MediWound Ltd. (NASDAQ: MDWD) is a biopharmaceutical company in the business of developing, manufacturing, and globally commercializing products that treat severe burns and wounds. In 2012, MediWound’s innovative drug, NexoBrid™, a burn and wound eschar removal agent, was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) via a centralized procedure. The drug was given orphan indication for removal of dead and damaged skin in adults with burns that are deep partial and full thickness thermal burns.

NexoBrid™ was launched throughout Europe and is now being used in patients with hospitalized burns and wounds. MediWound has initiated phase III clinical trials on NexoBrid™ in the U.S. and pediatric study. The company also has two other products in its pipeline: EscharEx, which is in its phase II study and is for use in patients with chronic wounds, and MWPC003, which is about to enter its phase I study and is for use in patients with connective tissues disorders.

In November of this year, MediWound Ltd. announced third quarter 2016 financial results for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016. The company reported revenue for the quarter of $518,000, compared to just over $100,000 for the same quarter of 2015. This was put down to the growing sales of NexoBrid™. The nine-month period results showed total revenue of $1.1 million, compared to $0.3 million for the same nine-month period of the previous year. MDWD will be spending the remainder of 2016 investing primarily in sales and marketing activities relating to the further adoption of NexoBrid™ in Europe.

Aegis Capital Corp. (http://dtn.fm/l63Bn) initiated coverage on MediWound Ltd., giving the company a ‘Buy’ rating with a price target of $11 per share. This rating was given based on the fact that the company has made significant progress in the area of wound debridement. According to the report, MDWD’s NexoBrid™ is showing significantly faster, more selective, safer, and more cost efficient results compared to current treatments. The report also highlights the possibility for the company to integrate into the chronic wound care market with EscharEx and markets relating to connective tissue disorders with its pipeline product MWPC003.

Despite Zacks Investment Research lowering the company’s status from a ‘Buy’ rating to a ‘Hold’ rating, six other research analysts have given MDWD a ‘Buy’ rating, and Wells Fargo & Co. offered MediWound an ‘Outperform’ rating with a price target on the stock of $14. The company has a consensus ‘Buy’ rating with a consensus price target of $13.25, all according to Cerbat Gem Market News and Analysis (http://dtn.fm/Ch85p).

Institutional investors and hedge funds are now said to own over 27% of MediWound shares, after Migdal Insurance & Finance Holdings, Wells Fargo & Company MN, and Oppenheimer & Co. bought new positions in the company’s stock. Wellington Management Group LLP and United Services Automobile Association also increased their positions in MediWound. As of this writing, the company has a market cap of $107.17 million, with an enterprise value at $84.15 million, and shares currently selling at around $4.90 per share.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.mediwound.com

As an eventful year for Globus Medical, Inc. (NYSE: GMED) is nearing an end, the leading medical device company experienced a substantial surge in trading volume on December 06. Equities.com (http://dtn.fm/Rab1C) noted a 1.3% gain of Globus Medical, Inc. Class A stock, closing at $23.31. The stock, which averages a daily volume of 1.11 million shares over the last month, captured the attention of numerous institutional investors and analysts when a surge of 11.57 million shares traded hands on 28,116 trades. The article states, “Generally speaking, when a stock experiences a sudden spike in trading volume, it may be seen as a bullish signal for investors. An increase in volume means more market awareness for the company, potentially setting up a more meaningful move in stock price.”

Increased awareness has been building for the medical device company during 2016, including the unveiling of its investigational robotics system Excelsius at the 2016 North American Spine Society (NASS) meeting held in late October. Per articles from MassDevice.com (http://dtn.fm/Of7Fc), and Becker’s Spine Review (http://dtn.fm/9t2Mm), Globus Medical expressed its anticipation of an approval and launch of the platform in early to mid-2017 to investment bank Leerink Partners. The MassDevice.com article also states that Leerink spoke with surgeons who were very interested in a trial of the platform as it becomes available. This adds credence to the company’s position as one of the “three main players” in the burgeoning surgical robotics industry (http://dtn.fm/u9oeH), citing recent commentary from the Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry website. MDDI mentions that surgical robots are only used in roughly 5% of spine procedures today, but that a survey by RBC Capital Markets indicates the potential for rapid adoption growth.

