Early Movers: BAC, DNKN, AA & More
Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell on Wednesday:
Bank of America - The stock, which was 2012's best Dow Jones Industrial Average performer, has been downgraded to "neutral" from "outperform" at Credit Suisse on a valuation basis.
Dunkin' Brands - Janney has upgraded the shares to "buy" from "neutral," saying it thinks same-store sales trends are better than what the Street is generally expecting.
Alcoa - Alcoa kicked off earnings season by reporting fourth-quarter profit of $0.06 per share, in line with analysts' estimates. Revenue of $5.9 billion was above consensus, and Alcoa predicted aluminum demand growth of 7 percent this year, up from last year's 6 percent rate. Alcoa has also named executive William Oplinger as its new chief financial officer as of April 1, succeeding the retiring Charles McLane.
Clearwire - The wireless service provider received an unsolicited takeover offer of $3.30 per share from Dish Network. Sprint Nextel already has an agreement to acquire the part of Clearwire it doesn't already own for $2.97 per share. Clearwire said its ability to enter other transactions is limited by other arrangements, but that it has a fiduciary duty to discuss the Dish offer.
Dollar General, Family Dollar - RBC is downgrading both dollar store stocks to "sector perform" from "outperform," citing a more promotional environment in 2013 and a less profitable sales mix.
Seagate - Seagate has raised its current-quarter revenue outlook to $3.6 billion from the prior $3.5 billion. But the hard disk drive maker also said it expects an adjusted gross margin of about 27 percent, at the low end of its prior range of 27 percent to 32 percent. Seagate has been impacted by soft demand and global economic weakness.
Procter & Gamble - P&G has named Macy's Chief Executive Terry Lundgren to its board of directors. The consumer products giant also announced that current director Johnathan Rogers has decided not to seek reelection at this year's annual meeting in October.
Orbitz - Chief Financial Officer Mitch Marcus has resigned to pursue other opportunities. He'd been on the job just two months, with the online travel services provider saying that Marcus had determined that "this was not the right opportunity for him."
Boeing - Investors remain concerned about potential problems with the recently introduced 787 jet. Separately, the union representing company engineers and technical workers is resuming contract talks with Boeing today, but says the two sides remain far apart on major issues.
American International Group - The company's board of directors will meet today to consider whether to join a lawsuit challenging the terms of the government rescue of the insurance company in September 2008. It expects to decide that issue by the end of this month.
Transocean - Transocean lawyers will be in court in New Orleans today, starting the process to get approval for its $400 million settlement with the Justice Department over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley - The two are among banks expected to agree this week to a $1.5 billion settlement over mortgage foreclosures, according to Reuters. This settlement is separate from the one announced earlier this week involving larger mortgage services like Bank of America and Citigroup.
Apollo Group - Apollo reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $1.22 per share, excluding certain items, versus estimates of $0.90 a share. However, the for-profit educational services provider also projected operating income for fiscal 2013 that's below its prior guidance.
WD-40 - The maker of the popular lubricant earned $0.69 per share for its first quarter, 15 cents above estimates, with revenue also well above consensus estimates.
(Read More: See CNBC's Market Insider Blog)
—By CNBC's Peter Schacknow
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