Stockwinners Market Radar for June 09, 2020 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

19:01 EDT Quidel receives EUA from FDA for rapid antigen COVID-19 diagnostic assay - Quidel announced that Quidel has received an amended Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. FDA allowing Quidel to run its Sofia SARS Antigen FIA, a rapid point-of-care test for COVID-19, on the Sofia Fluorescent Immunoassay Analyzer, Quidel's first-generation automated immunoassay instrument. Quidel previously received EUA to run the Sofia SARS Antigen FIA on the second-generation Sofia 2 instrumented system.

18:24 EDT Stitch Fix CEO: Our value proposition has never been more relevant - In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Katrina Lake said the primary challenge in Q3 was keeping warehouses open safely. Q3 was challenging, but the company took share, Lake said.

17:51 EDT SPDR Gold Shares holdings fall to 1,124.60MT from 1,125.48MT - This is the 4th consecutive decline and the lowest level of holdings since May 29th.

17:45 EDT Employers Holdings announces retirement plans of CEO Douglas Dirks - Employers Holdings announced that Douglas Dirks, president and CEO, has informed the board of directors of his intention to retire from his position on April 1, 2021. Employers' board of directors has initiated a search process to identify the successor for Dirks. Michael J. McSally, chairman of the board, stated, "For the past 27 years, Doug has provided Employers with superb leadership, dedication and vision. Many of us think of him as the company's founder. He is leaving Employers in an excellent position, as the quality and strength of the management team and operating platforms have never been better and our financial position has never been stronger. Doug has the profound gratitude of the board of directors for the value creation he has overseen. We look forward to a smooth leadership transition."

17:22 EDT Triumph Group's Systems & Support unit awarded 5-year repair contract - Triumph Group announced that its Triumph Systems & Support business unit recently signed a five-year, non-exclusive, fixed price agreement with a North American-based independent MRO facility for repair and overhaul support of engine accessories on the CFM56, CF34 and CF6 engine models for both commercial and military aircraft. Work for the long-term agreement will be performed at Triumph's Accessory Services facilities in Grand Prairie, Texas and Wellington, Kansas.

17:10 EDT Denali tanks almost 11% after pause on DNL 747 clinical studies - Shares of Denali are down 10.45% or $2.69 per share to $23.02 in post-market trading.

16:59 EDT Five Below jumps 9% to $113.81 after reporting Q1 results - On its earnings conference call, the company said Q2 comps at reopened stores are tracking up about 8%.

16:52 EDT Five Below says Q2 comps at reopened stores tracking up about 8% - Comments taken from Q1 earnings conference call.

16:44 EDT AMC Entertainment establishes safety protocol partnership with Clorox - AMC (AMC) said, "Many things can change between now and July, but with the safety and well-being of our associates and guests as our first priority, combined with our rebuilding a successful and thriving business, we are taking the following steps aimed at optimizing the timeliness, safety and profitability of our reopenings: Maintaining close contact with local, national and international officials to understand and coordinate the timing and requirements under which we can reopen. Consulting with current and former faculty from the prestigious Harvard University School of Public Health to seek guidance from the best scientists and experts on how best to create a safe environment for our guests and associates. Personal protection equipment, cleaning protocols, limited theatre capacity, blocked seating, and other strategies are all being planned. We are especially looking at high tech solutions as well, to aid in our sanitization techniques including the use of electrostatic sprayers, HEPA vacuums and wherever possible upgraded MERV 13 air ventilation filters. Establishing a protocol partnership with the global leader in all things clean, The Clorox Company (CLX), as they advise us as to how we can make our theatre environments as safe and clean as possible. Educating our guests so that they understand the actions we are taking with their safety in mind. Implementing aggressive marketing communications and promotional activity aimed at jumpstarting consumer demand. Reducing our cost structure, intensely examining every category of our expenditures to lower our spending wherever possible."

16:36 EDT Legg Mason reports preliminary AUM $780.2B as of May 31 - Legg Mason reported preliminary assets under management of $780.2B as of May 31, 2020. This month's AUM included long-term net inflows of $0.4B, driven by fixed income and alternative net inflows of $0.7B and $0.1B, respectively, partially offset by equity net outflows of $0.4B. AUM also included liquidity net outflows of $3.2B and positive foreign exchange of $0.1B.

16:34 EDT Denali, Sanofi pause clinical studies with DNL747, to focus on DNL788 - Denali Therapeutics (DNLI) announced the results from its Phase 1b studies with small molecule RIPK1 inhibitor DNL747 in Alzheimer's disease and ALS, and provided a broad RIPK1 program update including DNL788 and DNL758. "Together with our partner Sanofi (SNY), "we have decided to pause clinical studies with DNL747 and focus our efforts on accelerating development of DNL788, which we believe has superior drug properties and a more rapid path toward proof-of-concept clinical studies in patients in multiple neurological indications," said Ryan Watts, Ph.D., CEO. "We'd like to thank all patients who took part in these studies. Your participation is critical in the ultimate success of developing medicines for these terrible diseases." RIPK1, receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1, is a critical signaling protein in the TNF receptor pathway, which regulates inflammation and cell death in tissues throughout the body. "Due to emerging evidence that higher levels of target inhibition may be required for maximizing efficacy, and challenges to achieving higher doses imposed by molecule-specific toxicity findings with DNL747, we are pausing additional studies with this molecule," said Carole Ho, M.D., Chief Medical Officer. "However, I am encouraged by the emerging pathway biomarker data in Alzheimer's disease and ALS patients, and our experience and learnings with DNL747 should allow us to progress quickly with clinical studies for DNL788. Importantly, DNL788 appears to have a superior preclinical therapeutic window compared to DNL747, facilitating development in multiple indications, including Alzheimer's disease, ALS and multiple sclerosis."

16:32 EDT Best Buy to reopen over 800 locations, bring back 9K furloughed staff - Best Buy announces that "customers soon will be able to safely and freely shop at the majority of stores without an appointment. Starting June 15, more than 800 locations across the country will begin allowing a limited number of people inside. Best Buy stores will continue to enforce social distancing by limiting the number of customers inside the store to 25% of capacity, which allows approximately 60 or more customers in a store depending on its size. If a store reaches the limit, stores will queue people in a line until they are able to shop. Stores also will have floor signage to help customers and employees maintain 6 feet of distance at all times. To support this expanded store experience, Best Buy is bringing back more than 9,000 of previously furloughed full- and part-time store employees and Geek Squad Agents."

16:29 EDT AMC Entertainment reports Q1 adjusted EBITDA $3.1M vs. $108.2M a year ago

16:26 EDT Artisan Partners reports AUM as of May 31 $114.4B. - Artisan Partners Asset Management reported that its assets under management or AUM, as of May 31 totaled $114.4B. Separate accounts accounted for $60.7B of total firm AUM, while Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds accounted for $53.7B.

16:23 EDT Limoneira withdraws FY20 guidance - The company states: "Because of uncertainty around the duration, scope and ultimate financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Limoneira management is withdrawing its fiscal year 2020 outlook previously provided on March 11, 2020. The decline in demand for our products during the second quarter of fiscal year 2020, which we believe was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, negatively impacted our sales and profitability for Q2 of 2020. The duration of these trends and the magnitude of such impacts cannot be estimated at this time, as they are affected by a number of factors, many of which are outside management's control. Although subject to unforeseen changes that may arise as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, we currently expect record lemon volumes for FY20 and improvement in adjusted EBITDA during the second half of 2020. We saw improved sell-through results during the month of May compared to March and April due to seasonality as well as foodservice businesses beginning to open in certain areas of the United States. Looking beyond fiscal year 2020, the Company has an additional 1,200 acres of non-bearing lemons estimated to become full bearing over the next four years, which will enable the Company to achieve strong organic growth for many years to come. The company expects 300 of the 1,200 acres to become full bearing in fiscal year 2021. Beyond these 1,200 acres, Limoneira intends to plant an additional 250 acres of lemons in the next two years that it believes will further build its long-term pipeline of productive acreage. The company anticipates this additional acreage will increase its domestic supply of Limoneira-owned lemons from its 2020 level by approximately 50%, or about 900 thousand to 1.3 million additional fresh cartons, as the non-bearing and planned acreage becomes productive. The company also expects to have a steady increase in third-party grower fruit."

16:20 EDT AllianceBernstein reports preliminary AUM $596B as of May 31 - Up from $576B at the end of April. The 3.5% increase was due to market appreciation, as well as firmwide net inflows.

16:20 EDT Kemet receives final regulatory approval for pending acquisition by Yageo - Kemet Corporation announced that, in connection with the pending acquisition of Kemet by Yageo Corporation, the parties received the final regulatory approval that is a condition to closing of such transaction from the Investment Commission, Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan. The parties expect to consummate the merger on or about June 15, subject to the satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions set forth in the merger agreement, announced on November 11, 2019. Upon consummation of the merger, Yageo will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Kemet's common stock for $27.20 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.6B.

16:18 EDT Lakeland Industries spikes about 20% after revenue grows 85% due to COVID impact - Shares are up $2.95 per share or 18.41% to $18.97 in after-hours trading.

16:17 EDT GameStop down 7.3% after reporting Q1 earnings results

16:16 EDT Verint CFO says business results to expect throughout the year - Doug Robinson, CFO, said, "We expect our business results to improve throughout the year as delayed on-premises deals come back. We expect our cloud-first strategy in Customer Engagement and our software model strategy in Cyber Intelligence to continue momentum this year. We are targeting the separation shortly after fiscal year-end and have now put the necessary capital structure in place, having completed the first tranche of the Apax investment and the term loan amendment."

16:13 EDT GameStop provides update on store reopenings - The company continues to phase the reopening of its stores across all operating countries where restrictions related to the global pandemic have been lifted, and according to the mandates provided by country, state and local officials, including the implementation of strict sanitary processes and social distancing measures. As a result, at the end of May, the company had approximately 85% of its U.S. locations open to limited customer access or curbside delivery, and approximately 90% of its international locations open. Subsequently, given the recent social unrest experienced in various cities across the United States, the company temporarily closed approximately 100 stores that were previously reopened, to protect the safety of associates and customers. Approximately 35 of these locations will be closed for the foreseeable future given extensive physical damage.

16:12 EDT GameStop believes it has sufficient liquidity to fund operations - As of May 2, the company had approximately $570M in total cash, reflecting $135M drawn under its revolving credit facility. As of June 3, the company had reduced its outstanding borrowings under the facility to approximately $100M. The company continues to expect it will have sufficient liquidity and financial flexibility to fund its operations and navigate the current environment. Given effective working capital management, the company expects to have total cash and liquidity between $575M-$625M as of the end of Q2.

