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Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

Johnson & Johnson — J&J is buying privately held hair care products maker Vogue International for $3.3 billion in cash. J&J said the acquisition will strengthen its position in hair care and personal care products, and it expects the deal to close during the third quarter.

Joy Global — The mining equipment maker reported adjusted quarterly profit of 9 cents per share, compared to estimates of a breakeven quarter. Revenue came in below forecasts. The company said it performed better than expected in a challenging commodity market, and analysts are noting a double-digit increase in bookings last quarter.

Box — The cloud storage company reported an adjusted loss of 18 cents per share for its latest quarter. That was 6 cents a share smaller than analysts had anticipated. Revenue was also slightly above estimates. However, the company's billings fell short of expectations, pressuring the shares.

Oracle — The business software company is the target of a lawsuit by a former senior finance manager, who said she faced retaliation for questioning cloud business accounting practices which she felt were unlawful.

Alibaba — Some of the Alibaba shares sold by Japan's Softbank were bought by Singapore state funds Temasek and GIC. The two funds each bought $500 million in shares at $74 per share, part of Softbank's overall $8.9 billion sale. Separately, Softbank said it would not use any of the proceeds from its sale to buy assets being put up for sale by Yahoo. (Disclosure: CNBC has a content-sharing partnership with Yahoo's finance site.)

Viacom — The media company's independent directors got a show of support from Keryn Redstone, granddaughter of controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone. That puts her at direct odds with Sumner Redstone's daughter Shari.

McDonald's — The restaurant operator is near a deal to move its headquarters from Oak Brook, Illinois, to the former Harpo Studios campus in Chicago, according to Crain's Chicago Business.

General Mills — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said flour produced at a General Mills plant in Kansas City was likely the source of an E. coli outbreak that made 38 people sick and led to a recall. The company is continuing to investigate, but said it had not found E. coli in any of its flour products nor in the manufacturing facility.

Apple — Apple plans to raise up to $4 billion in debt in Taiwan and Australia, according to Dow Jones. On Wednesday, Reuters had reported that Apple planned to sell $1 billion in debt in Taiwan. Separately, Goldman Sachs trimmed its earnings estimates for Apple, based on slower growth for the smartphone industry, and cut its price target to $124 per share from $136.

Costco — The warehouse retailer reported flat comparable store sales in May, below the consensus Thomson Reuters estimate of a 1.4 percent increase.

Phillips 66 — Phillips 66 saw Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett purchase nearly 538,000 additional shares of the energy producer, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Buffett had held 76.37 million shares prior to this latest purchase.

AutoZone, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Home Depot, Lowe's — Research firm BTIG issued "buy" ratings on these retailers in new coverage, citing them as leaders in the important categories of return on investment and comparable-store sales growth.

Nvidia — Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on the graphics chipmaker with a "buy" rating, saying Nvidia was a rare example in the semiconductor industry of a growth story. Goldman cites the proliferation of graphics chips in non-traditional markets such as automotive.


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