This potential for mass adoption has also been noted by financial analysis firm, Aegis Capital (http://dtn.fm/s1Rhi), in a report from November 30th that preceded Tuesday’s surge in trading activity. The firm set a $31 target price that was achieved, in part, by Globus Medical’s promising pipeline of emerging technologies, namely the robotics platform and trauma. The report calls attention to the system’s ability to serve as a competitor to Medtronic’s O-Arm with Stealth Station navigation. Those systems, which do not include robotic assistance, retail for more than $1 million, placing Globus Medical in a position to charge a premium on its own systems, as they incorporate full feature navigation. As a result, the company believes the customers of the roughly 900 O-Arms installed worldwide to be prospective customers and early adopters. Globus Medical intends to demonstrate, through clinical studies, the system’s time and money-saving benefits, as well as the added layer of predictability and accuracy it affords.

Headquartered in Audubon, Pennsylvania, Globus Medical, Inc. is a leading musculoskeletal implant manufacturer with the singular focus of advancing spinal surgery through the development of innovative engineering and technology. To date, Globus Medical has developed and released more than 150 spine products.

For additional information, visit www.GlobusMedical.com

Intellipharmaceutics International, Inc. (NASDAQ: IPCI) is a pharmaceutical company in the business of researching, developing, and manufacturing new and generic controlled and targeted release oral solid dosage drugs. The company has a large product portfolio which all follow a New Drug Application (NDA) 505(b)(2) U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory pathway. The company’s controlled-release generic products follow an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) pathway.

IPCI currently has 11 products in the pipeline, more than half of which have either been filed for FDA approval or have already been approved. Two products, Regabatin™ XR and Carvedilol, are still in clinical trial stages. The company utilizes its patented Hypermatrix™ technology as a drug delivery platform that can be used to efficiently develop an array of new and existing pharmaceuticals. IPCI’s portfolio covers therapeutics areas such as pain, neurology, cardiovascular, diabetes, and gastrointestinal tract.

In October of this year, Intellipharmaceutics International released its financial results for the fiscal quarter ended August 31, 2016. During the quarter, IPCI reported revenues of $600,000 relating to its license and commercialization agreement with Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc. At this time, the company also announced the tentative approval by the FDA of its generic Seroquel XR®. Additionally, IPCI announced that it had signed an exclusive license and commercial supply agreement with Mallinckrodt, LLC for its generic Lamictal® XR™, Seroquel® and Pristiq®.

Between May 31, 2016 and August 31, 2016, the company reported an increase in cash of $1.8 million. Intellipharmaceutics International, Inc. reported a cash balance of $4.5 million after the $3 million payment from Mallinckrodt. As a result of this recent activity, Aegis Capital Corp. (http://dtn.fm/zD6vt) offered a company update, giving IPCI a ‘Buy’ rating with a price target of $8 per share. The update was released after the company submitted an NDA for abuse-deterrent Rexista extended release tablets. In addition, Intellipharmaceutics International has developed a system to pair with Rexista in order to deter opioid abuse, which has been declared as an epidemic by the CDC.

According to the Cerbat Gem Market News and Analysis (http://dtn.fm/D3r4V), other equities research analysts, such as Maxim Group and Brean Capital, also gave the company a ‘Buy’ rating with price targets of $6 and $8 per share, respectively. Institutional investor Morgan Stanley raised its position in the company by over 4%, giving it just below 62,000 shares of IPCI worth $130,000. Hedge funds and institutional investors now own 1.68% of Intellipharmaceutics International, Inc., and the company’s market cap currently stands at $84.29 million.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.intellipharmaceutics.com

Revance Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVNC), a biotechnology company focused on the development, commercialization, and manufacture of botulinum toxin products for use in aesthetic and therapeutic indications, including dermatology and neurology, recently announced its operating results for the third quarter of 2016 ended September 30.