16:10 EDT GameStop reports Q1 total global comparable store sales decrease of 17% - Total global comparable store sales decreased 17% excluding stores that were closed during Q1 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. After including the impact of stores that were closed for the majority of the quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic, comparable stores sales decreased by approximately 30%.

16:07 EDT YRC Worldwide reports QTD shipments per day down 19.8% - Reports quarter-to-date tonnage per day down 18.6%, revenue per hundredweight down 6.3%, revenue per shipment down 4.9%.

16:06 EDT Five Below sees opening 100 to 120 net new stores in 2020 - Given the uncertainty related to COVID-19, the Company will not be providing sales or earnings guidance for the second quarter or fiscal 2020. The Company continues to expect to open 100 to 120 net new stores in 2020.

15:53 EDT Energous surges after patent posted to USPTO site - Shares of Energous are up $1.20, or 52%, to $3.52 in afternoon trading following the circulation among traders of a post to the USPTO site, dated June 9, that details a patent for a "devices and methods for reducing mutual coupling effects in wireless power transmission systems." Reference Link

15:18 EDT Morgan Stanley CEO says 'too soon' to resume buybacks, but 'won't be years' - Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman said during an interview on CNBC that its "too soon" right now to resume buying back shares, but added that he assumes buy backs will be resumed in months, stating "it won't be years." Gorman reiterated his stance that continuing to pay dividends is the appropriate stance for his and other big U.S. banks.

15:06 EDT Medtronic to release new data at ADA virtual sessions - Medtronic plc announced its participation at the American Diabetes Association 80th scientific sessions virtual meeting, June 12-16, stating that it will release new data on it advanced hybrid closed-loop systems and extended-wear infusion set. "Though its diverse ADA offerings, Medtronic will showcase the company's automated insulin pump systems, continuous glucose monitoring systems, and extended-wear infusion set technology; meaningful outcomes and differentiated support offerings, such as telehealth capabilities and the company response to the COVID-19 pandemic," the company said.

14:37 EDT Briggs & Stratton announces strategic supply agreement with Club Car - Briggs & Stratton (BGG) recently announced a new strategic supply agreement with Ingersoll Rand (IR) to power Club Car vehicles with its Vanguard Commercial Lithium-Ion Battery Packs. Beginning in July, the company will power Club Car's new Lithium-Ion line of Fleet Golf Cars, Briggs & Stratton stated.

14:08 EDT Izea reports 'renewed commitments' from two Fortune 500 retailers - Izea announced that it received "renewed commitments from two global retailers on Monday." One of the unnamed retailers is a Fortune 500 company, the other a Fortune 10 company, according to the company, which added that "both commitments mark the first time Izea has seen spending from these customers since COVID-19 began to disrupt the economy and global supply chain." Izea noted that it had previously announced that it had been awarded two contracts from different customers, totaling $1M, which were both signed on Monday, May 18. The company subsequently indicated that it believes that bookings for its managed services business in Q2 will grow year over year despite the challenges created by COVID-19. Ted Murphy, IZEA's Chairman and CEO, added: "Izea has enjoyed long-term relationships with these retail customers, providing both custom content for their e-commerce sites and influencer marketing services. We saw new contractual commitments from both parties in every quarter last year, but Izea did not receive contracts for new initiatives in Q1 2020 from either customer. We are excited to see both organizations reactivate their marketing efforts and sign new contracts with Izea to begin spending again."

14:07 EDT Arcesium files lawsuit against SS&C alleging anticompetitive activities - Arcesium this morning said it filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Advent Software and its parent company SS&C Technologies (SSNC). The lawsuit "seeks to address a number of illegal and anticompetitive actions by SS&C Advent that violate the antitrust laws, Arcesium's contractual rights, and the laws against interference with business relations," the company said in a statement. Arcesium's complaint "asks the Court to issue an injunction requiring SS&C Advent to abide by its contractual obligations to provide access to and support for Geneva, and to provide the software keys necessary to enable Arcesium's continued support of its customers. Arcesium also asks the Court to issue an injunction barring SS&C Advent from interfering with Arcesium's relationships with its current customers, and with its efforts to bring on new customers. In addition, Arcesium asks the Court to award money damages in an amount to be determined by a jury after trial."

14:03 EDT OneSpaWorld comments on corrected Stifel report, calls Deep Field 'reckless' - OneSpaWorld Holdings issued a statement in response to a correction published today by Stifel to a research report it had issued yesterday. The "inaccurate report" was referenced by Deep Field Asset Management in a press release issued earlier today, according to the company, which added: "We are pleased Stifel has issued a correction to clarify material inaccuracies and misunderstandings in their report published June 8. Stifel now acknowledges that OneSpaWorld does not have enough cash to pay down its revolver at June 30 and remain solvent. Their updated report also states that the roughly 70 days of cash available on OSW's balance sheet exists assuming no pay down of our revolver to remain in compliance with our loan agreements. Stifel also acknowledges that while OSW has considered alternative financing options, it does not have any alternative financing in place. Stifel concludes that they encourage the approval of the private placement given the current environment versus an alternative plan that could take too long to execute. The $75 million equity financing is the best financing option available and Deep Field's unfounded claim that it would be easy to vote down this funding and quickly raise the required capital on improved terms remains reckless given the circumstances."

13:45 EDT AstraZeneca in deals with academia, US agencies on coronavirus antibodies - In an earlier blog posting AstraZeneca said in part: "Furthering the advancement towards the discovery of novel coronavirus-neutralising antibodies to prevent and treat the progression of COVID-19, AstraZeneca has signed new agreements with academia and US government agencies and confirms plans to progress a combination approach consisting of a pair of monoclonal antibodies, mAbs. AstraZeneca has licensed coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies from Vanderbilt University, US, and plans to advance a pair of these mAbs into clinical development as a potential combination therapy for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. This agreement builds on the company's collaboration agreement with Vanderbilt, announced in April. Following rapid mobilisation of its global research efforts, AstraZeneca has evaluated the ability of more than 1,500 mAbs to bind to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inhibit its capacity to infect healthy cells in a laboratory setting. Based on these pre-clinical results, the Company has signed an exclusive license to six candidate antibodies currently in Vanderbilt's portfolio that target the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Two mAbs from these six will progress into clinical evaluation as a combination approach within the next two months. AstraZeneca has also signed an interagency agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, part of the US Department of Defense, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the US Department of Health and Human Services, to support the company's efforts to develop a mAb treatment against SARS-CoV-2, including a Phase I clinical trial and the manufacturing of the investigational product for testing in Phase I. Reference Link

13:33 EDT Altria announces FDA to begin substantive review of on! nicotine pouches - Altria Client Services announced that the FDA has accepted and filed for substantive review premarket tobacco product applications for 35 on! products manufactured by Helix Innovations, an Altria joint venture responsible for the global on! nicotine pouch product portfolio. "We believe the scientific evidence in these applications demonstrates that the marketing of on! is appropriate for the protection of public health," said Paige Magness, senior VP, Regulatory Affairs for Altria Client Services. "on! nicotine pouches are a key part of our vision to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a non-combustible future." The FDA will now undertake a substantive scientific review of the applications.

13:28 EDT Cloudera jumps after Bloomberg says exploring sale amid interest - Cloudera is exploring a potential sale after receiving takeover interest, Liana Baker and Crystal Tse of Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is working with a financial adviser to evaluate its options and has held discussions with potential buyers including private equity firms this year, sources told Bloomberg. Shares of Cloudera are up 20%, or $2.01, to $12.13 in afternoon trading following the report.

13:25 EDT Cloudera jumps 20% to $12.13 after Bloomberg says exploring sale

13:09 EDT Thermo Fisher, Agios to co-develop a second companion diagnostic for oncology - Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) announced that it has expanded its strategic partnership with Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO) (by adding the co-development of a second companion diagnostic, CDx, for oncology to their existing agreement. The CDx will leverage the Oncomine Precision Assay, which runs on the new Ion Torrent Genexus System, and will be used globally to identify low-grade glioma, LGG, patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 mutations who may be eligible for vorasidenib. Vorasidenib is an investigational, oral, brain-penetrant inhibitor of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations that is being developed by Agios and is currently under evaluation in the Phase 3 INDIGO study. Gliomas represent a broad range of primary brain tumors, ranging from highly aggressive glioblastomas to slow-growing LGG. About 11,000 new LGG patients are diagnosed in the U.S. and Europe each year, and about 80 percent have an IDH1 gene mutation. Patient symptoms range from seizures and neurologic deficits to sensory impairment and changes in behavior, with a five-year survival rate of 33 percent. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will collaboratively validate the biomarkers for a test that will be based on Thermo Fisher's Oncomine Precision Assay and used to identify variant-positive patients. Thermo Fisher will retain the rights to commercialize the test globally and will lead filings to seek clearance from the appropriate regulatory agencies.

12:51 EDT Chesapeake trading resumes, shares down 68% to $22.00

12:48 EDT Chesapeake trading resumes, shares down 71% to $20.16

12:44 EDT Ericsson falls after saying Q1 gross margin on China 5G pacts initially negative - Shares of Ericsson are falling almost 2% in early afternoon trading on Tuesday after saying "assumptions included in the Q1 2020 earnings report, initial gross margin of the 5G contracts in China is negative due to high initial costs for product introduction." As previously announced Ericsson has increased its footprint in China through 5G contract awards from all three major operators in China."The strengthened market position is strategically important for Ericsson as this will generate scale advantages and strengthen Ericsson's position in the world's largest 5G market, which is expected to be an important driver of critical future requirements and new feature developments. Overall, Ericsson's 5G business in China is expected to have healthy profitability over the life of the contracts. However, the margins during the second quarter of 2020 are expected to be negative due to high initial costs for new products. In the Q1 2020 earnings report we communicated that an increasing share of strategic contracts was expected to weigh negatively on profitability in the second quarter 2020 primarily driven by temporary negative gross margin in China. In addition, the second quarter will be impacted by a cost of around SEK 1 b. related to asset write-downs of pre-commercial product inventory for the Chinese market. The cost will be reported in segment Networks, impacting gross margin. While the deployment of 5G in China will continue to be dilutive to Segment Networks gross margin short-term, it is expected to contribute positively to gross and operating income from the second half of 2020 and in line with the business plan be profitable over time. With current visibility we maintain the financial targets for 2020 and 2022," added the company.

