Stockwinners Market Radar for February 15, 2021 - Earnings, Upgrades downgrades, option trades, Best Stock Advisory Service

20:10 EST Fly Intel: Top five weekend stock stories - Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Li-Cycle, a recycler of lithium-ion batteries, is nearing a deal to go public through a merger with blank-check acquisition company Peridot Acquisition (PDAC) at a valuation of about $1.7B, Reuters' Joshua Franklin reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal could be announced as early as Tuesday, the sources said. 2. The World Health Organization listed two versions of the AstraZeneca (AZN)/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through COVAX. The vaccines are produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio and the Serum Institute of India. 3. Hologic (HOLX) is a COVID-19 beneficiary but is also a business that should benefit as life returns to normal, Evie Lu wrote in this week's edition of Barron's. The company, which provides molecular diagnostic equipment for COVID-19 PCR tests, has seen sales in its diagnostics division grow to $1.1B during the fiscal first quarter that ended in December 2020, up from $312M in the same quarter of 2019, while earnings quadrupled, but the market seems reluctant to give Hologic credit for that growth, the author noted. For investors, Hologic looks like a bargain waiting to be snapped up, Lu contended. 4. Volkswagen (VWAGY) Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess sees Apple's (AAPL) plan to enter the auto industry as "a very logical step" as the iPhone maker combines its expertise in software, batteries and design with enormous resources, according to, Bloomberg's Jan-Patrick Barnert reported. "Despite that, we're not scared," Diess said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. The car sector is different from the technology industry, and Apple "won't manage to take it over overnight." Meanwhile, Financial Times' Kana Inagaki, Peter Campbell, and Patrick McGee reported that Apple approached Nissan (NSANY) in recent months about a tie-up for its secretive autonomous car project, but talks are no longer active. 5. Corning (GLW), Coty (COTY) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) saw positive mentions in this week's edition of Barron's.

16:23 EST TechnipFMC completes separation of two independent, publicly traded companies - TechnipFMC has announced the completion of its spinoff transaction to create two independent, publicly traded companies, TechnipFMC and Technip Energies. Technip Energies announced the appointment of a new member of its Board of Directors, Simon Eyers, effective February 16, 2021.

13:44 EST Verizon agrees to acquire autonomous mobile robot software company, incubed IT - Verizon announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire incubed IT, the creator of a software platform providing autonomous navigation tools to administer, manage and optimize mixed fleets of robots in industrial settings. "Upon closing and as Verizon continues to expand its 5G coverage, capacity, and mobile edge compute capabilities, incubed IT's autonomous software will enable enterprise customers to gain new efficiencies as they scale their autonomous mobile robot fleets," the company stated. Rima Qureshi, Chief Strategy Officer at Verizon, added: "This acquisition further demonstrates Verizon's commitment to developing new and innovative businesses and use cases leveraging the power of 5G. Mobile robot orchestration is a real and emerging challenge faced by enterprises today. By integrating incubed IT's autonomous software with Verizon's 5G platform, we will have the ability to power robotic automation at scale. This will create new opportunities for enterprise customers to better and more effectively monitor and optimize their business processes." The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first half of 2021.

09:38 EST Boyd Gaming announces launch of digital wallet product - Boyd Gaming and Aristocrat Technologies announced the launch of "BoydPay," Boyd Gaming's new digital wallet product. Through BoydPay, Boyd Gaming customers "will have the ability to create a cashless digital wallet that can be conveniently linked to third-party funding sources driven by Sightline Payments." BoydPay is now live at Blue Chip Casino Resort Spa in Michigan City, Indiana, Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in field trial at Aliante Casino + Hotel + Spa in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

09:34 EST Vectrus awarded prime contract for Department of Defense Naval Base Coronado - Vectrus Systems Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vectrus, announced that it was awarded a prime contract for the Naval Base Coronado 5G Smart Warehouse to provide inventory management, network security, robotic material moving, and environmental sensing capabilities. The objective of the Naval Base Coronado 5G Smart Warehouse project is to "develop a 5G-enabled Smart Warehouse focused on transshipment between shore facilities and naval units, to increase the efficiency and fidelity of naval logistic operations, including identification, recording, organization, storage, retrieval, and transportation of materiel and supplies," the company said. Vectrus' support at Naval Base Coronado is part of the Department of Defense's $600M roject for 5G experimentation and testing at five U.S. military test sites.

09:31 EST Cable One acquires rest of Hargray Communications at $2.2B enterprise value - Cable One announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the equity interests in Hargray Acquisition Holdings that it does not already own. The equity interests to be acquired by Cable One represent approximately 85% of Hargray on a fully diluted basis. Cable One has been a minority investor in Hargray since October 1, 2020, when the company contributed its system serving Anniston, Alabama and surrounding areas to Hargray in exchange for equity interests representing approximately 15% of Hargray on a fully diluted basis. The transaction, which implies a $2.2B total enterprise value for 100% of the equity interests of Hargray on a debt-free and cash-free basis, will expand Cable One's presence into the Southeastern U.S. "and enable Cable One to capitalize on Hargray's experience and expertise in fiber expansion." Hargray is a facilities-based regional communications provider serving residential and business customers in 14 markets across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Hargray generated approximately $128M in adjusted EBITDA on an annualized basis for the quarter ended December 31, 2020. Cable One expects to realize approximately $45M in estimated annual run-rate synergies within three years of closing the transaction. Cable One intends to finance the transaction with a combination of existing cash resources, revolving credit facility capacity, and proceeds from new indebtedness and/or equity capital. Cable One has received $900M of definitive bridge loan commitments from J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse to finance a portion of the purchase price. The transaction is expected to be completed during Q2 of 2021.

09:19 EST Avery Dennison acquires JDC Solutions for $24M - Avery Dennison has agreed to acquire JDC Solutions, a privately owned manufacturer of pressure-sensitive specialty tapes headquartered in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, for the purchase price of $24M. JDC employs approximately 75 employees located at its headquarters and manufacturing site in Tennessee, with approximately $30M in annual revenue. Upon completion of the acquisition, JDC's manufacturing operations, workforce and product portfolio will become part of Avery Dennison's Performance Tapes North America business. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1.