What's Shaking: Friday's Early Movers

Take a look at some of Friday morning's early movers:

Research In Motion – The Blackberry maker’s stock has been downgraded to “underperform” from “hold” at Jefferies, with the firm cutting its price target to $15 from $17.

Sunoco - Chief executive Lynn Elsenhans is stepping down on March 1, to be replaced by chief financial officer Brian MacDonald.

Clorox – The consumer products company reported fourth quarter profit of 79 cents per share, well above estimates of 68 cents. Higher prices also helped sales come in slightly ahead of expectations.

Wynn Resorts – The casino operator beat estimates with quarterly profit of $1.55 per share. Analysts had forecast profit of $1.29, but investors remain worried about a possible slowdown in the growth of Wynn’s Macau operations, as well as an ongoing dispute between CEO Steve Wynn and major shareholder Kazuo Okada.

Estee Lauder – The maker of personal care products reported fiscal second quarter profits of $1.01 per share, matching estimates, but its forecast of $2.16 - $2.23 for fiscal 2012 is short of analyst forecasts of $2.26.

Tyson Foods – The food producer earned 42 cents per share for its fiscal first quarter, nine cents above estimates.

Beam – The spirits maker formerly known as Fortune Brands earned 69 cents per share, excluding certain items, for the fourth quarter, two cents above estimates. It made up for slower sales growth with improved margins.

Weyerhaeuser – The forest products company earned 14 cents per share for the fourth quarter, excluding certain items, eight cents above estimates. A sluggish home building market has been a headwind for the company, but it does expect a firming of lumber prices this quarter.

Gilead Sciences – Upbeat results from an early trial of an experimental hepatitis C drug are lifting the stock, despite the company reporting a lower than expected profit for its fourth quarter.

Edwards Lifesciences – The company beat estimates with its fourth quarter profits, but is giving current quarter guidance that falls below Street consensus. The medical device maker sees Q1 profit of 47 to 49 cents per share, below estimates of 55 cents.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals – The drug maker reported fourth quarter profit of 86 cents per share, well above estimates of 70 cents. Revenue also beat consensus by a wide margin.

Digital River – The e-commerce services provider earned 45 cents per share, excluding certain items, well above estimates of 33 cents. The company’s current quarter guidance is short of estimates, although that was largely shrugged off by investors, at least initially.

NetSuite – The software maker earned 5 cents a share for its fourth quarter, a penny above estimates, with revenues also beating forecasts. Those results were boosted by strong demand for the company’s data and customer relationship software.

Acme Packet – The maker of networking gear missed forecasts with fourth quarter profit of 26 cents per share, falling short of an internal forecast it had lowered just a month ago.

Urban Outfitters – The retailer has named Tedford Marlow as its CEO, effective February 6. Marlow had been president of the Urban Outfitters brand until retiring in 2010.

Fluor – The engineering services provider is raising its quarterly dividend by 28 percent, from 12-1/2 cents per share to 16 cents. It’s also elected CEO David Seaton as chairman of the board.

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