12:12 EDT Alphamab Oncology and Sanofi collaborate on KN026 in HER2+ breast cancer - Clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Alphamab Oncology and Sanofi that Jiangsu Alphamab Biopharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphamab Oncology, signed an agreement with Sanofi, to establish strategic collaboration to advance clinical studies to investigate KN026 in combination with Taxotere, Docetaxel, in HER2+ breast cancer, and Sanofi is granted an exclusivity period to negotiate the in-licensing of KN026 subject to the achievement of certain clinical milestones. KN026 is an anti-HER2 bispecific antibody which can simultaneously bind two non-overlapping epitopes of HER2 and lead to a dual HER2 signal blockade, presumedly causing HER2 to aggregate on the cell surface and endocytose. Current clinicals trials shown promising preliminary efficacy and excellent safety profile in late-stage breast cancer patients who have failed multiple treatments in China, laying a solid foundation for future development of combination therapies in multiple front line settings. Given its clinical profile, KN026 has the potential to address the medical needs of around 2 million patients suffering from HER2-positive breast cancer in China, USA and key European markets. Taxotere, Docetaxel, is a microtubule inhibitor that interferes with the growth and spread of cancer cells in the body. It is used to treat breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, gastric cancer. In China, Taxotere is indicated for breast cancer including: 1) single agent for locally advanced or metastatic BC after chemotherapy failure; 2) with trastuzumab for the 1st line treatment of metastatic BC patients with HER2 overexpression; 3) and with doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide as adjuvant treatment of operable node-positive BC.

12:00 EDT Tenneco falls -18.2% - Tenneco is down -18.2%, or -$2.28 to $10.28.

12:00 EDT Amneal Pharmaceuticals rises 8.3% - Amneal Pharmaceuticals is up 8.3%, or 42c to $5.50.

12:00 EDT Steel Partners rises 10.1% - Steel Partners is up 10.1%, or 63c to $6.84.

11:37 EDT Applied DNA announces $40,000 economic development grant for COVID-19 programs - Applied DNA Sciences announced it secured a $40,000 economic development grant from National Grid to support the company's efforts associated with the manufacture of COVID-19-related therapeutics and diagnostics programs. "We are grateful for National Grid and New York State's focus on the Long Island community in this time of crisis. This funding will be used to increase our capacity to deliver quantities of our RT-PCR test for COVID-19 that was recently approved under Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA for clinical use, and to support the pathway toward human trials of selected vaccine candidates we have jointly developed with Takis Biotech. Our orchestrated approach to our development programs aimed at vanquishing COVID-19 we believe is unique, and we share a deep motivation as fellow Long Islanders to support local communities and governments, that are working tirelessly to manage within the pandemic," said Dr. James Hayward, president and CEO at Applied DNA.

11:34 EDT Comscore providing Cox with TV measurement in six new markets - Comscore announced an agreement to provide Cox Media Group with TV measurement in six new markets: Syracuse, NY, Spokane, WA, Idaho Falls, ID, Eureka, CA, Binghamton, NY, and Alexandria, LA. Additionally, the agreement extends TV measurement in Yuma, AZ, Medford, WA, Yakima, WA and Greenwood, MS. "We are excited to partner with these CMG stations to help drive their revenue, share and profit moving forward," said Steve Walsh, Executive Vice President, Commercial, Comscore.

11:24 EDT Conn's CFO says May total retail sales down 1.6%, SSS down 6.8% - Conn's CFO Lee Wright said on the company's Q1 earnings call that retail trends started improving towards the end of April and the company is "encouraged by the positive momentum that continued in May." Wright added that total retail sales for May were down "only 1.6%," while same-store sales were down 6.8%, representing an over 20 percentage point improvement from April. "In addition, we estimate same-store sales have been impacted by 15% to 20% since we began adjusting underwriting in mid-March in response to the COVID-19 crisis. We have also increased down payment requirements for in-house credit customers and down payments in May were 5.6% compared to 2.4% in February before recent underwriting adjustments began," Wright said. The CFO added that "recent retail trends are encouraging, but we expect continued variability in our fleet performance as a result of the uncertain economic environment and more challenging sales comparisons later in the second quarter."

11:16 EDT Sonos higher after Citron's Andrew Left recommends long position

11:08 EDT Boeing 2020 net orders negative 602 in May vs. negative 516 in April

11:06 EDT FangDD Network Group Ltd (ADS) trading halted, volatility trading pause

10:39 EDT Autoliv promotes Fox to lead Americas division following Garceau resignation - Autoliv announce it will promote Kevin Fox to the position of President, Americas and a member of Autoliv's Executive Management Team. The promotion is expected to be effective on June 15 upon the previously announced resignation of Daniel Garceau, who departs Autoliv for an opportunity with a company outside of the automotive industry. "I am pleased to announce this promotion to Kevin who in his long career with Autoliv has been a key contributor to our success. Kevin is a results-driven strategic leader and is a current member of the Americas management team. He is already familiar with the business and ready to lead the division", said Mikael Bratt, President and CEO of Autoliv.

10:01 EDT Precipio adds HemeScreen customer - Precipio announced that Cancer and Hematology Centers of Western Michigan has adopted Precipio's HemeScreen technology to launch molecular testing assay for hematologic malignancies such as myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms. As part of Precipio's recently launched Reagent Rental program, CHCWM's laboratory is in the process of validating the HemeScreen MPN assay and will be performing it as a lab developed test within their laboratory. Based on current volume within CHCWM's laboratory, and taking into consideration the future add-on HemeScreen proprietary assays, Precipio anticipates potential revenues starting at $75,000 annually and possibly more than doubling as more HemeScreen products are launched in the latter half of 2020. Furthermore, we estimate that in the US there are likely over 150 similar-size potential customers which may benefit from Precipio's Reagent Rental program.

10:00 EDT Western Asset Mortgage rises 10.0% - Western Asset Mortgage is up 10.0%, or 36c to $3.96.

10:00 EDT Latam Airlines rises 15.8% - Latam Airlines is up 15.8%, or 46c to $3.37.

09:47 EDT Steel Partners rises 9.3% - Steel Partners is up 9.3%, or 58c to $6.79.

09:37 EDT Nikola Corporation trading resumes

09:32 EDT Nikola Corporation trading halted, volatility trading pause

09:28 EDT Chesapeake trading halted, news pending

09:21 EDT Virtu POSIT Alert Europe sets new value traded record - Virtu Financial announced a record trading day for its POSIT Alert Europe block indications network, with over GBP1.256B in notional value traded on June 5, 2020. This surpasses the previous European record set in October 2018. Virtu's global institutional block indications network, POSIT Alert, delivers block liquidity to subscribers in 38 countries. POSIT Alert brings together liquidity sourced from both electronic conditional orders, as well directly from trader OMSs to enable matching that does not require negotiation.

09:18 EDT Kelso provides update on suspension and WILDERTEC program - Kelso Technologies reports that through the Company's wholly owned subsidiary KIQ X Industries is working to become a leading developer of a new generation of specialized wilderness response transportation equipment under the Company's KXI WILDERTEC development program. The KXI program's flagship product is a unique patent-pending wilderness suspension system for wheeled vehicles. The KXI Suspension provides new rapid response "Road-To-No-Road" capabilities for commercial operators regardless of the climate or the severity of the terrain. The KXI Suspension also provides unique versatility in commercial wilderness applications reducing dependencies on less capable all terrain vehicles such as pick up trucks, ATVs, track machines, heavy equipment and helicopters. The KXI Suspension meets the environmental benchmark of less than 2 PSI of nominal vehicle ground pressure and leaves virtually no environmentally destructive tracks in its path, meeting Kelso's corporate goals of producing products that can minimize environmental harm. Still subject to the many business challenges including supply chains imposed by the current COVID-19 pandemic, KXI Suspension is in its final product development stages. KIQX has successfully completed the first KXI Suspension equipped vehicle prototype and is working to complete the second prototype conversion in the second quarter of 2020. These prototypes provide the final design template for the initial commercial pilot production system whereby 24 vehicles will be equipped with KXI Suspensions that will be sold or leased to customers. This will set the stage for scaling production plans to meet market demand. KIQX is currently securing interested independent third-party commercial partners for the Company's independent wilderness testing program which will lead to the commencement of Kelso's full marketing initiatives. Initial interest to the KXI has been very encouraging. Many wilderness stakeholders have expressed their willingness to test the KXI in their operations with their goal of expanding their adoption of the KXI Suspension system.

09:13 EDT Karyopharm doses first patient in Phase 1/2 study of selinexor with therapy - Karyopharm Therapeutics announced dosing of the first patient in a Phase 1/2 clinical study evaluating oral selinexor in combination with standard of care therapy in patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent glioblastoma. This global study is expected to enroll approximately 400 patients at clinical sites in the U.S., Europe, and Israel. Selinexor is an oral selective inhibitor of nuclear export compound which blocks the cellular protein XPO1, whose function includes playing a key role in regulating the activity of tumor suppressor proteins and other oncoproteins relevant in cancer cell biology. XPO1 may be an important, novel target in the treatment of patients with GBM as it is frequently overexpressed in both GBM and in high-grade gliomas, and the degree of XPO1 over-expression correlates with higher tumor grade and poor overall patient survival. Nonclinical studies indicate that selinexor has potent anti-GBM activity as monotherapy and is synergistic when combining with radiation, temozolomide and lomustine. Additionally, in previous clinical studies, selinexor has demonstrated that it crosses the blood-brain barrier with adequate intra-tumoral penetration and single-agent efficacy with durable response and disease stabilization in heavily pretreated GBM patients further supporting the rationale for clinical development of selinexor to treat patients with brain cancers. The randomized, multi-center, Phase 1/2 study will be conducted in two phases: a Phase 1 dose finding study followed by a Phase 2 randomized efficacy exploration study, designed to independently evaluate three different combination regimens in three treatment arms in patients with newly diagnosed GBM or with recurrent GBM. Arms A and B will investigate selinexor in combination with radiation therapy with or without the addition of temozolomide, while Arm C will evaluate the combination of selinexor and lomustine. The primary endpoints in the study are progression-free survival in patients with newly diagnosed GBM and overall survival in patients with recurrent GBM.

09:12 EDT Net 1 UEPS to reduce board size, reconstitute committees - Net 1 UEPS Technologies announced that Messrs. Paul Edwards and Alfred T. Mockett will resign from their positions as members of the board of directors, effective June 30, 2020. In addition, Mr. Alasdair J. K. Pein advised the Company that he will not stand for re-election at the Company's next annual meeting expected to be held in November 2020. These voluntary retirements, together with the previously-announced retirement of Mr. Christopher S. Seabrooke, were offered by the longest serving non-executive directors to facilitate a resizing of the board and also reduce the average tenure of the remaining board members materially. As a result, from July 1, 2020 the board will comprise two executive and seven non-executive directors, reducing to six non-executive directors after the 2020 annual meeting. The Company also announced that that the board has reviewed the constitution of its committees and made changes effective July 1, 2020. Net1's board committees comprise only non-employee directors. The board of directors also performed a review of the Company's non-employee director fee structure. Through benchmarking against an appropriate group of peer companies, it has determined a revised fee structure that will, among other things, reduce the base non-executive director fee by 33%.

