Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Hasbro – The toymaker earned an adjusted $2.09 per share for its latest quarter, 15 cents a share above estimates. Revenue also beat forecasts. Hasbro’s results were helped by strong demand for My Little Pony and Transformers toys.
Hartford Financial – The insurer bought Aetna’s group life and disability unit for $1.45 billion, making Hartford the second largest group life and disability insurer in the U.S.
Halliburton – The oilfield services company beat forecast by five cents a share, with quarterly profit of 42 cents per share. Revenue also topped expectations. The company said its North American business is strong and that international operations are performing well in a challenging environment.
Roku – The maker of video streaming devices was rated “buy” in new coverage at Needham, calling it a pure play on the growth of “over the top” video.
VF Corp. – The maker of Timberland, North Face, and other branded apparel beat forecasts on both the top and bottom lines, raised its full-year forecast, and increased its dividend by 10 percent.
General Electric – The stock was downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” at UBS, which cited disappointing third-quarter earnings, the company’s forecast, and the risk that GE might cut its dividend.
Cisco Systems – The networking equipment maker is reportedly near a deal to buy telecommunications software maker BroadSoft. Reuters reports the price would be close to $2 billion.
AstraZeneca – The drugmaker received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a new formulation for its type-2 diabetes treatment Bydureon.
JPMorgan Chase – The bank is launching a new smartphone app today that will offer its first ever online bank accounts. The app is called “Finn by Chase” and lets consumers open a bank account, make payments, and set up savings.
Apple – Apple and contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn will hold a meeting of executives to discuss production problems with the new iPhone X, according to published reports in Japan.
Tesla — Tesla reached a deal to set up a manufacturing plant in Shanghai without a local partner, according to The Wall Street Journal. Separately, the automaker announced it has increased its borrowing capacity for its car lease program to $1.1 billion from the prior $600 million.
Potlatch – Potlatch announced a deal to combine with lumber competitor Deltic Timber in a stock swap transaction. Deltic shareholders will receive 1.8 Potlatch shares for each share they now own.
ServiceNow – ServiceNow was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at Piper Jaffray, which made the call following channel checks and conversations with various companies in the human resources software industry.
Rio Tinto – Rio Tinto was downgraded to “sector perform” from “market perform” at RBC Capital, which cited the mining company’s exposure to commodity volatility.
Royal Philips – Royal Philips reported slightly better than expected earnings for its latest quarter, although both sales and profits were down from a year earlier, and the Dutch technology company reaffirmed its full-year forecast.
GlaxoSmithKline – The drugmaker won FDA approval for a new shingles vaccine, an injectable drug known as Shingrix. The drug outperformed Merck’s Zostavax in clinical trials.
Source: Investment Cnbc
Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: HAS, HIG, HAL, ROKU, VFC, GE, CSCO & more