A summary of the company’s financial results highlighted research and development expenses of $10.3 million for the three-month period, $2.7 million less than in the same quarter of 2015. The decrease in expenses was largely attributable to a reduction in clinical trial activities. Research and development costs for the nine-month period were up $5.3 million.

The increase in overall expenses for the company came from an increase in personnel costs and manufacturing activities. In addition, the company recently acquired the necessary patents for botulinum toxin and put forward patent applications for Botulinum Toxin Research Associates, Inc. (BTRX).

On November 29, Aegis Capital Corp. (http://dtn.fm/b4cKx) initiated coverage on Revance Therapeutics, Inc., giving the company a ‘Buy’ rating with a price target of $28 per share. Aegis gave the ‘Buy’ rating based on the company’s opportunity to tap into the $3 billion botulinum toxin market, which is expected to reach $5.6 billion by 2020.

With Botox currently holding approximately 85% of the market share, Aegis reported that RT002, RVNC’s drug candidate for the treatment of moderate to severe glabellar lines in adults, will likely stand out from competitors in the market. This has been put down to the fact that, unlike other drugs, RT002 targets specific areas, effectively limiting its spread to other regions.

Aegis expects RT002 to gain a market share of approximately 21% by 2025, as long as phase III trials prove to be as positive as the company’s phase II BELMONT study. RT002 is also currently being evaluated as a potential treatment for plantar fasciitis, a condition for which corticosteroids are the first method of treatment. As a result, the drug could also be the first of its kind to gain FDA approval for this indication.

Other analysts have also taken an interest in Revance. According to Cerbat Gem Market News and Analysis (http://dtn.fm/GR6xu), “two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock.”

Reiterating the optimism regarding Revance’s forward growth potential, a number of large investors have recently increased their stakes in the company. BlackRock Group Ltd., BlackRock Advisors LLC, FineMark National Bank & Trust, and American International Group, Inc. all raised their positions in Revance during the second and third quarters of this year by 4.3%, 15.8%, 750% and 10.9%, respectively. At close of market yesterday, the stock was selling at $16.80 per share.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.revance.com

Now that residents of the Golden State have approved Proposition 64, California joins the District of Columbia and the states of Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington in legalizing the recreational use of marijuana for adults. Together, these eight states and the U.S. capital generate about one-quarter of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). If they were one nation-state, that entity would rank as the world’s third largest economy.

Based in one of those states, Nevada, Singlepoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) is poised to profit from these promising presentiments. It recently revived its SingleSeed subsidiary, which several years ago began offering payment-processing services to dispensaries in Colorado and Washington State. The company intends on leveraging these footholds to be a “first mover” in the market.

These nine jurisdictions may have enough economic clout to make the Feds allow banks to open accounts for marijuana businesses, and California is already testing that proposition. A report in the LA Times (http://dtn.fm/lSB6a) last Friday revealed that California State Treasurer John Chiang had ‘appointed a working group to figure out how to address problems caused by the unwillingness of federally regulated banks to handle money from pot businesses’. Mr. Chiang also wrote the President-elect, Donald Trump, seeking guidance on the issue.

The root of the problem is that, by federal law, cannabis remains a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Accordingly, “even transporting or transmitting funds known to have been derived from the distribution of marijuana is illegal”, said the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in a recent court case. The suit in that case, brought to compel the Fed to approve a ‘master account’ for the first credit union for marijuana in Colorado, was dismissed by the court. The judge said that unlike federal prosecutors, who might not enforce the law if financial institutions observed certain guidelines for dealing with the marijuana industry, a court could not ‘look the other way’.

The guidelines referred to were issued in February 2014 by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Treasury Department. They offered financial institutions clarification on how they could provide services to marijuana-related businesses consistent with their Bank Secrecy Act obligations and were designed to ensure that marijuana was kept out of the hands of minors, that marijuana businesses were not operated by or associated with criminal enterprises, and that the industry did not exacerbate gun violence nor adversely affect public health.

