Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Wal-Mart—The retail giant earned $1.15 per share for its latest quarter, 3 cents above estimates, with revenue and comparable store sales also above estimates. Wal-Mart's results were helped in part by a strong back-to-school season.
Kohl's—The retailer missed estimates by 4 cents with quarterly profit of 70 cents per share, with revenue also below forecasts and same-store sales falling more than expected.
Procter & Gamble—Berkshire Hathaway is buying P&G's Duracell battery business. Procter will receive $4.7 billion in P&G shares currently held by Berkshire, while a recapitalized Duracell will have $1.7 billion in cash when transferred to Berkshire.
Viacom—The media company reported an adjusted fiscal fourth quarter profit of $1.71 per share, excluding certain items, helped by increased revenue from filmed entertainment and its media networks.
Tyco—The maker of fire protection and security products matched estimates with adjusted quarterly profit of 56 cents per share, with revenue slightly below forecasts.
Cisco Systems—The company reported adjusted earnings of 54 cents per share beating estimates by 2 cents. Revenue was also above forecasts, as sales for some of its prominent networking products improved. However, Cisco gave a revenue forecast for the current quarter that falls below Street estimates. Cisco also announced that chief financial officer Frank Calderoni is stepping down at year's end, to be replaced by senior vice president Kelly Kramer.
DreamWorks—The movie studio is in talks to be bought by toymaker Hasbro, according to sources. CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reports the talks are in an advanced stage.
JC Penney—The retailer reported a smaller than expected loss for its latest quarter, but its revenue was below estimates and comparable store sales were flat compared to the year before. Analysts had been expecting a jump in same-store sales, but warmer than usual weather cut into sales of fall and winter clothing.
NetApp—The cloud-related products maker beat estimates by 1 cent for its latest quarter with adjusted profit of 70 cents per share, with revenue very slightly below estimates. But NetApp gave a light forecast for the current quarter, as its sales to original equipment makers slide.
Rocket Fuel—The company posted an adjusted quarterly loss of 18 cents per share, smaller than the 30 cent loss predicted by analysts. The provider of advertising technology also had better than expected revenue and upbeat guidance for the current quarter, seeing strong sales growth.
Microsoft—The computer software and services company will buy Israeli cybersecurity start-up Aorato for about $200 million, according to Dow Jones.
Sony—The company unveiled PlayStation Vue, a new cloud-based television service. The service is expected to be launched during 2015's first quarter.