pivotal Phase 3 VIITAL study supporting the pz-cel BLA, with no Form 483 observations noted.

07:31 EDT Arch Biopartners publishes data from Phase II trial for LSALT Peptide - Arch Biopartners published a peer reviewed paper in the British Medical Journal Open detailing the results of the international Phase II human trial for LSALT peptide targeting acute lung and kidney inflammation in hospitalized patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus. LSALT peptide is a DPEP-1 inhibitor and the Company's lead drug candidate for preventing and treating inflammation injury in the kidneys, lungs, and liver. The paper in BMJ Open describes the clinical highlights, outcomes and biomarker results of the study. The Phase II trial was an international, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, proof of concept study of LSALT peptide for the prevention of organ inflammation such as acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute kidney injury in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The exploratory, adaptive trial was initiated in the early stages of the global pandemic to identify clinical signals of efficacy for LSALT peptide in the treatment of acute lung and kidney inflammation. The results of the Phase II trial provided first-ever evidence validating DPEP-1 as a mediator of organ inflammation and therapeutic target in humans. In addition, LSALT peptide was well tolerated with no safety issues related to the drug. New biomarker data for LSALT peptide was disclosed for the first time in the BMJ Open publication. An analysis of serum inflammatory biomarkers was performed from blood samples collected from study participants. Biomarkers analyzed which relate to organ inflammation included cytokines and chemokines such as IL-6, CXCL8, CXCL10, IL-1beta and CCL7. Collectively, a greater proportion of inflammatory biomarkers decreased in patients receiving LSALT peptide compared with placebo. In particular, the reduction of CXCL10 in the LSALT peptide group versus the placebo group was statistically significant at the end of treatment. CXCL10 plays a role in facilitating leukocyte recruitment to various vascular beds including the lungs and kidneys. The reduction of CXCL10 and the other inflammatory biomarkers during LSALT peptide treatment is consistent with LSALT peptide's mechanism of action as an inhibitor of DPEP-1 mediated leukocyte recruitment to the lungs and kidneys. The new data provides more scientific rationale for Arch to advance LSALT peptide to prevent leukocyte recruitment and organ inflammation for other indications, including a larger Phase II trial targeting cardiac surgery-associated AKI, which recently began recruiting patients.

07:19 EDT B. Riley Financial unable to file 10-K due to delays in finalizing financials - In a regulatory 8-K filing on Friday, the company stated: "On February 29, 2024, B. Riley Financial filed a Notification of Late Filing on Form 12b-25 indicating that it was unable, without unreasonable effort or expense, to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 by February 29, 2024, the required filing date, due to delays experienced in finalizing the Company's financial statements. As discussed in the Form 12b-25, this delay resulted from the dedication of time and resources expended by the Company related to the review by the Audit Committee of the Company's Board of Directors, with the assistance of outside counsel, of the Company's transactions with Brian Kahn." Shares of B. Riley Financial are down 11% in pre-market trading at $15.65.

07:17 EDT Accenture to acquire Aris Group, terms undisclosed - Accenture has agreed to acquire Aris Group, a technology services provider focused on supporting public sector transformation across Europe. Based in Luxembourg and privately held, Aris Group was founded in 2003 and has grown into one of the largest independent service providers in Europe's public sector market. With a team of more than 2,330 people across Luxembourg, Belgium, and Greece primarily, Aris Group focuses on work with the European Union, including the EU Commission, its various institutions and member state organizations. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

07:12 EDT Natera announces CIRCULATE-PRODIGE-70 study in France - Natera announced a collaboration with the Federation Francophone de Cancerologie Digestive and CHU Dijon Bourgogne on the CIRCULATE-PRODIGE-70 study, a randomized, multicenter, prospective phase III clinical trial in France investigating molecular residual disease, or MRD-guided adjuvant treatment in stage II colorectal cancer patients. The study's main objective is to determine the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II CRC patients with detectable circulating tumor DNA post-surgery. Patients who are Signatera MRD-positive will be randomized to receive ACT or pursue observation. Patients who are Signatera MRD-negative will be treated according to the standard of care. Approximately 1,600 patients will be tested with Signatera, and a successful study result is expected to pave the way for the adoption and reimbursement of Signatera in France. The initial readout is expected in 2025.

07:10 EDT Protagonist closes rusfertide license, collaboration agreement with Takeda - Protagonist Therapeutics (PTGX) announces the closing of the worldwide collaboration and license agreement for rusfertide with Takeda (TAK) disclosed on January 31, 2024. Closing of the transaction was contingent on completion of review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 in the United States. Protagonist will receive the $300 million upfront payment associated with the transaction in the second quarter of 2024.

07:09 EDT Phoenix Motor, InductEV enter long-term charging partnership - Phoenix Motor announced an Integration Agreement with InductEV. InductEV's solution allows EV fleets to achieve their decarbonization goals with hands-free on-route charging, while reducing costs. The new partnership will develop software, hardware and cooling and electrical systems integration of InductEV's wireless charging pads with Phoenix's zero-emission drive systems. This strategic partnership will provide Phoenix's customers with the option to select wireless inductive charging for use in duty cycles and recurring routes. Phoenix has already accepted orders for wireless charging of its Class 4 shuttles and expects to deploy its first wireless charging-capable shuttle buses later in 2024.