09:10 EDT OSW holder Deep Field issues statement, urges holders to vote against deal - Deep Field Asset Management, a Beverly Hills-based investment adviser of funds that beneficially own 1,842,487 shares of OneSpaWorld Holdings, issued the following statement: "According to a research report published last night by Stifel, in private conversations with several investors on June 8 regarding what would happen if the proposed financing is voted down, OSW management "indicated they have other options to raise liquidity although they may not have enough time to implement those options before tripping their debt covenant at the end of June." This selective disclosure directly contradicts prior written disclosure by management on its Schedule 14A proxy filings, where the linchpin of management's case defending the $75 million transaction to shareholders has been the insistence that there are no realistic alternatives to the transaction. The Company's May 26th Investor Presentation states "if the proposals are not approved, a viable and timely alternative is unlikely to emerge". Further, in a June 5th letter to shareholders, Leonard Fluxman wrote "without [investor] approval of the equity financing, [OSW] will run out of cash in approximately 75 days". But Stifel goes on to paraphrase management's message to investors: "if they did use their cash on their balance sheet to pay down their revolver [before June 30], management estimates they would have ~70 days of cash left on the balance sheet and would then just trip their covenant in September." So the June 30 deadline is apparently a ruse; in the very worst case, management says we can get past June 30, and 70 days gives us until the latter part of August, which is clearly more than enough time to find an attractive and competitive replacement financing. From our conversations with fellow shareholders, management's purported lack of alternatives is clearly the definitive reason cited as a basis to vote for this transaction, which makes this question absolutely essential to the entire argument. We therefore call on OSW management to correct their selective disclosure immediately and to clarify their prior public statements. Because it now appears that they have acknowledged openly (albeit in private) that they have identified potentially viable alternative options to raise liquidity, OSW management must publicly state what these options are. There can be no doubt that these options are highly material to OSW shareholders in deciding on how to vote on the highly dilutive insider transaction. Furthermore, the filing by a Board of proxy statements which conflict with management's selectively disclosed honest assessment of its options may constitute gross negligence. The importance of the shareholder vote on OSW's highly dilutive insider transaction cannot be overstated - and we continue to urge shareholders to vote AGAINST this deal."

09:09 EDT RealReal says April GMV declines 33% YoY, May GMV declines 19% - The RealReal provided a business update in accordance with the SEC's disclosure guidance with respect to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The RealReal has seen substantial recovery in its business over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. From mid-March, when San Francisco Bay Area shelter-in-place directives began going into effect, through mid-April, Gross Merchandise Value declined approximately 44% year over year. Since then, GMV trends have improved. April GMV declined approximately 33% YoY, and May GMV declined approximately 19% YoY. GMV declines continued moderating throughout May, with GMV declining 16% YoY from mid-May through the end of the month. These GMV improvements have continued into June, with GMV declining 11% YoY from June 1 through June 7. These growth rates compare with YoY GMV growth of approximately 30% prior to the shelter-in-place directives. As previously disclosed, the company believes the primary limitation on GMV has been its ability to process supply under the shelter-in-place restrictions. Demand remained healthy in April and May, and traffic sessions remained positive for March, April and May on a YoY basis despite significant reductions in advertising spend. The combined impact of a return to higher staffing levels in its warehouses and efficiency benefits from investments in automation have increased the company's capacity to process new supply at pre-COVID levels in terms of items per day. The RealReal is well-positioned to continue recovering as supply trends improve, subject to any new restrictions that may be placed on the company's operations by local or state government authorities in the future. Supply units shipped to the company's e-commerce facilities increased approximately 47% month over month in May, though supply units are still below pre-COVID levels. The company has conducted nearly 20,000 virtual appointments since launching the service in response to the pandemic, and interest in its vendor channel from business sellers has increased 10 times vs. pre-COVID levels. Together, virtual appointments and vendor interest have markedly improved the company's ability to source supply. Given the return of processing capacity to pre-COVID levels and continued improvements in supply and GMV trends, The RealReal has begun reinvesting in growth as compared with planned expense reductions of more than $70 million as detailed in our Q1 2020 earnings announcement on May 6, 2020. The company has recalled a substantial portion of its furloughed employees and resumed marketing investments and hiring in its technology teams. The company will adjust operating expenses based on trends in the business. In addition, certain COVID-driven operating expenses such as PPE and deep cleaning services remain at elevated levels. Conditions remain volatile with the company's retail stores temporarily closed except for consignment drop-off and continued supply headwinds in areas such as New York City. In addition, the continued evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest may disrupt the company's operations, slow its ability to access supply in consignors' homes and, as a result, negatively impact consumer demand. The RealReal will continue to closely monitor the development of the COVID-19 pandemic; federal, state and local operating restrictions; and changes in consignor and buyer activity on its platform.

09:06 EDT OncoSec to expand KEYNOTE-890 study with combination with TAVO and KEYTRUDA - OncoSec Medical (ONCS) announced that, based upon tumor regression and associated clinical responses observed in the heavily pretreated Cohort 1 of the KEYNOTE-890 study, the Company plans to expand into earlier first-line treatment to investigate the combination of OncoSec's lead product candidate TAVO, or plasmid-based interleukin-12 or pIL-12, and Merck's (MRK) KEYTRUDA, or pembrolizumab, plus chemotherapy in patients with inoperable locally advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer, or mTNBC. Cohort 2 will be added as a second arm to the ongoing KEYNOTE-890 study. Merck's Phase 3 KEYNOTE-355 trial evaluating KEYTRUDA in combination with chemotherapy in first-line mTNBC recently reported a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression free survival with the combination of KEYTRUDA plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone for first-line treatment of patients with PD-L1 positive mTNBC. Safety was consistent with known profiles of each regimen. These findings, as well as the strong signal, even in patients with PD-L1 negative tumors, and excellent safety profile observed in KEYNOTE-890 Cohort 1, served as the basis for OncoSec's decision to move into first-line mTNBC.

09:04 EDT Allegiant Travel reports May scheduled service traffic down 70.1% - Reports May scheduled service: Passengers down 71.4%; capacity down 47.2%; load factor down 36.3 pts; departures down 48.8%.

09:03 EDT Allegiant Travel reports May total system passengers down 71.5% - Capacity was down 47.7%; departures down 49.1%.

09:02 EDT Canterbury Park announces reopening plans - Canterbury Park Holding announced that the live thoroughbred and quarter horse racing season at Canterbury Park will begin on Wednesday, June 10, following unanimous approval from the Minnesota Racing Commission, or MRC. Pursuant to an Emergency Executive Order issued on Friday, June 8 by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Canterbury Park will be able to accommodate a limited number of spectators during live racing and resume simulcast wagering operations on June 10. The MRC also approved an amendment to the existing cooperative marketing and purse agreement between Canterbury Park and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in support of the upcoming race meet. In addition, the Company anticipates all table games in the Company's Card Casino will resume Monday, June 15 with initial capacity limitations.

09:00 EDT Energy Focus announces 1-for-5 reverse stock split - Energy Focus announced that the Company will effect a 1-for-5 reverse stock split of its common stock on June 11, 2020. The Company's common stock is expected to begin trading on a split-adjusted basis on The Nasdaq Capital Market at the market open on June 12, 2020. The reverse stock split is intended to increase the per share trading price of the Company's common stock to satisfy the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market. The reverse stock split was approved by the Company's stockholders at the Company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on December 17, 2019 to be affected at the Board's discretion within approved parameters. The specific ratio was subsequently approved by the Company's Board on June 2, 2020. As a result of the reverse stock split, every five pre-split shares of common stock outstanding will become one share of common stock. The reverse stock split reduces the number of shares of the Company's outstanding common stock from approximately 15.9 million shares to approximately 3.2 million shares, subject to adjustment due to the payment of cash in lieu of fractional shares. The reverse stock split also applies to common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Company's outstanding warrants and stock options. No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the reverse stock split. Stockholders who otherwise would be entitled to receive fractional shares will receive cash equal to the resulting fractional interest in one share of the Company's common stock to which the stockholder would otherwise be entitled, multiplied by the closing trading price of the Company's common stock on June 10, 2020. Holders of the Company's common stock held in book-entry form or through a bank, broker or other nominee do not need to take any action in connection with the reverse stock split. Stockholders of record will be receiving information from Broadridge Corporate Issuer Solutions, Inc., the Company's transfer agent, regarding their stock ownership post-split. The new CUSIP number for the Company's common stock following the reverse stock split will be 29268T409.

08:49 EDT MoneyGram reports May digital transactions up 100% - MoneyGram International reported 100% year-over-year digital transaction growth in May - a significant acceleration from the Q1 where the company reported 57% growth. Overall digital growth in May was driven by the following components: MoneyGram Online, the company's direct to consumer channel, delivered 107% year-over-year transaction growth in May, with over 80% of transactions completed on a mobile device; Digital partnerships, driven by key partners in Asia Pacific and Middle East, accelerated from 67% year-over-year transaction growth in April to 92% growth in May; Account deposit & mobile wallet transactions increased 156% in May which is an acceleration from the first quarter where the company reported 80% year-over-year transaction growth. Growth has been driven by markets such as the Philippines where sends to mobile wallets have increased over 200% compared to the prior year.

08:48 EDT Conduent Transportation partners with PayNearMe in Arizona - Conduent Transportation announced a collaboration with Arizona's court system and PayNearMe to provide citizens an easy and convenient way to pay off parking tickets and other fines using cash at participating stores like 7-Eleven and Family Dollar. This close-to-home option can help ticket-holders save money on transportation costs while adhering to social distancing practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The program, recently launched by the Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts, particularly aims to assist households in the state that need or want to pay with cash. This includes individuals who do not have a bank account. According to the Federal Reserve, close to one-quarter of the U.S. population is either unbanked or underbanked - meaning they have a bank account but prefer to use alternative payment methods such as money orders. A similar biennial FDIC study found that more than 24 percent of Arizonians are unbanked or underbanked.

08:45 EDT One Stop Systems appoints three new independent board members - One Stop Systems (OSS) has appointed three independent board members, Sita Lowman, Gioia Messinger, and Greg Matz, to its board of directors, effective July 1. The new directors will join Chairman Kenneth Potashner and directors Kimberly Sentovich, Jack Harrison, and interim CEO, David Raun. Following the new appointments, the board will be composed of seven members, four men and three women, with six being independent directors. Lowman currently serves as vice president and general manager for the platform services business of DXC Technologies (DXC). Messinger founded and currently serves as principal of LinkedObjects, a strategic advisory services business focused on digital transformation brought about by AI and IoT. Matz previously served as senior vice president, chief financial officer, and chief risk officer at The Cooper Companies.