Since these guidelines were published, a number of community banks and credit unions have sought to offer services to marijuana outfits, but the larger national banks have kept their distance. The lawsuit referred to above was filed by Colorado chartered Fourth Corner Credit Union in Denver after the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City turned down its application for a ‘master account’, an account a financial institution holds at one of the reserve banks.

Cases like this one show the barriers standing in the way of legitimate marijuana establishments. As Treasurer Chiang’s letter to the President-elect points out:

“This conflict between federal and state rules creates a number of problems for the states that have legalized cannabis use, including difficulties collecting tax revenue, increased risk of serious crime, and the inability of a newly legal industry under state law to effectively engage in banking and commerce.”

Of course, it is Congress that will have the final say. It seems impossible for this impasse to be resolved unless cannabis is de-scheduled. For marijuana shops, for banks and for Singlepoint, Inc., the day that happens will be a bank holiday.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Singlepoint.com

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The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTD) is a technology company that allows buyers to use proprietary data to better target their advertising dollars. With The Trade Desk platform, organizations are able to use fully automated and programmatic means to buy advertising space on a range of media where specific consumers are more likely to use their products or services. Organizations are able to create, manage, and optimize digital advertising campaigns in formats such as display, video, audio, and more.

Headquartered in Ventura, California, with other offices in the U.S, Europe, and Asia, TTD offers an integrated feature set to its customers that includes omnichannel targeting, data management that gives insight into audiences, enterprise APIS, and HD reporting. The company runs through a self-service, cloud-based platform, offering services across a multitude of devices, including mobile devices, computers, and television.

Most recently, The Trade Desk, Inc. was ranked number 55 on the Deloitte’s 2016 Technology Fast 500™ (http://dtn.fm/ai7PI) list of the fastest growing media, telecommunications, technology, energy, and life science companies in North America. The ranking for both private and public companies is based on the percentage of fiscal year growth between 2012 and 2015. TTD grew by over 1,800% during that period.

Earlier in November, The Trade Desk reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2016 (http://dtn.fm/UNu7p). Since becoming a public company in September, the company reported an increase of over 80% in revenue. Revenue for the third quarter came in at $53 million, compared to $28.8 million during the third quarter of 2015.

Highlights of the report included the fact that TTD’s customer retention rate was over 95% for the quarter, and the company is expanding with new offices expected in Orange County, California, and Hong Kong, alongside plans to open new offices in both Europe and Asia Pacific. The company is aiming to report revenues of up to $62 million for the fourth quarter of 2016 and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 30%.

According to Cerbat Gem Market News and Analysis (http://dtn.fm/Shg8w), The Trade Desk’s report of $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter was higher than Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate by $0.03. Equities research analysts have made predictions of $0.85 EPS for the company for the current fiscal year.

Jefferies Group and Cantor Fitzgerald gave The Trade Desk a ‘Buy’ rating with target prices on the stock of $35 and $30, respectively. The company received a consensus ‘Buy’ rating with an average price target of $33.13.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.thetradedesk.com

On December 1, 2016, OurPet’s Company (OTCQX: OPCO) gave an investor presentation with VirtualInvestorConferences.com (powered by PR Newswire), in which its management team laid out the reasons they feel the company is significantly undervalued, with established and continuing growth in its market and company figures, along with products and technology that nobody else has, making it a diamond-in-the-rough for a microcap investor.