07:07 EDT Clearside Biomedical appoints Chong as Chief Medical Officer - Clearside Biomedical (CLSD) announced that Victor Chong, M.D., MBA was appointed Chief Medical Officer on March 14, 2024. Dr. Chong is a board-certified retinal specialist with more than 25 years of experience as a retinal physician and navigating all phases of ophthalmic drug development. Dr. Chong served most recently as VP, Global Head of Retina DAS at Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Innovative Medicine.

07:06 EDT EchoStar announces contract extension for ORAN-based private 5G networks - EchoStar announced the contract period of performance extension by the Department of Defense Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering FutureG Office, for the continued deployment of standalone 5G networks at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii and at the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington State. The contract extension builds on the award for NASWI in 2021 and additional expansion in Hawaii in 2022, extending both through 2025 with additional 5G enhancements. EchoStar is a premier supporter of the use of Open Radio Access Network in DoD networks and recently won a $50M NTIA grant to build an ORAN test center.

07:05 EDT Syndax names Steven Closter as Chief Commercial Officer - Syndax Pharmaceuticals announced the appointment of Steven Closter as Chief Commercial Officer, effective immediately. Closter will lead the company's commercial strategy and operations, including marketing, sales, and market access, succeeding Steve Sabus, who is departing for personal reasons. Prior to joining Syndax, Closter served in various roles at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, which was consolidated into Sumitomo Pharma America in 2023, ultimately serving as Vice President, Brand Strategy and Launch Excellence.

07:04 EDT Mercury Systems announces early access program for RFS1140 direct RF SiP - Mercury Systems announced the early access program for its RFS1140 direct RF System-in-Package. Electronic warfare, communications, test and measurement, and radar applications at the edge are becoming more sophisticated, requiring secure, direct digitization of RF signals with high sampling rates and low latency. The RFS1140 is the first multi-chip module to combine the processing power of the AMD Versal AI Core series adaptive SoC along with Jariet Technologies high-speed data converters and Micron LPDDR4 NOR flash memory. By integrating the latest commercial processing chips into a SWaP-optimized, rugged package, Mercury's SiP offers maximum performance for next-generation applications. The early access program for the RFS1140 includes product documentation and support as well as priority delivery for evaluation hardware as it becomes available this year.

07:03 EDT First Wave BioPharma announces acceptance of two abstracts on celiac disease - First Wave BioPharma announced that two abstracts have been accepted for presentation at the 2024 Digestive Disease Week Conference taking place May 18-21, 2024, in Washington, D.C. The first presentation, titled, "A Composite Mucosal Scale for Celiac Disease Encompassing both Morphology and Inflammation," will highlight VCIEL, a new quantitative composite scale, combining the histologic scales of villus height to crypt depth ratioand density of intraepithelial lymphocytes, designed to enhance the accuracy and precision for measuring small intestinal mucosal health of celiac disease patients with particular benefit for histologic endpoint measurements in clinical trials. The second presentation, titled, "Dynamics of Serologic Change to Gluten in Celiac Disease Patients," will report research involving the largest database of CeD clinical results and will explore key issues related to the diagnostics of CeD, such as the effects of resuming a gluten-containing diet on seropositivity and the correlation between two different tTG-IgA assays.

07:01 EDT EyePoint reports inducement grants under Nasdaq listing rule - EyePoint Pharmaceuticals announced that the Company granted non-statutory stock options to new employees as inducement awards outside the Company's 2023 Long-Term Incentive Plan in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The Company granted stock options to purchase up to an aggregate of 77,000 shares of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals common stock to six new employees. The stock options were granted on March 15, 2024. The grants were approved by the Compensation Committee and made as an inducement material to each employee entering into employment with EyePoint Pharmaceuticals in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The option awards have an exercise price of $21.48 per share, the closing price of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals' common stock on March 15, 2024. The options have a ten-year term and vest over four years, with 25% of the original number of shares vesting on the first anniversary of the applicable employee's date of grant and the remainder vesting in equal monthly installments over the following three years. Vesting of the options is subject to the employee's continued service with EyePoint Pharmaceuticals through the applicable vesting dates.

06:37 EDT Walker & Dunlop arranges $109M construction financing for Brooklyn project - Walker & Dunlop, Inc. announced that it structured $109M in construction financing for the development of 1034-1042 Atlantic Avenue, a to-be-constructed, 247-unit Class-A multifamily development located on two conjoining parcels creating a cross-block lot between Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street in Brooklyn, New York.

06:35 EDT Ocugen names Huma Qamar, MD, MPH as Chief Medical Officer - Ocugen announced the appointment of Dr. Huma Qamar as Chief Medical Officer. Prior to joining Ocugen, Dr. Qamar was Senior Vice President, Head of R&D at FSD Pharma-demonstrating her commitment to advancing scientific innovation and pharmaceutical development.