08:41 EDT Marrone Bio, UPL sign exclusive distribution agreement for REGALIA MAXX - Marrone Bio Innovations announced the signing of an exclusive commercial agreement with UPL to distribute REGALIA MAXX Fungicide in the Republic of South Africa. REGALIA MAXX is MBI's flagship biofungicide that improves yield and harvest quality by stimulating the plant's ability to fight disease. The preventative nature of REGALIA MAXX provides early control of a variety of plant diseases in over a dozen crops. MBI has also submitted registration for their bioinsecticide GRANDEVO in the Republic of South Africa.

08:36 EDT Color Star Technology announces plans for post acquisition of Color China - Color Star Technology announced its strengthened effort in achieving its long term strategy post acquisition of Color China Entertainment. Concurrent of ongoing progress in the development of its proprietary online education platform "Color Star," the Company also plans to host an online concert in the second half of 2020 to introduce professional music instructors who will offer lessons on the Color Star platform. The Company is expected to begin onboarding artists and open to students for registration in the second half of 2020.

08:35 EDT Superior Industries addresses NYSE continued listing standards - Superior Industries announced that on June 5, it received notice from the New York Stock Exchange that it currently is not in compliance with the continued listing standards set forth in Section 802.01B of the NYSE's Listed Company Manual due to the fact that the Company's average global market capitalization over a consecutive 30 trading-day period was less than $50 million and, at the same time, its shareholders' equity was less than $50 million. Superior Industries said in a release, "The Notice has no immediate impact on the listing of the Company's common stock, does not affect the Company's ongoing business operations or its reporting obligations with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and does not conflict with or cause an event of default under any of the Company's debt or other agreements. As a result of the Notice, the Company became subject to the procedures set forth in Rule 802.02 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual and in accordance with such procedures, the Company intends to submit a business plan within 45 days of receipt of the Notice that demonstrates the Company's ability to resume compliance with the continued listing standards. Upon receipt of this plan, the NYSE will have up to 45 days to review and determine whether the Company has made a reasonable demonstration of its ability to come into conformity with the listing standards. If the plan is accepted by the NYSE, the Company would be subject to ongoing quarterly monitoring for compliance with the plan and have up to 18 months from July 1, 2020 to demonstrate compliance. If the plan is not accepted, or if the Company fails to maintain compliance with the plan, the Company would be subject to delisting proceedings. The Company remains confident in its business prospects and liquidity position and believes that it will successfully resume compliance with the NYSE's continued listing standards. For reference, the market capitalization of the Company was above $50 million prior to the stock market decline triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and as of the close of business on June 8, 2020, Superior's market capitalization was $54 million."

08:33 EDT Trxade Group appoints Ashton Maaraba as president of Bonum Health - Trxade Group announced that Ashton Maaraba is joining the Company as President of Bonum Health, Trxade Group's telemedicine practice. His most recent position was the President of AshHealth, a healthcare market advisory firm located in Rochester, New York, where he spearheaded all facets of the business including market research, data analysis, financial development, business management and operations.

08:32 EDT Twist Bioscience and Serimmune announce SARS-CoV-2 collaboration - Twist Bioscience and Serimmune announced a collaboration to identify and evaluate SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic antibody candidates from Twist libraries. The collaboration will evaluate existing Twist antibody candidates that bind with high affinity to either SARS-CoV-2 S1 spike protein or the human ACE2 cellular receptor, using Serimmune's Serum Epitope Repertoire Analysis, or SERA, platform, which maps the antigenic targets of antibody repertoires. Epitopes identified in the first phase will then be used to re-screen Twist's proprietary synthetic antibody discovery libraries to identify and evaluate new candidates while at the same time further increasing the specificity of antibody candidates. Twist will be responsible for advancing all antibodies resulting from the collaboration.

08:25 EDT Royale Energy completes two North Jameson wells - Royale Energy announces that it has completed and put into production two new vertical low cost oil wells in its North Jameson field in the Permian Basin in Nolan County, Texas. The McCabe #61 was completed in the Strawn formation pumping at a rate of 106 barrels of oil per day, 40 MCF per day and no water. The well has 25 ft. of net oil pay. The McCabe #62 has been completed in the Odom formation pumping at a rate of 110 barrels of oil per day. The Odom formation has 24 ft. of net oil pay. McCabe #62 was drilled as an infill evaluation of the Odom and Strawn. The Strawn formation has 21 ft. of net oil pay and will remain behind pipe for a future completion. The well also encountered 27 ft. of possible oil net pay in the Canyon/Goen formations. Both wells were identified using the new 3D seismic survey covering all of Royale's North Jameson Field. Two nearby PUD's locations in the Jameson field and one Sansinena oil well are currently being funded in the Royale Reserves II project. Accredited investors can call the company for the Royale Reserves II 506(c) Private Placement Memorandum and will be subject to verification as an accredited investor and other conditions. The Whittier W-1 ST5 well in the West Whittier field has been put on pump and the rate has increased to 158 barrels of oil per day Royale Energy owns 39.27% net revenue interest in the McCabe #61 and 42.67% net revenue interest in the McCabe #62 well. Royale Energy owns approximately 29% net revenue interest in the W1-ST5.

08:23 EDT FONAR appoints Richard Turk to board of directors - FONAR announced that on June 4, 2020, its board of directors appointed Richard Turk as a replacement independent director to fill vacancies on the Company's board of directors and audit committee. Turk is the Chief Development Officer of PRISM Vision Group.

08:22 EDT Aytu says NCI study 'further establishes clinical validity' of COVID-19 test - Aytu BioScience announced that the FDA has published data from the National Cancer Institute's, or NCI, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, and its evaluation of the COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test distributed by the Company. Aytu said in a release, "A well-characterized panel of 30 confirmed SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive, and 80 SARS-CoV-2 antibody-negative samples collected prior to 2020 were tested in an independent validation study performed by the NCI. 96.7% and 100% sensitivity were estimated for IgG and IgM, respectively. 97.5% and 100% specificity were estimated for IgG and IgM, respectively. Furthermore, combined sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 97.5%, respectively." Josh Disbrow, CEO of Aytu BioScience, commented, "This independently-conducted study by the National Cancer Institute further establishes the clinical validity of this rapid test in identifying patients with an adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2. As one of only four lateral flow SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays to receive an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA, it is important that clinicians understand the performance of the independently validated assays as they select an appropriate test for clinical use."

08:20 EDT Mammoth Energy announces filing of Rand Corporation report findings - Mammoth Energy Services announced that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a detailed independent reasonableness analysis of the October 19, 2017 emergency Master Services Agreement between Cobra Acquisitions and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. The report adds further validation to a December 23, 2017 letter from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Government of Puerto Rico that the costs under the MSA were reasonable and the MSA was awarded in compliance with applicable procurement provisions. After over a year of requests under the Freedom of Information Act, Mammoth received a copy of a detailed independent assessment of the reasonableness of the emergency MSA dated October 19, 2017 between the Company's subsidiary Cobra and PREPA for repairs to PREPA's electrical grid as a result of Hurricane Maria. This report, titled "Reasonableness Analysis of Cobra Acquisitions, LLC Emergency Contract - Cost Validation Report" dated March 28, 2019, was prepared at the request of FEMA by the Homeland Security Operational and Analysis Center, a federally funded research and development center operated by the Rand Corporation for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's request for the Rand Report followed a December 22, 2017 Determination Memorandum produced by FEMA that found the MSA to be reasonable The 77-page Rand Report's comprehensive analysis and findings are significant and contain, among others, the following conclusions: Selection of Cobra was reasonable: "Having examined [the foregoing] aspects regarding the reasonableness of PREPA's emergency procurement process, HSOAC finds that selecting Cobra for the MSA was reasonable considering FEMA policy on emergency situations and existing regulations regarding contracting." PREPA adhered to procurement statutes and policies in awarding the contract to Cobra: "PREPA adhered to Puerto Rican legal statutes regarding emergency situations and remained consistent with their own internal policies...Thus, according to this evaluation of the procurement process HSOAC concludes that PREPA engaged in a reasonable procurement process given the circumstances following Hurricane Maria." Cobra's rates were reasonable: "We conclude that Cobra's blended rates fall within representative ranges for high voltage emergency repair work. This conclusion is delivered from analytical investigation which combined knowledge of work conditions, assumptions into wage burdens, evaluation of the equipment quantities and workforce structures, different assumptions about fuel costs, and inclusion of the best benchmark data and current adjustment factors available at this time....Cobra's blended rates fall within estimated ranges in all scenarios we considered."

08:18 EDT Cardiff Oncology initiates EAP for onvansertib, FOLFIRI, bevacizumab combo - Cardiff Oncology announced initiation of its Expanded Access Program for its investigational drug onvansertib, in combination with standard-of-care FOLFIRI and bevacizumab, for second-line treatment of patients with KRAS-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer.

08:17 EDT Hanesbrands appoints Stephen Bratspies as CEO, effective Aug. 3 - HanesBrands (HBI) announced that its board has appointed Stephen Bratspies as CEO and board member, effective August 3. Bratspies will succeed Gerald Evans Jr., who previously announced his plans to retire after a 37-year career at HanesBrands. Most recently, Bratspies served as chief merchandising officer at Walmart (WMT).

08:15 EDT Seven Bridges announces a new partnership withCareDx - Seven Bridges announced a new partnership with CareDx supporting the CareDx AlloSure 3.0 workflow. The use of the Seven Bridges Platform and Automation products dramatically speed time to results by streamlining analysis workflows, minimizing the number of manual steps required to set up, run and conclude an analysis. AlloSure is the first clinically and analytically validated, non-invasive donor-derived cell-free DNA, or dd-cfDNA, test for identifying kidney injury. AlloSure can accurately determine active rejection, enabling better management of kidney transplant patients.

08:12 EDT Virtusa announces new marketplace for healthcare, life sciences organizations - Virtusa Corporation announced a new marketplace that provides Healthcare and Life Sciences organizations with click, try, and buy access to applications and solutions that will increase efficiency and lower costs, including for virtual care. Virtual care visits are predicted to exceed 1 billion in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing care management, mental health needs, and the 2020 flu season, according to a new ForresterNow report. Except for frontline medical professionals and first responders, Healthcare and Life Sciences organizations have been restricted in the type of work that can be done because of COVID-19. Elective surgeries, wellness appointments, clinical trials of new medications and devices have all been on hold. In addition to restarting normal operations, Healthcare and Life Sciences organization must manage a massive backlog of patients, appointments, tests, and tracking results of clinical trials. The new vLife marketplace incorporates more than 500 AI-based technologies from Virtusa and partners that will be in demand as organizations restart operations. vLife has been redesigned from the ground up to process these critical workloads quickly while avoiding skyrocketing costs.

