Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Hertz — Shares of the car rental company slid 2.6% following a downgrade to neutral from overweight at JPMorgan. The bank cited a "failed electric vehicle strategy" leading to an estimated $0.5 billion in losses as a reason for the change. Tesla — Shares of the automaker fell 8% after Tesla reported fourth-quarter results that missed estimates on the top and bottom lines and warned that vehicle volume growth may be "notably lower" in the new year. Tesla reported 71 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $25.17 billion of revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were anticipating 74 cents per share on $25.62 billion of revenue. IBM — IBM shares rallied 7% after topping Wall Street's fourth-quarter estimates . The company reported adjusted earnings of $3.87 per share on $17.38 billion in revenue. That topped the earnings of $3.78 per share and $17.30 billion in revenue expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Boeing — Shares slid 2.6% after Bank of America downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. The firm said that the Federal Aviation Administration's production limit on Boeing's 737 Max model — which was involved in the Alaska Airlines door plug blowout — will likely prevent the airline from reaching its 2025/2026 production, delivery and free cash flow goals. Paramount Global — The media stock popped 3.4% following news that Skydance Media was exploring a deal to acquire Paramount Global and take the company private. The deal is still in the preliminary stages, with no guarantee that the merger will go through. Nokia — U.S.-listed shares of the Finnish telecommunications giant jumped 8.5% after Nokia announced a two-year €600 million euro share buyback beginning this quarter. Nokia also reported a 23% decline in net sales for the fourth quarter from a year prior and comparable operating profit that fell 27% year over year. Humana — The health care company slid 13% before Thursday's trading session. While Humana's fourth-quarter earnings were in line with prior guidance, the company guided for full-year earnings of $16, vastly under the $29.14 expected by FactSet. Las Vegas Sands — Shares of the casino and resort company added 2.6% after reporting fourth-quarter consolidated adjusted property earnings of $1.20 billion, above FactSet's estimate of $1.14 billion. The company's fourth-quarter revenue of $2.92 billion also topped FactSet's predicted $2.89 billion. Avis Budget Group — The car rental stock edged 6.2% higher following an upgrade to buy from hold at Citi. "We see CAR as a steady operator that has a pretty clear path to delivering earnings that are at least in line with current Street expectations," wrote analyst Chris Woronka. Meanwhile, sentiment has "turned overwhelmingly negative" on the stock. Alti Global — Shares of the investment manager added 6% after the stock was double upgraded to strong buy from market perform at Raymond James. As reasons for the upgrade, analyst Wilma Burdis cited a strong growth and return profile, consistent earnings with room for margin expansion and a high-quality business model. Vericel — The biotech stock jumped 4% after Truist upgraded Vericel, a maker of sports medicine and severe burn care, to buy from hold, saying a reacceleration in revenues in 2024 and 2025 will coincide with a profit inflection. The Wall Street firm hiked its price target to $51 from $39, about 24% above where shares were Wednesday. — Our's Michelle Fox, Sarah Min, Jesse Pound, Pia Singh and Samantha Subin contributed reporting. Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author.
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