06:26 EDT Parsons awarded $15.5M contract from NOAA - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announces the award of a $15.5M one-year base value contract to Parsons Corporation of Chantilly, Virginia, for system integration and cloud management services for the Traffic Coordination System for Space. NOAA's Office of Space Commerce is developing TraCSS as a modern, cloud-based IT system that will provide space situational awareness and space traffic coordination services to private and civil space operators. Such services are essential for global spaceflight safety and the long-term sustainability of the space environment for commercial, civil, national security, and international uses.

06:12 EDT Cytomed Therapeutics to launch complimentary cell banking - CytoMed Therapeutics has obtained board approval to launch, subject to certain terms and conditions, a pilot program to isolate and cryo-store peripheral blood mononuclear cell for and as a reward to loyal shareholders of CytoMed on a complimentary basis. This Program is in line with the company's strategy to build up a private bank of PBMC donors to develop allogeneic off-the-shelf cellular therapies using pre-qualified healthy donor blood. This Program will commence on June 1, 2024, or at such other date as CytoMed shall provide. Interested shareholders are advised to refer to CytoMed's website for any future updates regarding the Program.

06:05 EDT Canoo's Oklahoma City facility approved as Foreign Trade Zone - Canoo announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce has approved its Oklahoma City facility as a Foreign Trade Zone. The approval marks a significant milestone that will accelerate Canoo's Made in America electric vehicle manufacturing strategy, improve unit profitability and enable a faster path to breakeven. Canoo's Oklahoma City facility currently employs more than 100 workers and will support as many as 1,100 good-paying manufacturing jobs at full capacity. FTZ designation allows for the elimination of all customs duties on vehicles sold to customers overseas and for deferral of customs duties on imported parts used in vehicles sold domestically. The company proudly sources more than 90% of its parts from the U.S. and allied nations. Approximately 70% of parts come from North America, and the remaining from the rest of the world. For international sales, the FTZ will significantly enhance profitability by lowering the vehicle cost by up to 5% on parts imported from the rest of the world. This cost reduction will occur when these Made-in-America vehicles are exported to international markets, which we plan to announce in the near future. For domestic sales, the FTZ designation improves working capital by millions of dollars by deferring customs, duties and tariffs related to imports from the time of port-of-entry of the parts until the vehicle is delivered to its customers. Furthermore, Canoo anticipates additional cost savings and benefits through a simplified customs process, a streamlined supply chain, and overall enhancements to its site security.

06:02 EDT CareTrust REIT raises quarterly dividend to 29c from 28c per share - CareTrust REIT announced that its Board of Directors has increased its quarterly common stock cash dividend from 28c to 29c per common share. The current dividend will be payable to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 28, and management affirmed that the company plans to pay the dividend on or about April 15.

05:21 EDT Nuvei responds to recent press reports - Nuvei announced that it is aware of recent media reports speculating as to a potential going-private transaction involving the company. The company said, "While the Company's policy is to not comment on rumours or speculation, the Company confirms that, in connection with expressions of interest received by the Company, the board of directors of the Company formed a special committee of independent directors to evaluate and consider, in consultation with the Special Committee's and the Company's respective financial and legal advisors, such expressions of interest as well as any other strategic alternatives that may be available under the circumstances in the best interest of the Company. The Company further confirms that it is engaged in discussions with certain third parties in connection with a potential transaction involving continued significant ownership by certain of the holders of multiple voting shares, including Phil Fayer, Nuvei's founder, Chair and Chief Executive Officer. The Company cautions readers that it has not entered into any agreements or understandings to effect a privatization or similar transaction, and there can be no assurance that any discussions that have taken place will result in any such agreements or understandings. The Special Committee is continuing its evaluation of the proposals received to date and the strategic alternatives available to the Company, and no decision has been made at this time whether to pursue a transaction or maintain the status quo. Given the nature of the process, the Company does not intend on commenting further unless otherwise required pursuant to applicable securities laws and regulations."

05:10 EDT Jacobs appointed to UK SST through 2030 - Jacobs has been selected by United Utilities, one of the U.K.'s largest listed water companies, to its Strategic Solutions Team, or SST, to support program optimization for major capital works through the asset management period, or AMP8, which runs from 2025 to 2030, and asset management period 9, or AMP9, which runs from 2030 to 2035. Working with United Utilities and its construction delivery partners, Jacobs will drive program and asset optimization, value engineering, innovation and standardization across the water company's existing and new asset base - developing integrated solutions and recommending preferred options based on best value, lowest carbon and cost. Jacobs' technical services will range from feasibility and value management studies, commercial modeling, business case development, design and digital engineering, to whole life cost, best value assessments and more. United Utilities values the total framework agreement at approximately $211M over the base contract period of six years with a five-year extension option.

05:01 EDT Qudian announces $300M share repurchase program - Qudian announced that its board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program under which the company may repurchase up to $300M worth of its outstanding American depositary shares, each representing one Class A ordinary share, and/or (ii) Class A ordinary shares over the next 36 months starting from June 13.