Early movers: BBRY, JCP, JPM, S, TM, KKR & more
Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell on Friday:
BlackBerry – The beleaguered smartphone maker posted a second-quarter loss that was slightly less than Wall Street estimates, but still massive – excluding items, BlackBerry lost 47 cents a share on revenue of $1.57 billion. Despite Fairfax Financial riding to its rescue with a $4.7 billion dollar buyout bid earlier this week, the company continues to be dogged by doubts about its long-term prospects.
J.C. Penney – The struggling retailer priced an 84 million share secondary offering at $9.65 per share, which the company is using to help boost its financial position. J.C. Penney said it expects to end the year with $1.3 billion in cash, excluding the proceeds of the stock sale.
Lumber Liquidators — A report by The Associated Press says the hardwood company's offices have been searched by federal authorities, yet no word on why or when this took place. The stock is down by 7 percent before-the-bell.
McDonald's — Want a salad with that burger? The fast food giant is moving to offer healthy options on its wildly popular value meals, as part of an effort to address rampant obesity. The plan would let customers choose fruit, salad or vegetables instead of fries.
Sprint –The company's CFO Joe Euteneur said has decided to take a "wait and see" approach to offering BlackBerry in its stores. His remarks come a day after rival T-Mobile announced it would cut back on BlackBerry units in its stores.
Ford – Technology website AllThingsD reported on Thursday that the auto giant's CEO, Alan Mulally, has become the frontrunner to replace departing Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer. According to the site, Mulally was initially resistant to the idea, but has warmed to it in recent weeks.
Toyota – the automaker will recall about 694,000 Sinenna Minivans in North America, due to an issue with the shift lever. As a result, the vans may shift out of the park position and roll away.
KKR – the private equity firm will pay about 165 billion yen ($1.67 billion) to purchase Panasonic's healthcare unit. The deal is being billed as the largest Asian buyout this year thus far. Prior to this deal, KKR's only Japanese holding was Intelligence Holdings, a temporary staffing agency it offloaded to another staffing company earlier this year.
BP – the oil giant is locked in a legal battle to contain fines stemming from the infamous 2010 Gulf oil spill. Beginning on Monday, BP will begin the second of a three phase trial that could culminate in the company footing a bill that is five times greater than the $3.5 billion it has set aside to resolve claims from the oil spill.
JPMorgan Chase – the megabank's audit committee head admitted to mistakes that have caused JPMorgan to be locked in numerous legal and regulatory battles. On Thursday, JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon met with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to discuss a settlement to end investigations into its mortgage lending practices.
—By CNBC's Javier E. David