>>> DONG hires Citi to advise on Walney Extension stake sale - sources

DONG hires Citi to advise on Walney Extension stake sale - sources

Danish utility DONG Energy has hired Citi to advise on a 50% stake sale of its Walney Extension offshore wind farm project, two sources briefed on the situation said.

The sale has progressed to a second round of bidding, the sources said. One bidder has been awarded exclusivity, the first source added. The Danish pension fund PKA is rumoured to be the frontrunner, the second source said.

Walney Extension is located in the Irish Sea, off the coast of Cumbria, Northwest England. It is under construction, and is targeted to be operational in 2019, according to DONG’s website. The wind farm will have an installed capacity of 660 MW and comprise 90 windmills, according to DONG.
PKA, Dong and Citi did not respond to requests for comment.

>>> Cray could potentially end up being takeover target for bigger peer such as

Cray could potentially end up being takeover target for bigger peer such as Hewlett Packard, portfolio manager says

Cray (NASDAQ:CRAY), the Seattle, Washington-based supercomputer maker, could potentially find itself on the receiving end of takeover interest if it is unable to fix the technical setbacks it has encountered, reported The National Post on 6 January.
Tom Antony, president and portfolio manager at Peregrine Investment Management, said in a report from the newspaper's Financial Post section that Cray recently suffered a blow because of technical setbacks with the new Knights Landing chip from Intel. Among other things, he added that if the issues persist, Cray's solid intellectual property could render the company a takeover target for a bigger rival such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the Palo Alto, California-based technology solutions company.
Cray's market cap is USD 900.4m.

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:
  • RT -13.3%, GIII -9.2%, (lowers FY17 guidance due to warm weather, persistant lower traffic and challenging retail environment)
  • NVTA -4.8%, SHAK -1.8%, (appoints Zach Koff as COO and announces CFO Jeff Uttz will retire in 2017; remain confident in the 2016 financial guidance ranges)
  • SUM -1.6%, (reports downside Q4 prelim results; launches offering of 10,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock)
  • AMRN -1.3%, (sees FY17 revs $155-165 mln vs $171.30 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 rev exceeding prior range)
Select metals/mining stocks trading lower:
  • SBGL -3.1%, IAG -2.8%, HMY -2.7%, GOLD -1.8%, AG -1.7%, VALE -1.6%, RIO -1.2%, GDX-1.1%, GFI -0.6%, BHP -0.5%
Other news:
  • UEC -7.9% ( files for $100 mln mixed securities shelf offering)
  • REGN -5.5% (following cholesterol drug Praluent ruling)
  • GNK -5.2% (Genco Shipping & Trading files for 27,061,856 share common stock offering by selling shareholders that were issued upon the conversion of the Series A Preferred Stock )
  • JCP -4.1% (reports Nov/Dec comparable store sales declined 0.8% YoY; reaffirms EBITDA target of $1 billion for fiscal 2016), SNY -3.1% (following cholesterol drug Praluent ruling)
  • SMRT -2.9% (reports Dec comps)
  • MYOK -2.8% (files for $250 mln mixed securities shelf offering)
  • P -2.4% (following Sirius XM Radio CFO conference commentary - ultimately dismissing the possibility of M&A deal)
  • FRSH -2.2% ( CEO resigns; Chair of the Board, Jean Birch, has been appointed interim CEO)
  • PES -1.4% (updates Q4 guidance in presentation slides; expects drilling services margin/day to be at the high-end or exceed the guided range of $6.5k-7.0k)
  • MRTX -0.8% (prices an underwritten public offering of 4,350,176 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $5.60/share)
Analyst comments:
  • GPRO -3.7% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Longbow)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:
  • RNVA +16.6%, (discloses an FY17 outlook; expects to begin generating sales from the clinical research organization relationship in the first half of 2017; discloses on Dec 29 co filed a Certificate of Designation with the Secretary of State of Delaware to authorize the issuance of up to 1.75 mln shares of Series F convertible preferred stock)
  • GPS +8.2%, (December comps of +3% vs -5% year ago and -1% (BR +5%, ON -2%) last month; now expect full-year EPS to be modestly above high end of previous guidance range)
  • HELE +4.2%, AEHR +3.5%, MNTA +3.5%, FC +3%, PSMT +0.7%
M&A news:
  • OGXI +48.5% (will acquire privately held Achieve Life Science in an all-stock transaction; co will be renamed 'Achieve Life Sciences' following completion of merger),
Other news:
  • QTNT +18.7% (Quotient Limited reports positive MosaiQ results from performance evaluation study for blood grouping)
  • STML +16.7% (announces positive FDA meeting and agreement on expedited pathway to full approval of SL-401 in first-line BPDCN )
  • MDCO +7.7% (attributed to Amgen / Sanofi cholesterol drug injunction decision)
  • IONS +7.1% (signs collaboration deal with Novartis (NVS); provides near-term payments of $225 mln plus potential license fees, milestone and royalty payments)
  • CTIC +5.2% (continued strength)
  • NBIX +5.1% (provides update on FDA advisory committee for Ingrezza for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia; FDA decided to cancel the Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting which was originally scheduled for Feb 16, 2017)
  • AMGN +3.8% (following cholesterol drug Praluent ruling)
  • MNTA +3.5% (enters into a research collaboration and worldwide license agreement w/ CSL to develop and commercialize Fc multimer proteins; co to receive $50 million upfront license fee and up to $550 million in potential milestone payments from CSL)
  • ANW +3.3% (light volume- launches new service center in Germany that will serve all German Baltic Sea ports and Southern Scandinavian ports; will acquire OBAST's existing share capital)
  • BOX +3% (higher in after hours following CEO appearance on CNBC -- discussed Facebook partnership)
  • URRE +2.9% (light volume; closed the sale of its Churchrock and Crownpoint properties in New Mexico to Laramide Resources for consideration valued at $12.5 mln)
  • ILMN +2.2% (announced that GRAIL has received indications of interest to invest approximately $1B for its Series B financing primarily from undisclosed private and strategic investors; ILMN is invested in GRAIL),
Analyst comments:
  • ZFGN +4.5% (upgraded to Mkt Outperform from Mkt Perform at JMP Securities)
  • EXPE +1.4% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel )
  • MON +0.9% (upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at CLSA)

