Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
Procter & Gamble, IBM – The two companies separately announced that former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault will retire from the boards of both companies. Both exits are effective February 13.
Lockheed Martin – The defense contractor was awarded a $712 million defense contract to develop advanced hardware for the F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
Apple – D.A. Davidson reiterated its “buy” recommendation on Apple, with a price target of $280. The firm points to the stock’s pullback, reports of new manufacturing within India, and planned moves to mitigate the effect of tariffs.
Sony – Sony is increasing production of next generation 3D camera sensors in response to interest from Apple and others, according to a Bloomberg report. A Sony executive is quoted as saying the sensor business is turning a profit and will positively impact earnings next fiscal year.
Sinclair Broadcast Group – The New York Yankees are in separate talks with Sinclair and Amazon.com about teaming up to bid for the YES network, according to The Wall Street Journal. YES is among the 21st Century Fox assets that Walt Disney will be required to sell for government approval of its deal for Fox assets. The Journal said the Yankees have also approached cable operator Altice USA.
Aphria – The Canadian cannabis producer is the target of a hostile takeover bid from U.S. pot retailer Green Growth Brands. The stock swap proposal is valued at $2.06 billion.
Amazon.com, Walmart – The retail giants could be impacted by new restrictions on foreign e-commerce companies operating in India. New rules that make inventory management for those companies more difficult will go into effect on February 1.
Spirit Airlines – Spirit was on time more often than any other U.S. airline in October, according to new government data, and its flights have been on time about 81 percent of the time this year. That’s in contrast to Spirit’s general reputation of drawing more complaints from consumers than any other airline.
Comcast — The Justice Department will not step up its investigation of Comcast’s 2011 purchase of CNBC parent NBCUniversal, according to a report in the New York Post.
First Republic Bank – The bank will join the S&P 500 prior to the opening of trading on January 2. First Republic will replace SCANA Corp., which is in the process of being acquired by Dominion Energy.
Dell Technologies – Dell will begin trading today on the New York Stock Exchange, returning the computer maker to the public markets. That follows the buyout of Dell’s tracking shares in software maker VMWare. The stock is rated “overweight” in new coverage at JPMorgan Chase with a price target of $60 per share.
Philip Morris – Philip Morris is the subject of positive analyst comments at Piper Jaffray, which said the current price level for the tobacco producer’s stock represents a buying opportunity given strong underlying earnings growth.
Wingstop – Wedbush upgraded the restaurant operator’s stock to “outperform” from “neutral,” pointing to Wingstop’s same-store sales growth prospects and profit margin improvement.
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