Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
Alphabet — Evercore ISI initiated coverage of a group of internet companies, saying that "the best is yet to come for internet disruptors." The Google-parent company was among those the Wall Street firm rates as out-performers, as well as Facebook, Amazon, InterActive and Match Group.
Alibaba Group — Susquehanna began coverage of the Chinese e-commerce giant on Wednesday. The firm highlighted Alibaba's two retail platforms, Taobao and Tmall, as "impressive," writing in a note that both advertising businesses have "amply runway ahead."
AeroVironment — The military drone maker shares soared after the company posted strong second quarter sales. AeroVironment crushed Wall Street's expectations, reporting a profit of 29 cents per share, while analysts polled by Reuters were anticipating a loss of 6 cents per share.
UnitedHealth Group — Optum, division of the health care giant, expects to close a $4.9 billion deal for DaVita Medical Group next year. DaVita said it plans to use the sale proceedings to pay debts and buyback stock over the next couple of years.
Discovery Communications — The cable programming giant is taking a majority interest worth $70 million in the Oprah Winfrey Network, which was previously a joint venture between the TV star and Discovery. The deal increases Discovery's ownership to 75 percent, while Winfrey will continue as OWN's chief executive.
Home Depot — The home improvement retailer increased its fourth quarter stock buyback program to $15 billion, replacing a previous plan to purchase $2.1 billion in shares.
Fred's — The regional pharmacy announced it would not pay out its quarterly dividend and instead would put the money toward paying down more debt. The move came as Fred's reported a third quarter loss that was worse than anticipated.
Dave & Busters — The entertainment company reported better-than-expected earnings at 29 cents per share, above the 24 cents per share analysts polled by FactSet expected.