08:10 EDT Titan Medical announces settlement of pending litigation with Naglreiter - Titan Medical announces that it has entered into a settlement agreement with Naglreiter Consulting, LLC, d/b/a Naglreiter MDDO, to settle claims in the lawsuit styled Naglreiter Consulting LLC, d/b/a Naglreiter MDDO v. Titan Medical Inc. pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Titan said in a release, "Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Titan will pay a sum of $1,050,000, Naglreiter will return certain personal property and related electronic data in its possession, and the pending litigation will be dismissed with prejudice. Each party is responsible for its own costs, expenses and attorneys' fees. The settlement agreement is an important step for Titan, allowing it to focus on the development of its single-port robotic surgical system and on the activities contemplated under the recently announced development and license agreement with Medtronic."

08:08 EDT Kratos Defense promotes Marie Mendoza to SVP, general counsel - Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced that Marie Mendoza has been promoted to SVP and General Counsel of the Corporation. In this senior leadership position, Mendoza will continue to oversee the corporate legal department, serve as liaison between the Company and outside counsel, and provide strategic direction on all legal and related business matters. Mendoza has been with Kratos since 2011, most recently serving as the Company's VP and General Counsel since 2015.

08:06 EDT PRA Group reports May global cash collections up 6% from last year - PRA Group provided an update on cash collections for the month of May and portfolio purchasing. Cash collections highlights for the month of May include: global cash collections were 6% ahead, or 8% ahead on a currency adjusted basis, of May 2019 and 27% ahead of the COVID adjusted expected cash collections; in the U.S., cash collections were 15% ahead of the original expected collections and 36% ahead of the COVID adjusted expected collections; in Europe, cash collections were 5% behind of the original expected collections and 7% ahead of the COVID adjusted expected collections. Cash collections highlights for the first two months of the Q2 include: global cash collections were 2% ahead, or 5% ahead on a currency adjusted basis, of the same period in 2019 and 24% ahead of the COVID adjusted expected cash collections; In the U.S., cash collections were 11% ahead of the original expected collections and 32% ahead of the COVID adjusted expected collections; In Europe, cash collections were 6% behind of the original expected collections and 6% ahead of the COVID adjusted expected collections. Portfolio purchasing highlights for the first two months of the second quarter of 2020 include: Global portfolio purchases were $100.3 million with investment of $86.5M in the Americas and $13.8M in Europe;

08:05 EDT Equifax provides update regarding six free Equifax credit reports - In connection with various settlements that were entered in July of 2019, Equifax previously announced that it would make six free Equifax credit reports available for U.S. consumers during any twelve-month period for seven years without any charge. Equifax will now make these free reports available online via AnnualCreditReport.com, rather than through myEquifax. Consumers will no longer need to enroll in myEquifax to receive these six free reports, and can access their free reports online at AnnualCreditReport.com.

08:03 EDT Lynwood Investments files suit against F5 Networks, others over NGINX software - Lynwood Investments CY Limited has sued F5 Networks, a number of former employees of Russia-based Rambler Internet Holding, their associates, and two major venture capital firms, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, in a dispute concerning the NGINX web server software business enterprise. The NGINX software helps run an estimated 450M websites around the world. Lynwood seeks damages of at least $750M in the action. In May 2019, F5 Networks paid $670M to acquire the NGINX-based enterprise from NGINX, Inc., a company formed in 2011 by former Rambler employees Maxim Konovalov and Igor Sysoev, and others, prior to their departure from Rambler. The NGINX web server software is used to operate an estimated 450M web sites worldwide. The lawsuit, however, alleges that Lynwood, not NGINX, Inc., F5 Networks or the other named defendants, is the rightful owner of the NGINX enterprise, including the NGINX software and related commercial software offerings known as NGINX Plus, through an assignment from Rambler. The NGINX software was developed principally by defendant Igor Sysoev and other former Rambler employees during the course of their employment with Rambler, located in Moscow, from 2001 to 2011. The suit alleges that the NGINX software and related proprietary extensions thereto, including NGINX Plus, constitute works for hire owned by Rambler, and now Lynwood as Rambler's assignee. According to the complaint filed by Lynwood, the underlying facts giving rise to the suit were discovered after a whistleblower currently residing in the U.S. disclosed the misconduct in 2019. Lynwood then conducted its own extensive investigation, including a forensic analysis, to verify the whistleblower's revelations before filing suit. The investigation revealed evidence that the former Rambler employees had gone to great lengths to hide their plans and efforts to take the NGINX software and related enterprise and monetize it for their own benefit, without Rambler's knowledge, consent or participation, the complaint states. Named defendants in the suit include F5 Networks, Konovalov, Sysoev, Andrey Alexeev, former Rambler employees Maxim Dounin and Gleb Smirnoff, NGINX, Inc. and related entities, Angus Robertson, formerly an executive at NGINX, Inc. and now with F5 Networks, as well as Silicon Valley venture capital firms Runa Capital and E.Ventures.

08:03 EDT Great Panther Silver receives favourable recommendations from advisory firms - Great Panther Mining reports that Glass Lewis & Co. and Institutional Shareholder Services have both recommended that shareholders vote FOR all proposed items to be considered at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company. The AGM is scheduled for 11.00am PDT on Wednesday, June 24. This year, the AGM will be held in a virtual format via live webcast. By participating online, shareholders will be able to listen to a live audio cast of the meeting, ask questions online and submit votes in real time.

08:01 EDT Tesla shares will be $2,000 or $3,000 in five years, Baron says - Ron Baron of Baron Capital, while speaking on CNBC, said shares of Tesla will be at $2,000 or $3,000 in five years. The stock closed Friday up $64.26 to $949.92. Baron added that he would like to be able to get more money to buy more Tesla. The billionaire see Tesla shares double or tripling in five years, then double or tripling again in the next five. He sees earning 20 times his initial investment over time, versus the four times profit he currently has on his Tesla investment.

07:51 EDT Ron Baron says Tesla shares could double or triple in five years - Ron Baron of Baron Capital is speaking on CNBC.

07:48 EDT Plus Products CFO John Paul to retire - Plus Products announced that the Company's CFO, Jon Paul, will be retiring at the end of this month, and current VP of Finance, Nate Pearson, has been identified as his successor. Following his retirement, Mr. Paul will continue in an advisory role to ensure a smooth transition to Mr. Pearson, who is expected to be officially appointed on or around July 1, 2020.

07:46 EDT Ron Baron wants to buy more Tesla shares despite rally - Ron Baron of Baron Capital is speaking on CNBC.

07:45 EDT Ron Baron bought more Activision, Charles Schwab on weakness - Ron Baron of Baron Capital is speaking on CNBC.

07:44 EDT Ron Baron bought more Hyatt shares on COVID waekness - Ron Baron of Baron Capital is speaking on CNBC.

07:43 EDT Kite Realty Group reports rent collections at 76% for April, 66% for May - Kite Realty Group Trust provided the following update. Rent collections currently stand at 76% for April 2020 and 66% for May 2020. While still early in the month, June 2020 is trending ahead of both April and May at the same point in time. As of today, 91% of retail ABR is now open in some capacity.

07:42 EDT Verso plans to idle two mills and reduce workforce by 1,000 employees - Verso announced that it is taking immediate actions to offset unprecedented market decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to reposition the company for future success. Verso will indefinitely idle paper mills in Duluth, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, while exploring viable and sustainable alternatives for both mills, including restarting if market conditions improve, marketing for sale or closing permanently. The decision to reduce production capacity is driven by the accelerated decline in graphic paper demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The stay-at-home orders have significantly reduced the use of print advertising in various industries, including retail, sports, entertainment and tourism. According to Fastmarkets RISI, North American printing & writing demand fell by 38% year-over-year in April, and operating rates are expected to drop well below 70% during the Q2. Verso expects to idle the Duluth Mill by the end of June and the Wisconsin Rapids Mill by the end of July resulting in the layoff of approximately 1,000 employees. Verso will continue to supply graphic and specialty papers in roll and sheet form, as well as packaging papers and pulp.

07:38 EDT Revolution Medicines doses first patient in Phase 1b study of RMC-4630, AMG 510 - Revolution Medicines (RVMD) announced dosing of the first patient in a Phase 1b clinical trial evaluating the combination of RMC-4630, the company's investigational SHP2 inhibitor, and AMG 510, Amgen's (AMGN) investigational KRAS inhibitor. The trial, which is being sponsored and conducted by Amgen with clinical supply of RMC-4630 provided by Revolution Medicines, is an open-label, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of the combination of RMC-4630 and AMG 510 in patients with advanced solid tumors harboring the KRAS mutation. RMC-4630 is a potent and orally bioavailable small molecule that is designed to selectively inhibit the activity of SHP2, an upstream cellular protein that plays a central role in modulating cell survival and growth by transmitting signals from receptor tyrosine kinases to RAS. AMG 510 is a first-in-class investigational oral therapy designed to selectively and irreversibly target the KRAS protein, an oncogenic RAS mutant at the core of the RAS signaling cascade. Preclinical and clinical research has shown that cancers caused by RAS pathway mutations exhibit "oncogene addiction," in which tumor cells become highly dependent on signaling through the RAS pathway to survive. Suppressing KRASG12C activity, either directly with AMG 510 or indirectly by inhibiting SHP2 with RMC-4630, has shown anti-tumor activity against non-small cell lung tumors harboring KRAS in early clinical trials. In addition, adaptive resistance to inhibition of RAS signaling is common. SHP2 is an upstream RAS pathway node that often plays a key role in adaptive resistance, and inhibiting SHP2 with RMC-4630 has been shown preclinically to suppress adaptive resistance to KRAS inhibitors.

07:36 EDT Albireo Pharma annouces two financing transaction, extends cash runway into 2022 - Albireo Pharma (ALBO) announced it has agreed to terms with Hercules Capital (HTGC) on a debt facility to provide up to $80M of new capital, and will receive $15M under a restructured royalty monetization agreement with HealthCare Royalty Partners for elobixibat in the treatment of chronic constipation in Japan. Elobixibat, approved in Japan for the treatment of patients with chronic constipation, is the first ileal bile acid transporter inhibitor approved anywhere in the world. Under the updated terms of the agreement with HCR, the company will receive an additional $15M on top of the $45M royalty financing commitment HCR made in 2018 for royalty rights based on sales for elobixibat in the treatment of chronic constipation in Japan. In exchange, the company eliminated the cap on HCR's rights to receive royalties on sales in Japan and sales milestones for elobixibat in certain other territories that may become payable by the Company's partner, EA Pharma Co., Ltd.. Elobixibat is marketed and sold in Japan under the trade name GOOFICE. Under the terms of the new agreement with Hercules Capital, Albireo may access up to $80M of new capital, with an initial minimum of $10M drawn down on a first available tranche of $15M, and additional tranches based on regulatory and other milestones.