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers

Gapping up: OGXI +58.6%, STML +27.8%, QTNT +18.7%, IONS +8.7%, GPS +8.6%, MDCO +8.4%, NBIX +6.9%, CTIC+6.5%, URRE +5.9%, MNTA +5.8%, AMGN +4.6%, HELE +4.2%, AEHR +3.5%, ANW +3.3%, BOX +3%, FC +3%, RNVA +3%,MC +1.8%, EXPE +1.5%, ILMN +1.2%, SDRL +0.9%, PSMT +0.7%

Gapping down: RT -16.4%, UEC -10.8%, GIII -8.7%, REGN -6.3%, JCP -5.7%, GNK -5.2%, TEVA -5.2%, P -3.3%, SNY -3.3%,SNY -3.3%, P -3.3%, HMY -3.1%, MYOK -2.8%, IAG -2.8%, SUM -2.7%, SUM -2.6%, AG -2.3%, GOLD -2.3%, FRSH -2.2%,GPRO -2.1%, SBGL -1.9%, MRTX -1.7%, GFI -1.7%, PES -1.4%, VALE -1.4%, SHPG -1.4%, GDX -1.3%, AMRN -1.3%, SHAK-1.3%, RIO -1.1%, RDS.A -1.1%, BP -1%, BHP -0.5%

>>> Ionis Pharma: Needham and Laidlaw remain positive following corporate update

Ionis Pharma: Needham and Laidlaw remain positive following corporate update yesterday morning -- stock +7% on Noavartis (NVS) collaboration
  • Needham thought the most important update on Ionis' pipeline webcast was new data from the COMPASS trial that increase their conviction in a positive readout for APPROACH in familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) this quarter. Along with the recent Spinraza approval, we believe Ionis is on a potential rapid path to sustainable profitability. Investors, however, appeared to be focused more on the discontinuation of IONIS-DMPK-2.5Rx. Ionis said the drug had encouraging effect on biomarkers, but insufficient potency. Ionis and partner Biogen instead intend to bring forward a more potent LICA version. IONS shares have pulled back since the recent Spinraza approval, and they view today's additional weakness as providing an attractive entry point going into a year with multiple catalysts.
  • Laidlaw notes IONS provided a pipeline update this morning with highlights on Volanesorsen, two completed Phase II programs: IONIS-GCGRRx and IONIS-FXIRx, and the earlier stage IONIS-DMPK-2.5Rx program. They are reiterating their Buy rating and $65 target price from to reflect bullish view on progress in IONS's pipeline, especially Volanesorsen, Spinraza and IONIS-TTRRx.
  • These notes were out before the partnership with Novartis (NVS) was announced this morning.