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Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

Beazer Homes—The home builder posted its first profitable fiscal year in eight years, beating estimates for its fourth quarter on both the top and bottom lines by a wide margin.

Susquehanna Bancshares—BB&T is buying Susquehanna for $2.5 billion in cash and stock, or $13.50 per share, representing a 36-percent premium for Susquehanna shareholders.

Allergan—The company has amended the process associated with calling a special meeting of shareholders. Allergan said it took the step to assure that the December special meeting requested by Pershing Square focuses on the question of value. Pershing's Bill Ackman has been leading an attempt by Valeant to buy Allergan.

SeaWorld Entertainment—SeaWorld fell 12 cents shy of estimates with adjusted third quarter profit of $1.01 per share, though revenue was slightly above estimates. The theme park operator said 2014 has been a challenging year, but expressed confidence in the steps it has taken to address its issues.

ADT—The maker of security and automation systems earned an adjusted 55 cents per share for its latest quarter, 7 cents above estimates, with revenue also beating analyst forecasts. ADT said it saw increases in gross customer additions, as well as improved progress in stemming customer attrition.

Rockwell Automation—The maker of automation systems beat estimates by 4 cents with adjusted quarterly profit of $1.86 per share, with revenue essentially in line. Its results were boosted by improved sales of motion control and industrial safety products.

HCA and Community Health Systems—Wells Fargo downgraded both hospital operators to "market perform" from "outperform," as it was downgrading the hospital group to "market weight" from "overweight." The firm cites the Supreme Court's decision to hear a major Obamacare case as well as expectations for reduced enrollment.

Yahoo—The company announced a $640 million cash deal to acquire ad platform Brightroll. Separately, Reuters reports that at least two major Yahoo shareholders are appealing to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong to explore the idea of merging with Yahoo and running the combined company.

Fossil—The clothing and accessories company earned $1.96 per share for its latest quarter, beating estimates by 14 cents. Revenue was also above estimates, although the company's fourth quarter earnings guidance is partly below analyst forecasts. Fossil, which saw strong demand for its watches and jewelry during the quarter, also announced a $1 billion stock buyback.

UBS , HSBC, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland—The five banks were fined a total of $3.4 billion in a probe of currency market manipulation. UBS was hit with the biggest part of that total at $661 million.

Wal-Mart—The world's largest retailer is stretching out its "Black Friday" deals over a five-day period, rather than concentrating them into one day.

General Motors—The automaker is laying off 350 workers at its Lansing, Michigan Cadillac plant as it cuts production of the Cadillac ATS and CTS models.

Toyota—Toyota is recalling about 362,000 vehicles globally, covering three separate defects. The company is not aware of any crashes, injuries, or deaths resulting from those issues.

Nvidia—The chipmaker is being sued by Samsung for alleged patent infringement and false claims. Samsung said Nvidia was guilty of false advertising in claiming that its "Shield" tablet computer contains the world's fastest mobile processor. It's the latest legal skirmish between the two, with Nvidia having sued Samsung back in September.

Caesars Entertainment—The casino operator has reached agreement with key creditors on a restructuring which includes a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan, according to Bloomberg.


—By CNBC's Peter Schacknow

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