The presentation, given by Scott Mendes (OPCO’s CFO/Treasurer) with follow up by Dean Tsengas (COO and co-founder), covered the company’s strengths in each of the pertinent areas:

• Industry and Markets
• Company Products, Patents
• Channels of Distribution
• Company Financials
• Investment highlights

Key Points

OurPet’s Company, founded in 1995, has been strategically aimed at high-growth categories in the non-food pet market, a strategy that has helped it grow every year. The overall U.S. pet industry is the third largest consumer market, over $77 billion in 2015, and is expected to grow to $96 billion by 2020. About 65% of households own a pet, and it’s considered a recession resistant market, of which about 19% is devoted to pet accessories and treats (nearly $15 billion). OPCO’s particular areas are:

• Interactive cat and dog toys and accessories (a $1 billion per year category)
• Feline waste and odor control solutions ($250 million per year category)
• Healthy feeding and storage systems ($100 million per year category)

OPCO aims strategically at two overall pet owner markets:

• The OurPets premium brand pet products, found at pet specialty retailers
• The PetZone economy brand pet products, found at food/drug/mass retailers

Although the company does accept private label business from major customers, the emphasis has always been to continue building its brands.

The company has a diversified portfolio of approximately 1,000 SKUs of upscale profitable products, backed up by a pipeline of new offerings, with 170 patents issued or pending. OPCO’s strength continues to be its ability to merge the latest material and electronic technologies with a well-researched knowledge of how pets relate to the world, resulting in award-winning products that have a history of attracting pets and pet owners.

The company considers itself clearly ahead of the curve in the industry, and sees this as part of the reason for its strong position with the world’s leading retailers, such as Walmart (NYSE: WMT), PetSmart, Petco, Target (NYSE: TGT), Publix, and Kroger (NYSE: KR), all blue-chip companies that remove the worry of bad debts. In line with this, OPCO is also making ecommerce a primary strategic initiative and is on track to grow revenues to nearly $2 million annually with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN).

Approximately 61% of OPCO’s revenue comes from the cat market, mostly toys and accessories together with waste and odor products, while 38% comes from the dog market, mostly feeding and storage products. However, OPCO also sees untouched opportunities in the dog toys area. As with its cat toys, OPCO has put research into the sensations and activities that dogs prefer, not just what humans think they would like, and of course, as with cats, not every dog is the same, so the toys are designed to capture different dogs and different preferences. The result is a line of toy options that dog owners prefer, because they’re toys that their pet dogs really enjoy.

The cat pet market represents roughly $15 million annually for OPCO. Cat owners find their pets entertaining, and similarly enjoy entertaining their pets. To maintain a position of leadership in creative and effective cat toys, the company is constantly researching to determine what works best for both the cat and the owner, toys that keep cats active and engaged. This has translated into over 600 SKUs in the cat toy area alone, including integrated electronic products, one of which, the Catty Whack, won the Best New Cat Toy for 2015 at the national SuperZoo trade show for pet retailers.

The cat waste management market is also significant for OPCO, and an area that is seen as largely underserved with significant potential when approached creatively. OPCO now covers more than the traditional litter box concept, offering advanced fully automatic litter systems, semi-automatic litter boxes, disposable litter boxes and a “kitty potty.” The company is confident in saying that it offers the most complete line of waste management products in the world.

OPCO has also gotten into the growing natural cat litter market, with its just-introduced switchgrass-based litter product. Switchgrass is a hardy grass that grows in North America, and does not require chemical fertilizers or pesticides. It is both flushable and biodegradable. OPCO combines switchgrass with BioChar, a charred pine product, to create a truly environmentally friendly 100% natural litter product. Relating to this, the company recently won an award from Pet Business News as one of the most innovative products of the year.

In fact, both dog and cat waste management has become an environmental issue for many cities around the world. To again stay ahead of the industry, OPCO has now partnered with Israel-based Paulee Cleantec, a waste technology company that has developed a patent protected exothermic oxidation process that converts animal waste into a pathogen and odor-free fertilizer in minutes. Still under final product development, the potential for this alone is seen as unlimited, not only in the U.S. but internationally. (OPCO products are already distributed to about 20 different countries.)

Other examples of the company’s moves to stay in front of the industry include its patent-pending chrome-coated plastic feeder bowls, giving the bowls a dramatic metallic shine, while being chip-resistant, discouraging bacterial growth, and being dishwasher safe. Even more advanced are the company’s line of pet care products that are Bluetooth enabled, Intelligent Pet Care products, including litter and feed/water products, with Internet control capability. These are all first-of-a-kind products.

FINANCIALS SUMMARY

• OPCO’s annual sales have grown steadily, from around $20 million in 2012 to over $25 million today (trailing 12 months). The way the company has built its business base and market is so solid that it is more predictable and not prone to recessions.
• Yearly gross profits have also grown, from about $5.5 million in 2012 to about $8 million today, with gross profit margins around 32%.
• Net income has grown markedly over the past 4 years, from about $200,000 in 2012 to over $1.3 million for the trailing 12 months ended Sept 30, 2016. (Note: OPCO is a “second half” company, and expects to show very strong financial performance for the second half of 2016.)
• For this year to date through Sept 30, 2016, sales are up about 10% over the previous year’s first nine months and upcoming Q4 is looking even better.
• Q3’16 is especially impressive, showing record results, with 21% growth over the previous year’s Q3, and a 21% growth in net income.

OPCO management considers shares as being under-valued. OPCO is a fully reporting OTCQX stock, but, although share price has gone up and is now around the $1 range, its management feels that the P/E ratio is still low. Instead of the 12-14 range, it should be closer to 20, based upon growth and profit figures, with the stock trading closer to the $1.50 range. In addition, they feel that the company can grow significantly, having an ERP system that can handle any scale, along with a new CRM system, and with total logistics management in the warehouse.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.OurPets.com, and see http://dtn.fm/S0BVp for the company presentation sheet.

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Before the opening bell, NetworkNewsWire (NNW), a multifaceted financial news and publishing company that delivers a new generation of social communication solutions for business, announced the online availability of an exclusive interview with National Waste Management Holdings, Inc. (OTC: NWMH).

NNW’s communications solutions include social communications, news aggregation and syndication as well as enhanced news release services designed to introduce private and public companies to a wide range of audiences. Leveraging a network of more than 5,000 key distribution outlets, NNW gives its clients a voice – be it through audio interview, video production or other tailored means – to better communicate with the investment community.

National Waste CEO Louis “Tiny” Paveglio and CFO Dali Kranzthor capitalized on the platform provided by NNW by speaking toward National Waste’s rapidly growing presence in the East Coast solid waste management industry, which is being spurred on by an aggressive, acquisition-based business model.

The full interview can be heard by visiting http://nnw.fm/nwmh-interview-dec-2016

“Our goal is to do one acquisition a quarter, and we are going to meet that goal,” Paveglio told host Stuart Smith in the interview. “We plan on finishing one up here in the fourth quarter and in 2017 we already have a couple acquisitions that we are doing due diligence on and we intend to roll those in on the first two quarters of 2017.”

CFO Dali Kranzthor echoed this sentiment by highlighting some of the advantages presented by two key acquisitions the company completed in 2015. He also reflected on National Waste’s current corporate goal of becoming vertically integrated.

“We had two key acquisitions that occurred at the end of 2015; two that we did in rapid succession … each one of those almost doubled the company and it also gave us a giant geographic footprint in upstate New York,” Kranzthor added. “The other goal here is to become completely vertically integrated. The highest profitability and the highest margins are when you can take the garbage collection all the way cradle to grave. Very few players in this market have the ability to vertically integrate and have the funds and infrastructure … Only the biggest and the best have the ability to pull that off and so we’re emulating that with our current acquisitions.”

Looking toward 2017, the National Waste executives spoke to the importance of maintaining and broadening relationships with financiers in order to fund acquisitions while continuing to relay the company’s corporate message to investors.

“The exciting thing is that this industry of waste management has a lot of eyes on it and we’ve seen … some amazing acquisitions at the very top level,” concluded Kranzthor. “As a leading company in this space we see that we’re going to basically stumble upon many more opportunities … It’s a very exciting industry and I think over the next couple of years we’re going to see a lot of highlights in this area and a lot more people are going to see us high on the radar.”

National Waste is a growing solid waste management company serving Florida’s west coast and upstate New York with comprehensive solutions for full waste diversion. The company’s current operations center on its 54-acre landfill facility located in Hernando, Florida, which handles average disposals of roughly 240,000 cubic yards of construction debris each year and is already permitted for future expansion. National Waste also offers ancillary services, such as roll-off dumpster services, recycling and retail mulching services.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.nationalwastemgmt.com

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Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: DAKT), a company that designs, manufactures, and sells electronic display systems and related products on a global scale, has been the topic of several reports since the company announced breaking into a new 52-week high on November 25, 2016. Equities.com (http://dtn.fm/hgd4G) announced shares for the company reached a peak of $10.78, closing at $10.64 after opening at $10.46, a move of over 2% is just one day.

As a result, Zacks Investment Research upgraded the company from a ‘Hold’ rating to a ‘Strong Buy’, with a target price of $12 per share. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a ‘Buy’ rating, with a target price of $11, up from $9.50 previously. Lastly, The Street raised the company’s rating from a ‘Hold’ rating to a ‘Buy’ rating.

Daktronics, Inc. released its second quarter fiscal 2017 results on November 22, 2016, reporting earnings of $170 million, over $8 million more than estimates set by analysts. The revenue for this quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year, and DAKT reported a return on equity of just under 5% with a net margin of 1.64%, all according to The Cerbat Gem Market News and Analysis (http://dtn.fm/G5mK3).

In addition, various hedge funds have increased their stakes in the company. BlackRock Fund Advisors and BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. have both increased their stakes in Daktronics, by 11% and 0.9%, respectively, giving them ownership of more than two million and 900,000 shares each. Vanguard Group, Inc. and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP also increased their stakes, giving them ownership of more than 1.8 million shares each. Lastly, State Street Corp. increased its stake in DAKT, giving it stock worth over $4.5 million. As a result, institutional investors and hedge funds now own over 46% of Daktronics stock.

On December 2, 2016, Daktronics announced that its board of directors approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per share, payable on December 23. This announcement was made very shortly after the company was awarded a multi-million dollar project by the state of Nevada, project NEON, which involves widening Interstate 15, the busiest road in Nevada.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.daktronics.com

eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) is a corporation of the times and parent company to a selection of notable subsidiaries that are making a lasting impact, both commercially and socially. The most notable of these companies is eXp Realty LLC, a rapidly-growing, cloud-based brokerage with an agent base featuring more than 2,000 members.

The eXp Realty business model is a thing of beauty. The model has helped accelerate eXp Realty’s already significant growth throughout North America (since January 1, 2016, eXp Realty has added over 1,000 real estate professionals to its ranks and more than doubled its staff numbers) and led to eXp Realty being cited as a ‘brokerage of the future’ (http://dtn.fm/Y8P6p).

eXp Realty runs all of its operations remotely. From agent training to lead generation, leadership meetings, exchanges of ideas and experiences, IT services and more, every aspect of the business is run through a virtual reality platform. This complete embrace of ground-breaking technology, including virtual and augmented reality advancements, has helped the company form a close-knit community of real estate professionals who serve over 40 markets across the United States and Canada.

eXp Realty does a lot of things differently. Through its 3-D, fully-immersive, cloud office environment, agents and brokers can collaborate, train and socialize anywhere and anytime. Courtesy of their around-the-clock access to this office environment, they can stay connected from the comfort of their homes or while traveling abroad and, at the same time, erase all of the expenses typically linked to owning and running a physical office. This way, brokerage members are able to increase their profit margins without spending too much out of pocket and, simultaneously, provide more cost-effective services to their customers.

On the revenue side, the eXp Realty business model goes several steps further through aggressive and profitable revenue sharing programs. It offers its members the opportunity to earn equity rewards in exchange for their contributions to the company’s growth. Plus, both eXp Realty and eXp Realty of Canada pay agents a percentage of the gross commission income earned by colleagues they bring into the company.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.eXpWorldHoldings.com

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