Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Starbucks—The coffee and beverage giant posted fiscal third-quarter earnings of 67 cents per share on $4.15 billion in revenue, barely edging out Wall Street's consensus forecast. Seattle-based Starbucks cited a big push into food offerings and a revamped breakfast menu, including the introduction of an Oprah Winfrey-branded chai tea, as helping to boost the quarter's performance.
Visa—The world's largest credit and debit card company posted an 11 percent jump in quarterly profit as more people around the world used plastic instead of cash to make purchases. Visa beat Wall Street's estimates with net income of $1.36 billion, or $2.17 per Class A share, in the third quarter, from $1.23 billion, or $1.88 per Class A share, a year earlier.
Amazon.com—The Internet retail giant gave markets an unpleasant surprise by posting a wider-than-expected loss of 27 cents a share, missing expectations for a loss of 15 cents a share. Although sales of $19.34 billion matched forecasts, helped by a batch of new innovations that include a smartphone and Sunday delivery, Wall Street was not impressed. The stock was down more than 10 percent in extended-hours trading.
Wal-Mart Stores—Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon is leaving the company, the discount retailer announced Thursday. Greg Foran, president and CEO of Walmart China since March 2012, will take over the reins of on Aug. 9, the company said. Simon was never able to reverse Walmart's declining U.S. sales.
Zillow—The U.S. real estate website operator is looking to acquire its rival Trulia, according to a report from Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources. The move would combine the two real estate websites with the most traffic in the United States.
ExxonMobil—The world's largest multinational energy company saw its stock downgraded overnight by Barclays, to "underweight" from "equal weight." The bank said that the largest of the "Big Three" U.S. oil companies has "limited upside" when compared to other major energy companies. Exxon will face "relative headwinds due to the lack of meaningful near-term production growth," and oil prices that are expected to remain steady, Barclays said.
Mylan—The pharmaceutical giant was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup, who said Mylan's acquisition of Abbott Laboratories' U.S. development markets business wasn't enough to counter expected headwinds. Citi expects Mylan to have "limited material incremental catalysts to drive the stock over the near term." The bank's also expects a lower-than-consensus full-year earnings per share of $3.26.
Moody's—The credit rating agency saw a 42 percent surge in second-quarter profit, which was boosted by analytics and bond-rating revenue. Moody's earned $319.2 million, up from $225.5 million in the comparable year-ago period.
Liberty Media—The media giant owned by John Malone will begin spinning off its cable assets by way of a stock dividend to shareholders. A new listed company, Liberty Broadband, will be worth up to $4.8 billion once the process is complete, and Malone will retain more than 47 percent voting stake in the company.
21st Century Fox —BSkyB, a sister company also backed by Rupert Murdoch, plans to create a European pay-TV powerhouse by combining 21st Century Fox's stakes in Italy and Germany. The estimated $9.1 billion deal will help provide a cash boost that some analysts expect will fund a second bid for Time Warner.
—By CNBC's Javier E. David
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