Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
Verizon was downgraded to “equal-weight” from “overweight” at Morgan Stanley, which notes Verizon’s year-to-date outperformance compared to both the S&P 500 and rival AT&T. Morgan Stanley feels the stock is now fairly valued and that good news is already priced in.
Mallinckrodt – The Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a reformulated version of the British drug maker’s opioid painkiller Roxicodone. The new version was designed to deter opioid abuse.
American Eagle Outfitters – American Eagle reported quarterly earnings of 48 cents per share, in line with analyst forecasts. The apparel retailer’s revenue was slightly below forecasts, as was same-store-sales growth of 8 percent.
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment – Dave & Buster’s beat estimates by six cents with quarterly profit of 30 cents per share, and the entertainment and restaurant chain also saw revenue beat estimates. However, the shares are being pressured on weaker than expected comparable sales as well as a downbeat 2019 revenue growth forecast.
First Solar gave an upbeat forecast for fiscal 2019, helping boost the shares in extended hours trading. In October, the solar power systems company had lowered its fiscal 2018 forecast due to lower-than-expected sales of solar modules and higher manufacturing costs.
Credit Suisse said it planned to increase its dividend by at least 5 percent from 2019 onward, and announced a $1.5 billion share buyback. The news follows a three-year revamping by the Switzerland-based bank.
Marriott’s recently revealed cyberattack has been linked to a Chinese government spy agency, according to a report in the New York Times. Separately, Marriott and competitors Hyatt and Host Hotels were downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” at Citi, which cited a more cautious view on lodging in general due to heightened macroeconomic concerns.
Nvidia – Japan’s SoftBank is planning to sell its stake in the graphics chipmaker early in 2019, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. The sale could provide SoftBank with a profit of about $3 billion.
Lululemon was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Citi, which notes that even winning brands among athletic apparel maker have been taken down on fears of a macroeconomic slowdown. However, Citi said Lululemon has improving fundamentals and standout growth prospects.
Bank of America, Morgan Stanley – The two stocks were both downgraded to “market perform” from “outperform” at Keefe, Bruyette, and Woods amid the firm’s overall downgrade of the banking sector to “market weight” from “overweight”. KBW said it doesn’t see many positive catalysts for the bank stocks heading into 2019, and is cutting its rating on B of A and Morgan Stanley because its previous scenario of improving global growth and solid U.S. economic growth is not playing out as expected.
EBay – The stock was downgraded to “equal-weight” from “overweight” at Morgan Stanley, which also cut its price target on the online marketplace operator’s stock to $33 per share from $55 based on tepid projections for growth.
Pivotal Software lost five cents per share for its third quarter, three cents less than analysts had expected, and the cloud software provider also saw revenue come in ahead of forecasts. Subscription revenue was up 53 percent from a year earlier.
