Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Goldman Sachs — Goldman reported quarterly profit of $5.08 per share, beating estimates of $4.82, while revenue also exceeded forecasts. The firm said after a challenging first half, the operating environment improved during the remainder of 2016.
Target — The retailer is reporting softer than expected holiday season sales, and as a result, has cut its full-year 2016 outlook. Target now expects full-year profit of $5 to $5.10, compared to consensus estimates of $5.20.
United Continental — The airline reported adjusted quarterly profit of $1.78 per share. That beat estimates by 5 cents, with the company’s revenue slightly above forecasts as well. United did say that its key passenger unit revenue declined by 1.6 percent, but that was smaller than the year earlier decline of 6 percent.
CSX — CSX missed estimates by 1 cent with quarterly profit of 49 cents per share, although the railroad operator’s revenue did beat Street forecasts. CSX said business conditions were improving, after its results were hit by a strengthening U.S. dollar and low commodity prices.
Netflix — Netflix signed a deal with comedian Jerry Seinfeld for two stand up comedy specials as well as exclusive rights to his series “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.”
Adobe Systems — Adobe announced that its board has approved a new $2.5 billion share buyback program that will run through the end of fiscal 2019. The software company is near the end of a $2 billion buyback program that was scheduled to run through the end of fiscal 2017.
Berkshire Hathaway — The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation said it would sell more than half of its nearly one million shares of Berkshire’s Class B shares. Over the next three years, 550,000 shares will be sold in order to comply with federal tax rules.
Qualcomm — Qualcomm said it would “vigorously contest” an FTC complaint which said that the chipmaker was in violation of U.S. competition laws.
HSBC — HSBC said it would move staff to Paris from Britain after Brexit becomes effective, according to CEO Stuart Gullivar. HSBC is Europe’s biggest bank.
Pearson — Pearson cut its profit outlook for the next two years and also cut its 2017 dividend. It’s the latest in a series of profit warnings from the British publishing company.
Western Digital — The hard disk drive maker may buy a 20 percent stake in Toshiba’s semiconductor business, according to Japan’s Nikkei business daily newspaper. Toshiba and Western Digital are partners in a flash memory plant in the Japanese city of Yokkaichi.
Alphabet — The company’s Google unit is expanding its low cost smartphone program known as “Android One” to the U.S. market within a few months, according to a report in The Information.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise — HPE will buy data storage startup SimpliVity for $650 million in cash. SimpliVity had recent been valued at $1 billion.
Lowe’s — The home improvement retailer is laying off about 2,400 full-time workers, most of those at the store level.
J.C. Penney — Credit Suisse downgraded J.C. Penney and Kohl’s to “underperform” from “neutral,” while upgrading Nordstrom to “outperform” from “neutral.” The report focuses on the key factors in retail which will drive success or failure, including value, brands, real estate, and e-commerce.
Cameco — The Canadian uranium producer said 2016 adjusted profit would come in significantly below analyst forecasts, and that it was cutting 120 jobs. Cameco said its results reflect a weak uranium market.
source”cnbc”
