TheChek News Flow

After Hours Summary: ORCL -6.4%, TKR +5% following earnings/guidance, ARNA +23% on positive ulcerative colitis trial results

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: TKR +5.1%, HQY +1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: ARNA +23% (reports positive phase 2 results from the OASIS trial for etrasimod in patients with ulcerative colitis), FNJN +10% (Halcyon Long Duration Recovery discloses 14.2% active stake; received the $65 mln payment due from Symantec), ELGX +7.9% (announces the first results from ENCORE, a pooled, global analysis of several prospective clinical trials and registries studying polymer endovascular aneurysm repair (Polymer EVAR) using Ovation Abdominal Stent Graft Systems), MRNS +7.6% (initiated with Buy and $13 tgt at Mizuho), AMTX +6% (continuation of last week's move higher), BB +5% (BlackBerry and Microsoft partner to offer enterprises a solution that integrates BlackBerry's mobility/security with Microsoft's cloud/productivity products), APHB +3.2% (indicated slightly higher after announcing collaboration with the Western Sydney and the Westmead Institute for Medical Research based in Sydney, Australia), GOGO +1.2% (ticking higher; Senator Investment Group (Alexander Klabin) discloses increased/active stake), ZS +1.1% (ongoing volatility - recent IPO)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: AVGR -17.3%, GPI -9.6% (light volume; says Q1 earnings will be negatively affected by weak market conditions), ORCL -6.4%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: NOG -12.2% (sees Q1 production up 5-6%; raises FY18 production growth to +18-22%; commences underwritten public offering of an aggregate value of $105 mln of shares of its common stock),  PTI -7.9% (proposes public offering of 9 mln shares of common stock ), GLYC -5.5% (to offer 4.5 mln shares of common stock in underwritten public offering), OPNT -4.6% (pulling back after today's 28% move higher in midday trade -- has filed amendment to prospectus dated November 7, 2017 to update the amount of shares eligible to sell to 20 mln; announced that Pres/CEO Roger Crystal will provide corporate overview at the Oppenheimer Annual Healthcare Conference, on March 21 at 1pm ET), FB -1% (edging lower in after hours on report that its chief security officer is now leaving)

Closing Market Summary: Facebook Leads Broad Retreat

U.S. equities took a beating on Monday, with declining issues outnumbering advancing issues nearly four to one on the New York Stock Exchange. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.4% apiece, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8% as technology shares underperformed.

Facebook (FB 172.56, -12.53) was the center of attention following weekend reports that research firm Cambridge Analytica gained inappropriate access to data on 50 million Facebook users. The alleged incident sent Facebook shares lower by 6.8% and was met with cries for greater regulation on data collection--which, in turn, weighed on fellow data collectors like Alphabet (GOOG 1099.82, -35.91, -3.2%), Twitter (TWTR 34.98, -0.60, -1.7%), and Snap (SNAP 16.42, -0.59, -3.5%).

Unsurprisingly, the technology sector--which is the most influential of the 11 S&P sectors, representing around a quarter of the broader market--finished at the bottom of the sector standings with a loss of 2.1%. The energy (-1.7%) and health care (-1.7%) sectors were the next-worst performers, while the financials (-0.9%) and industrials (-0.8%) groups showed relative strength, finishing at the top of the day's leaderboard.

The major averages were lower at the start of Monday's session, with the S&P 500 immediately dropping below its 50-day simple moving average (2748). Selling steadily drove the market lower into the afternoon, but a late bout of buying helped make things look somewhat better by the close. At its best mark of the day, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and, at its worst, held a loss of 2.1%. The Nasdaq was down 2.6% at its session low, while the Dow never lost more than 2.0%.

U.S. Treasuries didn't receive much buying interest despite the equity sell off, with the benchmark 10-yr yield finishing unchanged at 2.84%. However, the defensive disposition was evident in the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 19.43, +0.62), which spiked 25%, hitting a two-week high.

With no economic data due until midweek, investors turned their attention to the Fed's rate decision, which will be released on Wednesday afternoon. The market is all but certain that the central bank will raise rates, but the Fed's policy directive will still be highly influential as it will contain updated economic and rate hike projections.

• Nasdaq Composite: +6.4% YTD
• S&P 500: +1.5% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.4% YTD
• Russell 2000: +2.3% YTD

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

• GERN +32.3%, CMCM +11.1%, CSIQ +2.6%, VUZI +1.3%, DAN +1.3%, (guidance)

M&A news:

• CSRA +2.3% (receives unsolicited proposal from CACI International (CACI) for $44.00/share in cash & stock, says Board will carefully review and consider the rival bid), . 

Other news:

• CDTX +22.8% (reports 'positive' topline results from the global, randomized Phase 2 STRIVE clinical trial of its lead antifungal candidate rezafungin acetate)
• CLRB +18.8% (granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for its treatment of neuroblastoma)
• MTNB +9.2% (appoints Jerome D. Jabbour as CEO effective immediately; provides corporate update)
• BCS +4.8% (Edward Bramson activist fund takes 5.16% stake in BCS)
• JKS +4.7% (in sympathy with CSIQ earnings)
• NWL +3.3% (Carl Icahn discloses 6.86% active stake)
• NS +1% (announces that yesterday's decision by the FERC to revise its 2005 Policy Statement for Recovery of Income Tax costs is not expected to have a material impact on the earnings or cash flow)

Analyst comments:

• NCMI +1.6% (upgraded to Buy at B. Riley FBR)

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

• N/A.

M&A news:

• HL -6.2% (to acquire three high-grade Nevada gold mines with the acquisition of Klondex Mines)

Select Nasdaq stocks trading lower with Nasdaq Futures down 1.3%:

• TSLA -1.9%, WDC -1.8%, PYPL -1.6%, NVDA -1.5%, NFLX -1.1%, BABA -1.1%, AMD -0.9%, AAPL -0.8%

Other news:

• MFGP -55% (announced Chief Executive Officer Chris Hsu plans to step down; Stephen Murdoch Appointed as New CEO; lowers FY18 revenue guidance)
• OLED -9.3% (Bloomberg details that Apple (AAPL) is developing its own iPhone screen)
• FB -3.4% (NY Times discusses that data firm Cambridge Analytica harvested data from 50 mln Facebook (FB) users without their permission)
• SYNA -2.8% (Bloomberg details that Apple (AAPL) is developing its own iPhone screen)
• TWTR -1.6% (in sympathy with FB), .

Analyst comments:

• ABUS -3.8% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush)
• AKCA -1.5% (downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo)