Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Goldman Sachs — The investment firm missed estimates by a penny with quarterly profit of $2.90 per share, with revenue also missing estimates. The company saw lower levels of investment activity during the quarter, and CEO Lloyd Blankfein said there were renewed concerns about global economic growth, though he added that the firm is still seeing strong investment banking growth.
Anheuser-Busch InBev — The beer brewer will sell bonds worth up to $55 billion to finance its $106 billion takeover of SABMiller, according to a Bloomberg report. That would be a record debt issuance for a corporate acquisition.
UnitedHealth Group — The largest US health insurer earned $1.65 per share for its latest quarter, 1 cent above estimates, while revenue was well above forecasts. The company’s results were helped by an increase in membership.
Philip Morris — The tobacco producer’s quarterly profit came in at an adjusted $1.24 per share, 13 cents above estimates, with revenue also above forecasts. The company said it is being impacted by negative currency effects, but added that its overall business outlook is improving.
Starbucks — The Wall Street Journal reports that the EU is set to rule that tax deals struck by both Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler are illegal. The paper said the ruling is expected to come down next week.
Wal-Mart — Following Wednesday’s tumble in Wal-Mart shares, Credit Suisse downgraded the retailer to “neutral” from “outperform,” saying it had been too optimistic and there would be limited upside potential over the medium term.
Netflix — Netflix earned 7 cents per share for its latest quarter, 1 cent below forecasts, while revenue was slightly below analyst projections as well. The video streaming service said subscriber additions missed its own forecast, due to the ongoing transition due chip-based credit cards.
Tesla — The automaker released details on its new Model S Autopilot software, saying it will enable automatic parallel parking and lane changes, among other features.
First Data — First Data saw its initial public offering priced at $16 per share, below the expected range of $18 – $20 per share. The payment processor was hoping to raise as much as $3.7 billion with its IPO, but the lower-than-expected price will raise just $2.56 billion.
Xilinx — The specialty chip maker earned 62 cents per share for its latest quarter, 15 cents above estimates, though revenue was below forecasts. However, Xilinx did provide upbeat guidance for the current quarter, on the strength of its wired and wireless communication business.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals — The drug maker was subpoenaed by US officials who want more information on how it prices its drugs. Valeant has come under criticism recently for large price hikes, but said it would cooperate with the investigation.
Syngenta — Syngenta said its sales fell a more than expected 12 percent during its latest quarter. The agricultural chemicals maker — which was recently the target of US rival Monsanto — said it had been hurt by currency issues in Latin America, among other factors.
Northrop Grumman — The defense contractor announced a streamlining of its business units, consolidating four businesses into three. It also named Gloria Fich — the head of its electronic systems business — to a newly created Chief Operating Officer position.
AT&T — AT&T said it is not opposed to the proposed merger deal between Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, although the owner of DirecTV did ask regulators for a careful review of the deal. DirecTV rival Dish Network registered its opposition to the deal earlier this week.
Unilever — The consumer products maker reported a strong rise in third quarter sales, due to big gains and emerging markets and surging ice cream sales.
Apple — Apple expanded its stock award program to all employees, including workers in its Apple retail stores.
Garmin — Garmin cut its earnings forecast for its third quarter and for the full-year. The maker of fitness and GPS products said the current global economic environment has made it difficult to generate the revenue growth it had expected, and it also cited a competitive pricing environment.
[“source -cncb”]
