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Stocks to Watch: August 5, 2016

Stocks to Watch: August 5,2016  23 Hours Ago|00:58

Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

Coach — Coach was upgraded to “outperform” from “market perform” at Telsey Advisory Group, which said recent product and store initiatives have improved perception of the brand and provided near term catalysts for the stock.

Cognizant Technology — The technology services provider reported adjusted quarterly profit of 87 cents per share, 5 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was in line with expectations. Cognizant was helped by strong demand in its health care and finance segments, and the company also expanded its stock repurchase program by $1 billion to a total of $3 billion.

Willis Towers Watson — The consulting firm beat estimates by a penny a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.66 per share. Revenue was slightly below forecasts. The company also sees 2016 adjusted earnings of $7.60 to $7.80 per share, below the consensus forecast of $7.85. Willis Towers Watson said it is still working on integration issues following the January merger of Willis Group and Towers Watson, but expects significant long-term benefit.

Priceline Group — The travel website operator reported adjusted quarterly profit of $13.93 per share, beating estimates of $12.69 a share. Revenue was essentially in line, but the key metric of gross travel bookings did come in above analysts’ estimates.

LinkedIn — LinkedIn beat estimates by a wide margin, with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.13 per share. Analysts had forecast earnings of 78 cents per share. Revenue also beat forecasts and rose to the highest in the business social network’s history. This will be one of the last reports for LinkedIn as a public company following its agreement to be bought by Microsoft.

Activision Blizzard — Activision came in 12 cents a share above estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 54 cents per share. The video game maker’s revenue also topped forecasts. Activision increased its full-year outlook, as well, boosted by new games and its acquisition of King Digital, maker of the “Candy Crush” game.

Kraft Heinz — Kraft Heinz earned an adjusted 85 cents per share for its latest quarter, 13 cents a share above estimates. Revenue was in line with forecasts. The food maker was helped by lower input costs, as well as trimming expenses. The company also announced a 4.3 percent dividend hike to 60 cents per share.

GoDaddy — Shares of the domain name registration company are jumping for a second day, after reporting a lower-than-expected loss and greater-than-anticipated revenue for its most recent quarter.

Rackspace — Rackspace is in advanced talks to be sold to a private equity firm, according to Dow Jones. The cloud services company is speaking with one or more private-equity firms, and a deal could be reached as soon as today.

El Pollo Loco — El Pollo Loco beat estimates by a penny a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of 19 cents per share. The restaurant chain’s revenue and full-year earnings guidance is in line with analysts’ forecasts.

FireEye — FireEye lost 33 cents per share for its latest quarter, six cents a share smaller than anticipated. The cybersecurity company’s revenue missed estimates, however, and its current-quarter and full-year guidance is also weaker than analysts had expected. FireEye also announced plans to lay off up to 400 of its 3,400 employees as demand slows.

Zynga — Zynga reported a breakeven quarter on an adjusted basis, matching analysts’ forecasts, with the mobile game creator’s revenue beating estimates. The company forecast current-quarter bookings that were short of forecasts, however, putting pressure on its shares. The creator of “Farmville” expects to launch 10 new games this year.

Nu Skin Enterprises — Nu Skin matched estimates with quarterly profit of 79 cents per share, with the beauty and health care products maker’s revenue and current-quarter guidance beating forecasts. The company said its results are getting a boost from new product introductions, as well as strong sales of existing products.

Royal Bank of Scotland — Royal Bank of Scotland lost almost $2.3 billion in the first half of this year, and the bank said its future results could be impacted by the U.K. interest rate cut as well as the Brexit vote.

Apple — Apple is offering rewards of up to $200,000 for those who find critical security bugs in its products.

Wendy’s — The restaurant chain plans to stop using chickens that were raised with human antibiotics by 2017.

Lions Gate — Lions Gate reported a surprise profit for its latest quarter, compared to analysts’ forecasts for a loss. The movie studio’s revenue also beat estimates. Lions Gate was helped by upbeat TV results, as well as the movie “Now You See Me 2.”

Weyerhauser — Weyerhaeuser reported quarterly profit of 17 cents per share, 5 cents a share shy of estimates. The forest products company missed revenue estimates, as well.

[“source -cncb”]