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Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell on Friday:

Elan — U.S. based Royalty Pharma has increased its takeover bid for the drug maker to $13.00 per share in cash, plus a contingent value right of up to $2.50 per share based on future sales of multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri.

Wal-Mart —The retail giant holds its annual shareholder meeting in Arkansas. Ahead of that gathering, company executives told reporters they were optimistic about a sales recovery in the second half of the year.

Gap — Gap reported a seven percent increase in same-store sales for May, above the 4.1 percent predicted by analyst. Gap's results were helped by stronger performances at its Gap and Old Navy chains.

Quiksilver —The sports apparel retailerlost 12 cents per share for its second quarter, an unpleasant surprise for investors after analysts had predicted a profit of four cents per share. Revenue for the company also missed estimates, as same-store sales dropped four percent during the quarter.

Cooper Companies — Cooper reported fiscal second quarter profit of $1.50 per share, excluding certain items, twelve cents above estimates, though revenues were slightly shy of consensus. The maker of contact lenses and medical instruments did raise its earnings and revenue forecast for the year, on strengthening contact lens sales.

Intel — The chipmaker's shares have been downgraded to "underweight" from "neutral" at Piper Jaffray, which points to the decline in the company's core PC business.

Yum Brands —UBS has upgraded the restaurant operator's shares to "buy" from "neutral", on the belief that China sales and profitability will improve.

Thor Industries —Thor earned 97 cents per share for its third quarter, excluding certain items, nine cents above estimates. The maker of recreational vehicles is seeing a recovery in its sales for its Four Winds, Airstream, and Dutchman brands.

Monsanto — Monsanto announced a $2 billion stock buyback program, which will take place over a three year period. It will begin after the completion of an existing $1 billion buyback program.

AT&T —The cellphone carrier expects wireless subscriber additions of 500,000 for the second quarter, thanks to promotions and investments, but also predicts those moves will hurt its profit margins for the quarter. However, AT&T is not changing its full-year 2013 earnings guidance as a result.

TiVo Google's Motorola Mobility unit and TiVo have settled a patent infringement lawsuit that was scheduled to go to trial next week. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

General Motors — The U.S. Treasury's sale of 30 million GM shares has been priced at $34.41 per share, which raises just over $1 billion for the Treasury. This comes as GM rejoins the S&P 500 today.

Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo — Those companies have issued statements saying they do not give the government direct access to their servers, as alleged in a Washington Post report saying the NSA and FBI are tapping directly into internet servers.

Steve Madden — Piper Jaffray has started coverage of the shoe retailer with an "overweight" rating, based on increasing prospects for sales growth and heightened brand awareness among consumers.

Sprint Nextel — Nomura downgraded Sprint shares to "neutral" from "buy", seeing little upside for Sprint either as an independent company, or based on potential transactions involving Softbank and Clearwire .

United Continental —Goldman upgraded the airline's stock to "neutral" from "sell", based on rebounding traffic as consumer confidence increases. However, Goldman regards Delta as its top "buy idea" among the U.S. airline stocks.

(Read More: See CNBC's Market Insider Blog)

—By CNBC's Peter Schacknow

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