07:34 EDT Brinker says 'now generating average weekly positive cash flow' - As a result of increased sales and disciplined expense management, the company is now generating average weekly positive cash flow. As of June 3, cash on hand is approximately $113M and revolver availability is $429M, resulting in available liquidity of $542M.

07:32 EDT Purple Innovation reports May Direct-to-Consumer orders up 125% from last year - Purple Innovation provided a business update prior to participating in the Oppenheimer 20th Annual Consumer Growth Conference on June 16 -17. May 2020 Direct-to-Consumer, or DTC, orders increased 125% to approximately $71M compared with the same month last year driven by growth in mattresses and bases as well as ancillary products including pillows, sheets, and seat cushions. May wholesale orders were $17.3M, a decline of less than 2% year-over-year, compared to down 43% in April as more wholesale doors reopened and weekly orders have increased on a sequential basis. As of May 31 more than two thirds of the Company's approximately 1,800 wholesale partner doors have reopened. Cash and cash equivalents increased 54% to approximately $96.1M at May 31 from $62.4M at April 30 driven primarily by accelerated growth in DTC sales and an improvement in wholesale sales. The seventh proprietary hyper-elastic polymer production machine "Max 7", is now online and overall production is running at full capacity. "Following a strong start to the second quarter, the momentum in our business continued in May driven in part by a very successful Memorial Day weekend," said Joe Megibow, CEO.

07:31 EDT SAIC announces FAA contract worth $378M - The Federal Aviation Administration selected Science Applications International to provide and modernize a variety of end-user services to FAA's diverse workforce, including service desk support, business and administrative systems infrastructure support, training services, and IT asset management, the company announced. The new single-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract is worth $378M and has a 10- year period of performance.

07:17 EDT Penske provides operational update, sees further improvement to results in June - Penske Automotive Group provided an operational update on its business, noting improvements in automotive retail business conditions when compared to March and April. Penske Automotive Group CEO Roger Penske said, "I am encouraged by the significant improvement we continue to see in our operations. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began impacting operations in the second half of March, we took actions to reduce costs and preserve our liquidity position. Based on these actions, I expect further improvements to our operating results in June and into the second half of the year as the economy continues to recover." Penske Automotive said in a release, In the United States, " All automotive retail dealership sales and service operations are open. As shelter in place orders impacted operations in April, new and used unit sales declined approximately 50% and service and parts gross profit declined by 52% when compared to April last year. In May 2020, business conditions began improving. New and used unit sales declined approximately 25% when compared to May last year and increased 60% sequentially from April to May 2020. Service and parts gross profit declined 39% in May when compared to the same-period last year but increased 28% sequentially from April to May 2020. The company's North American commercial truck dealership sales and service operations have remained open. In April 2020, new and used unit sales were essentially flat with April last year. In May 2020, new and used unit sales declined 20% when compared to May last year, as the Class 8 heavy-duty truck market adjusted from its record level last year. On a same-store basis, new and used units declined 39% as compared to April last year and declined 19% sequentially from April to May 2020. Service and parts gross profit remains strong with May fixed absorption remaining above 120% and repair orders per day increased 7% sequentially from April to May 2020." In the United Kingdom, "All dealerships had closed on March 24th in accordance with government order. Service and parts operations resumed during the middle of May while dealership showrooms re-opened on June 1, 2020, for most of the U.K. Despite the dealerships being closed, we remotely delivered approximately 2,500 vehicles in May. Further, through e-commerce efforts, our U.K. dealership operations had more than 4,000 vehicles sold and awaiting delivery at the beginning of June. Since re-opening June 1, sales have been strong and increased approximately 50% during the first week of June 2020 when compared to the same period last year." In Europe, "All dealerships and service operations in Germany, Italy and Spain are now open. As restrictions are lifted in each country, operations are improving from week to week." In Australia, "All operations are open and restrictions in the market are being gradually lifted. The mining, transportation, defense and power generation sectors remain resilient and service revenue increased 8% sequentially from April to May 2020."

07:13 EDT Esports Entertainment Group receives additional $4.4M from exercise of warrants - Esports Entertainment Group announced the receipt of approximately $4,375,000 from the exercise of warrants. Investors participating in the Esports Entertainment Group's public offering of securities, which was consummated on April 14, 2020, exercised a total of 1,029,393 warrants at a price of $4.25 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $4,375,000 since May 22, 2020. Combined with the Company's press release on May 26, in which the Company announced the receipt of approximately $1,860,000 from the exercise of warrants, the Company has received an aggregate of approximately $6,235,000 as of June 8, 2020 from the exercise of warrants by investors participating in the Company's IPO.

07:12 EDT Datametrex granted EUA for two distributed COVID-19 test kits - Datametrex AI announced that Seasun Biomaterial's 20 minute rapid Nucleic Acid test kit, AQ-TOP COVID-19 Rapid Detection Kit, has received authorization from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration registered under the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Emergency Use Authorizations for Medical Devices. Datametrex provided an update on the 1drop test kits. The 1copy COVID-19 qPCR Multi Kit has secured FDA authorization under the EUA. This is a nucleic test kit providing results in less than two hours that verifies the RdRp gene for SARS-CoV-2 with real-time qPCR kits via a nasopharyngeal swab and oropharyngeal swab, specifically targeting the E gene sequences of COVID-19. So far, Datametrex has a total of three test kits that are FDA approved under Coronavirus Disease 2019 Emergency Use Authorizations for Medical Devices available for sale. The approved test kits are 1copy COVID-19 qPCR Multi kit, Seasun U-TOP COVID 19 Detection Kit, and AQ-TOP COVID-19 Rapid Detection Kit. With regard to the FDA authorization: this test has not been FDA cleared or approved; this test has been authorized by the FDA only for the detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, not for any other viruses or pathogens; and this test is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of in vitro diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 under Section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the authorization is terminated or revoked sooner. The Company's ability to fulfill any purchase order for COVID-19 test kits is subject to the availability of inventory at the time of order. Due to the extraordinarily high demand for COVID-19 test, there is volatility in the supply chain and available supply may fluctuate on a daily basis. Datametrex anticipates that it will have little or no upfront costs associated with importing and selling these test kits.

07:11 EDT Macy's jumps 12% to $10.70 after preliminary Q1 results beat estimates

07:09 EDT Danaher's Cepheid announces new four-in-one test for COVID-19, Flu, RSV - Cepheid announced the development of a next-generation test to assist global efforts in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 during the upcoming respiratory virus season. The Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2/Flu/RSV four-in-one test is expected to deliver qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2, Flu A, Flu B and RSV from a single patient sample. The test is designed for use on any of Cepheid's more than 25,000 GeneXpert Systems placed worldwide, with results expected in as little as 35 minutes. In the coming weeks, Cepheid intends to pursue the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization pathway for regulatory authorization and make the test available globally on its cartridge-based GeneXpert Systems, which features instruments that can be configured for both near patient point-of-care and high volume laboratory testing needs.

07:08 EDT Intersect ENT announces CMS approval of SINUVA for reimbursement - Intersect ENT announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, has approved SINUVA Sinus Implant for transitional pass-through payment status for reimbursement under the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System, or OPPS, and Ambulatory Surgery Center Payment System. The new code, C9122 Mometasone furoate sinus implant, 10 micrograms, is scheduled to take effect July 1. Pass-Through status lasts for three years.

07:06 EDT Opera reports over 200M monthly active users for Opera News - Opera announced that its Opera News service now has more than 200 million monthly active users in May, a 28 percent increase year over year. The accelerating user growth for Opera News is mainly driven by three important factors: the expansion of Opera News Hub beyond Nigeria to Kenya, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa and Egypt; the launch of Opera News Lite, a downsized version of the Opera News application that enables people with new ways to access the Opera News service; and Opera News became a critical information source during the Coronavirus outbreak across both Africa and South Asia.

07:04 EDT Signet Jewelers temporarily suspending dividend program - Signet Jewelers said in its Q1 earnings release, "Consistent with the company's year end messaging, Signet's board has elected to temporarily suspend the dividend program on the common shares and has elected to pay the August quarterly dividend on its preference shares in kind."

07:02 EDT DSP Group acquires SoundChip for initial $14.5M in cash - DSP Group announced the acquisition of privately owned SoundChip. The acquisition combines SoundChip's capabilities in hybrid ANC with DSP Group's SmartVoice advanced low-power voice processing platform, algorithms, and mixed-signal expertise to streamline the delivery of cutting-edge wireless and true wireless stereo headsets, from concept through to manufacturing. DSP Group has agreed to pay $14.5M in cash upon closing of the acquisition and up to an additional $6M subject to the performance of certain business criteria. The transaction is projected to close in the third quarter of 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. DSP Group expects to fund the transaction from existing cash.

07:00 EDT Genesco not providing guidance at this time - Genesco said in its Q1 release, "Due to the continued uncertainty in the overall economy, the Company is not providing guidance at this time."

06:57 EDT Kennametal expects structural cost reduction plans to be complete in 1H21 - Kennametal is providing an update on its ongoing Simplification/Modernization initiative. In addition, it is announcing continuing cost-control actions to mitigate the lower market conditions associated with COVID-19. The company said in a release, "As part of its ongoing Simplification/Modernization initiative, the Company is accelerating its structural cost reduction plans. A restructuring of approximately 10 percent of salaried employees globally is expected to be substantially complete in the first half of fiscal 2021. Accordingly, the Company is increasing the estimated annualized benefits of its FY21 Restructuring Actions to $65 million to $75 million from $25 million to $30 million and the pre-tax charges to $90 million to $100 million from $55 million to $60 million. Effective July 1, the Company is implementing the following cost-control actions to mitigate headwinds from COVID-19: Compensation of salaried employees will temporarily be reduced by 10 to 20 percent based on job level through the first half of fiscal 2021. This action is expected to save approximately $10 million to $15 million per quarter, which is similar in amount to and replaces furloughs or similar actions currently in place for salaried employees. Kennametal's Board of Directors cash compensation will be reduced by 20 percent through the first half of fiscal 2021. The Company will continue temporary shutdowns and reduced production schedules to align manufacturing capacity to anticipated customer demand."

06:50 EDT Movado refrains from providing FY21 guidance - Given the dynamic nature of the COVID-19 crisis and lack of visibility, the potential financial impact to the business cannot be reasonably estimated. The Company is refraining from providing FY21 guidance. The measures that the Company has taken to increase its financial flexibility, together with a balance sheet that includes $188M of cash as of April 30 will help the Company perform to the best of its ability through the current unprecedented situation.

06:39 EDT Mallinckrodt completes rolling submition of BLA of StrataGraft to FDA - Mallinckrodt announced that Stratatech, a Mallinckrodt company, has completed its rolling submission of a Biologics License Application, or BLA, to the FDA for StrataGraft, a regenerative skin tissue therapy in development for the treatment of adult patients with deep partial-thickness thermal burns. The company previously announced initiation of the rolling submission in April. StrataGraft skin tissue is an investigational product, and its safety and effectiveness have not yet been established by the FDA.

