Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
Morgan Stanley – Morgan Stanley reported third-quarter profit of $1.27 per share, beating estimates by 16 cents a share. Revenue also beat analysts’ forecasts. Chairman and CEO James Gorman said the quarter was a strong one despite a typical summer slowdown and volatile markets.
Honeywell – Honeywell beat estimates by 7 cents a share, with adjusted quarterly profit of $2.08 per share. Revenue fell short of Wall Street forecasts, however. Results were helped by profit margin expansion and 3% growth in organic sales. Honeywell also raised the lower end of its full-year 2019 earnings forecast, now forecasting adjusted earnings per share of $8.10 to $8.15 compared with the prior $7.95 to $8.15 a share estimate.
Netflix – Netflix reported quarterly profit of $1.47 per share, compared to a consensus estimate of $1.04 a share. Revenue also beat forecasts and Netflix saw an addition of 6.77 million paying subscribers during the quarter. The company warned, however, that increasing competition could weigh on subscriber growth during the remainder of the year.
IBM – The company earned an adjusted $2.68 per share for the third quarter, a penny a share above estimates. Revenue came in below analysts’ forecasts, however, with IBM reporting a fifth consecutive quarter of falling sales thanks to weakness in the company’s legacy businesses.
Ford – Ford announced a new public charging network for its electric vehicle customers and is also teaming with Amazon’s Home Services unit for the installation of various home charging options.
BellRing Brands – BellRing’s initial public offering priced at $14 per share, below the projected range of $16 to $19 per share. BellRing, maker of PowerBar branded snacks, is a spin-off from Post Holdings and will begin trading this morning on the New York Stock Exchange.
CSX – The company’s quarterly earnings came in 7 cents a share ahead of estimates, with profit of $1.08 per share. The railroad operator’s revenue was in line with Wall Street forecasts. CSX also saw lower shipment volumes
Tesla – Tesla received approval from Chinese regulators to begin production in that country. Tesla is in the process of building a $2 billion factory in Shanghai.
Unilever – Unilever reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales, with softer demand in India and China. Emerging markets account for about 60% of the consumer product maker’s business.
Taiwan Semiconductor – Taiwan Semi reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, with the chipmaker and Apple supplier seeing its net profit rise 13.5% from a year earlier.
Facebook – Facebook fell again in Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands report, dropping to 14th place from 9th. Interbrand – a unit of ad giant Omnicom – said the estimated value of the Facebook brand fell 12% to $39.9 billion from a year earlier.
Alcoa – Alcoa is mulling up to $1 billion in asset sales as well as closing production facilities, as aluminum prices fall. The aluminum producer reported a loss of 44 cents per share for the third quarter, wider than the 33 cents a share that Wall Street was expecting. Revenue was essentially in line with expectations.
Apple – Apple’s Apple Pay service is being examined for antitrust concerns by European Union regulators, according to the Financial Times.