Early movers: GS, GE, VZ, BLK, JPM, ULTA & more

Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell on Friday:

Goldman Sachs - CNBC's Kayla Tausche reports that Goldman will be the lead underwriter for Twitter's initial public offering. The social networking site announced it had filed a confidential S-1 with the SEC, the first step towards an eventual IPO.

Ulta Salon Cosmetics - Ulta earned 70 cents per share for its second quarter, three cents above estimates, with revenue also coming in above forecasts. The personal care products maker also saw same-store sales improve more than analysts had thought.

General Electric - The manufacturing conglomerate is close to finalizing a nearly $2 billion contract to provide power turbines for six power plants, according to Dow Jones.

Verizon - The telecommunications giant has been upgraded to "overweight" at Evercore Partners, which points to benefits from Verizon's purchase of Vodafone's 45 percent stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture.

BlackRock - The asset management firm and Pimco bought at least a quarter of Verizon's record $49 billion bond offering, according to Dow Jones. Pimco is said to have bought $8 billion worth, while BlackRock bought about $5 billion, according to sources.

JPMorgan Chase - The megabank will spend $4 billion on compliance and risk controls, according to the Wall Street Journal. The paper said the bank will commit 5,000 extra employees to that effort.

Intel - Intel has been upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Jefferies, which also raised its price target for the chipmaker to $30 from $27 per share. Among other factors, Jefferies cites Intel's increasing emphasis on chips that consume less power, perform better, and are cheaper.

Aetna - Bank of America Merrill Lynch has upgraded the insurer's shares to "buy" from "neutral".

Under Armour - Credit Suisse cut the athletic apparel maker's shares to "neutral" from "outperform".

Safeway - Credit Suisse upgraded the supermarket operator's stock to "outperform" from "underperform".

Esterline Technologies - The specialty manufacturer has named United Technologies executive Curtis Reusser as its new chief executive officer.

—By CNBC's Peter Schacknow

Questions? Comments? Email us at [e-mail]