06:37 EDT Tiffany CEO says 'robust recovery is underway' in Mainland China - Alessandro Bogliolo, Chief Executive Officer, said, "While the first quarter was very challenging with sales and earnings significantly impacted by COVID-19, the impact of which we expect to negatively affect our full-year sales and earnings relative to 2019, I am confident Tiffany's best days remain in front of us because there is evidence that the strategic decisions we took to focus on our Mainland China domestic business, global e-commerce, and new product innovation are paying off - even against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Let me expand, briefly, on each of these elements. First, while sales in key markets like the United States and Japan were down significantly during the first quarter, our business performance in Mainland China, which was the first market impacted by the virus, is indicative that a robust recovery is underway. Retail sales in Mainland China were down approximately 85% and 15% during the first and second months of the quarter, but up approximately 30% during April, each as compared to the same period in the prior year. Moreover, that sequential strength has continued to accelerate with May retail sales in Mainland China up approximately 90% despite global net sales being down approximately 40% in that month as compared to May 2019. This evidence not only leads us to believe that our global net sales will significantly improve over the balance of the fiscal year relative to our year-to-date performance, but also confirms that our decision to invest heavily in growing our domestic business in Mainland China was particularly prudent and well-timed, given the recent sharp decline in Chinese tourism abroad and the increase in local consumption. We are confident that Tiffany is now well positioned to benefit in the years ahead in this important market. Second, while first quarter sales were negatively impacted due to numerous store closures resulting from COVID-19, our global e-commerce business has performed well in the quarter due, in part, to last year's complete re-platforming of the front-end of our e-commerce sites and our decision to stand up a sales-enabled website in Mainland China. First quarter e-commerce sales were up 23% globally with key markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom up 14% and 15%, respectively. Additionally, sales through our Mainland China e-commerce portal have grown sequentially every quarter since the portal was launched last July. Our strong global online sales trend has continued through May, with global e-commerce sales more than doubling those of May 2019, reflecting significant increases across every region, and bringing our global e-commerce sales up to approximately 15% of our total net sales for the fiscal year-to-date May period versus the 6% that global e-commerce sales represented in each of the last three full fiscal years. Finally, Tiffany T1 - our newly launched collection in rose gold and gold with diamonds - is off to a tremendous start with cumulative sales through the end of May matching our original projections despite a significant number of our stores being closed around the world. Based on our experience with the Tiffany HardWear and Paper Flowers launches, we believe it is likely that year one sales of T1 will eclipse year one sales for these two launches combined and may well exceed the sales of Tiffany T-Color, which was successfully launched last October and since then has been often out-of-stock due to overwhelming demand."

06:34 EDT Tiffany reports gross margin 55.6% vs. 61.7% a year ago

06:25 EDT NanoViricides signs MoU for human coronavirus drug development license - NanoViricides reported that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding, or MoU, with respect to anti-viral treatments for coronavirus derived human infections with TheraCour Pharma. NanoViricides said in a release, "The MoU specifically provides a limited, exclusive license to all research and development in the Field for further research and development purposes towards human clinical trials. NanoViricides intends to retain an independent consultant for the evaluation of the assets in order to develop the full license agreement. NanoViricides has been working on drug development to treat the SARS-CoV-2 infection in COVID-19 patients since January, 2020. Prior to this, the Company had engaged in limited research and development work for the treatment of MERS coronavirus during 2014 which allowed for rapid drug candidate identification against SARS-CoV-2. The MERS coronavirus program was set aside as the 2014 outbreak remained contained. The Company has found that the broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus drug candidates that it is developing were several times more effective than favirpravir in cell culture assays against two different coronaviruses, namely hCoV-229E, and hCoV-NL63. These circulating coronaviruses use distinctly different, but related cellular receptors, namely APN for hCoV-229E and ACE2 for hCoV-NL63. The Company believes the fact that these nanoviricides anti-coronavirus drug candidates are highly effective against two distinctly different coronaviruses that use different cellular receptors is very significant. Specifically, it provides a rational basis to scientists indicating that even if the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus mutates, the nanoviricides can be expected to continue to remain effective. The Company has also found that these drug candidates showed strong effectiveness in an animal model of human coronavirus disease, potentially superior to remdesivir in this particular model, although no firm conclusions to that effect can be drawn with the limited dataset at present. The Company employed hCoV-NL63 in this animal study, because hCoV-NL63 binds to the same cell receptor, namely ACE2, as does SARS-CoV-2 and the 2002-03 SARS-CoV. NL-63 causes clinical pathology in humans that is similar to SARS-CoV-2, but much milder. Thus this virus is expected to be a good surrogate for SARS-CoV-2. The Company believes that it now has broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus drug candidates that are worthy of human clinical trials based on their effectiveness in cell culture and animal models. Importantly, nanoviricides are designed to act by a novel mechanism of action, trapping the virus particle like the "Venus-fly-trap" flower does for insects. Antibodies, in contrast, only label the virus for other components of the immune system to take care of. It is well known that the immune system is not functioning properly at least in severe COVID-19 patients. Prior to filing for human clinical trials, NanoViricides plans on conducting studies to further determine the effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2, perform drug development studies for safety/toxicology, and request a pre-IND Meeting with the FDA for regulatory guidance. Human coronavirus NL63 uses the same ACE2 receptor as the SARS-CoV-2 that causes CoVID-19. Both in terms of its clinical pathology, and its receptor usage, it is known to be very similar to SARS-CoV-2, except much milder. Therefore the Company believes hCoV-NL63 is a good surrogate model for therapeutics development against SARS-CoV-2. HCoV-NL63 can be studied in a BSL2 lab whereas SARS-CoV-2 currently requires a BSL3 or BSL4 facility."

06:14 EDT Cedar Fair implements new protocols to open several properties for 2020 season - Cedar Fair Entertainment has implemented new health, safety and hygiene protocols that will allow the phased opening of several popular properties for the 2020 season: Kings Island in Mason, Ohio will open its amusement park on July 2; Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky is planning a July 9 opening; the park previously announced that its Hotel Breakers and Lighthouse Point RV sites would open June 12; The Schlitterbahn waterparks in New Braunfels and Galveston, Texas will open June 13; and Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri will open its amusement park on June 22. All parks are opening with limited capacity, and initially will be open for season passholders only; daily ticketholders will be able to visit shortly thereafter. Opening dates for the waterparks at Cedar Point, Kings Island and Worlds of Fun are yet to be determined. Knott's Berry Farm opened selected locations in its California Marketplace on June 8, and plans to continue opening additional marketplace retail and dining locations through June 20.

06:08 EDT Aurinia Pharmaceuticals presents additional AURORA trial safety data - Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced that additional safety data from the completed AURORA pivotal trial of voclosporin were shared at the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association 2020 Virtual Congress in an oral presentation given by nephrologist Dawn Caster, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. The data showed that pre-specified confirmed estimated glomerular filtration rate decreases of over 30% were similar in both AURORA trial patient groups, with 10.1% reported in the voclosporin group and 10.2% in the control arm. eGFR is a standard measure of kidney function. No clinically meaningful differences between the treatment and control groups were seen at any timepoints in the study on this parameter or in serum creatinine levels, another biomarker for renal damage. All patients in the AURORA study were treated with mycophenolate and a background of corticosteroids. MMF is considered the standard-of-care for lupus nephritis, although unapproved by the FDA for that use.

06:04 EDT BrainStorm awarded $500K for ALS biomarker research study by the ALS Association - The ALS Association and I AM ALS announced that the organizations have awarded a combined grant of $500,000 to BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics to support an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, biomarker research study. The ALS Association said in a release, "The grant will be used to draw insights from data and samples collected from patients enrolled in BrainStorm's ongoing phase 3 clinical trial of its NurOwn treatment, to further understanding of critical biomarkers associated with treatment response for people with ALS. The study is designed to evaluate how NurOwn interacts with its targets in the brain and spinal cord and to explore the changes in the biomarkers that may correlate with response to the drug treatment. Biomarkers are any measurable substance in the body that change over time, such as cholesterol or blood pressure, and that correlate with disease processes or treatment response. If successful, this study will help confirm that the ALS treatment NurOwn works in the way it is intended and will help inform our larger understanding of ALS biomarkers. The joint award to BrainStorm consists of a $400,000 grant from The ALS Association and a $100,000 grant from I AM ALS. As part of this agreement, BrainStorm has agreed to share data and samples with the ALS community so that the results can be independently validated and to advance other ALS research."

06:02 EDT HD Supply reports preliminary May net sales approximately $431M - Preliminary net sales in May 2020 were approximately $431M, which represents a year-over-year average daily decline of approximately 7.3%. Preliminary May year-over-year average daily net sales decline by business segment was 13.4% in Facilities Maintenance and 1.4% in Construction & Industrial. There were 19 selling days in both May 2020 and May 2019. May's net sales performance improved throughout the month in both Facilities Maintenance and Construction & Industrial.

05:26 EDT Erytech Pharma provides update on Phase 2 of eryaspase - Erytech Pharma provided an update on the ongoing Phase 2 trial, sponsored by the Nordic Society of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, or NOPHO, of eryaspase in second-line acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, patients. The NOR-GRASPALL-2016 trial is evaluating the safety and activity of eryaspase in primarily pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients who developed hypersensitivity reactions to pegylated asparaginase. The trial which is being conducted at 22 clinical sites in the Nordic and Baltic countries of Europe has reached its target enrollment of 50 patients. Preliminary findings of the study suggest that eryaspase achieved the target level and duration of asparaginase activity in these patients. Additionally, the addition of eryaspase to the combination chemotherapy was associated with an acceptable tolerability profile, enabling the majority of these patients to receive their fully intended courses of asparginase. Recent data have confirmed that discontinuation of asparaginase therapy in ALL patients has been associated with inferior disease free survival.

05:04 EDT ShockWave Medical says CMS has issued new codes for IVL procedures - Shockwave Medical announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued new codes for intravascular lithotripsy procedures performed in peripheral arteries in both the hospital outpatient and inpatient settings. The new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System outpatient and International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Procedure Coding System inpatient codes will go into effect on July 1 and October 1, 2020, respectively. Under these new codes, Medicare payment rates for IVL procedures performed in the hospital outpatient and inpatient settings, respectively, are consistent with current payment levels for other similar peripheral artery interventional procedures, the company said in a statement. "The decision by CMS to assign codes for peripheral IVL procedures in both outpatient and inpatient settings is an important validation of Shockwave's technology as a unique and distinct therapy for treating complex calcified disease in the peripheral arteries," said Doug Godshall, CEO of Shockwave Medical.