Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Shire–The British drug maker agreed to be acquired by AbbVie for more than $54 billion in cash and stock, after rejecting four prior takeover offers.
General Electric–GE earned 39 cents per share for the second quarter, excluding certain items, matching estimates. Overall revenue was short of consensus, but industrial revenue did exceed expectations.
Amazon.com–The Internet giant introduced Kindle Unlimited, a service that allows unlimited reading of Kindle books for $9.99 per month.
FedEx–FedEx was indicted by a federal grand jury in San Francisco for alleged conspiracies to traffic in controlled substances and prescription drugs.
Bank of NY Mellon–The bank earned 62 cents per share for the second quarter, six cents above estimates. The beat came despite a drop in fees.
Johnson Controls–The maker of industrial and automotive components beat estimates by one cent with fiscal third quarter profit of 84 cents per share, excluding certain items, though revenue was slightly below forecasts. The company said it is experiencing challenges in some markets, but it is seeing improvements in areas like industrial building.
Honeywell–The industrial conglomerate earned $1.38 per share for the second quarter, two cents above estimates, with revenue above consensus as well. The company is raising the lower end of its 2014 earnings forecast on prospects for faster growth and margin improvement in the second half of the year.
Ericsson–The network equipment maker reported better than expected second quarter profit and indicated improved business for the rest of the year as well.
Hewlett-Packard–CEO Meg Whitman was appointed chairman following the resignation of Ralph Whitworth for health reasons. Additionally, Alcoa CE0 Klaus Kleinfeld will join the HP board.
Apple–Apple also has board-related news, with the retirement of Bill Campbell. He'll step down after 17 years on the board, replaced by BlackRock founding partner and director Susan Wagner.
Google–The search giant reported second quarter profit of $6.08 per share, excluding certain items, falling short of estimates of $6.24. However, revenue did come in above consensus. Analysts have pointed out that spending by advertisers online has been weaker, and at lower prices, so that revenue beat is providing a spark of encouragement for investors.
IBM–Big Blue earned $4.32 per share for the second quarter, beating estimates by three cents, with revenue also slightly above forecasts. IBM's results were helped by an increasing shift towards its higher-end businesses.
PetSmart–The pet supplies retailer has hired investment banks to advise it both on strategic alternatives and defending it against activist investors, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Seagate Technology–The hard disk drive maker matched estimates with quarterly profit of $1.10 per share, with revenue falling very slightly below forecasts.
Schlumberger–The oilfield services company topped analyst forecasts by a penny with quarterly profit of $1.37 per share, excluding certain items. Revenue topped estimates, with Schlumberger's results helped in part by increased offshore business.
Advanced Micro Devices–The chip maker earned two cents per share, excluding certain items, for the second quarter, a penny below estimates, while its current quarter revenue forecast missed expectations. AMD failed to match the upbeat performance of competitor Intel (INTC) earlier in the week, due in part to lower exposure to the business PC market.
Gentiva Health Services–The home health care provider received a takeover bid of $17.25 per share from an unnamed party, and said it favors that bid over a hostile $16 per share offer from Kindred Healthcare for a 14.9 percent stake.
Entergy–Entergy was sued by the Justice Department, which accuses the energy producer of failing to provide documents that prove its compliance with affirmative action requirements.
—By CNBC's Peter Schacknow
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