Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell on Friday.
Applied Materials: The semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker reported fiscal second-quarter profit excluding items of 16 cents per share, beating estimates by three cents. Revenue was also above consensus, with demand for smartphone chips helping offset a decline in personal computer sales.
Dell: Dell reported first-quarter profit excluding items of 21 cents a share, 14 cents below estimates, though revenue exceeded forecasts. The computer maker is not providing guidance for the current quarter as it deals with Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell's proposed buyout bid and competing offers.
J.C. Penney: J.C. Penney lost $1.31 per share for the first quarter, wider than the 89 cents per share loss analysts were expecting. Revenue also missed Wall Street's forecast, with same-store sales falling 16.6 percent during the quarter. The retailer attributes the poor results to former CEO Ron Johnson's turnaround strategies.
Walt Disney: Atlantic Equities has downgraded Disney shares to "neutral" from "overweight," primarily on a valuation basis.
L Brands: The company formerly known as Limited Brands has been cut to "underperform" from "hold" at Jefferies, which cited slowing sales growth and pressures on profit margins.
Deere: Goldman Sachs downgraded Deere shares to "sell" from "neutral," pointing to a projected 15-percent decline in U.S. capital expenditures on agricultural equipment.
Tesla Motors: The automaker priced a secondary offering of nearly 3.4 million shares at $92.24 per share.
Autodesk: Autodesk reported first-quarter profit of 42 cents per share, three cents below estimates, with revenue falling short of analyst projections as well. Its current-quarter guidance for both earnings and revenues also fall below Street consensus as the software maker cuts its full-year outlook. CEO Carl Bass pointed to a mixed global economy as a significant weight on first-quarter results.
Nordstrom: Nordstrom earned 73 cents per share for the first quarter, missing estimates by three cents, with revenue below estimates as well. The retailer saw weaker than expected sales as well as higher expenses. Nordstrom also cut its full year sales outlook.
Brocade Communications: Brocade reported fiscal second-quarter profit excluding items of 17 cents per share, two cents above estimates. The maker of data storage products did report revenue that matched forecast, but it had lowered its revenue outlook earlier this month.
Compuware: The software maker has declared its first dividend, paying 12-1/2 cents per share on June 19 to shareholders of record on June 5.
Northrop Grumman: Northrop Grumman has announced an addition of $4 billion to its stock buyback program, with the defense contractor planning to buy back 25 percent of its outstanding shares by the end of 2015, depending on market conditions.
Kansas City Southern: The rail operator will replace Dean Foods in the S&P 500 at the close of trading on May 23. That follows Dean's spinoff of its WhiteWave and Morningstar Foods units. Dean Foods and WhiteWave will both be added to the S&P MidCap 400.
Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts: The market research firm NPD Group reported a 25-percent drop in videogame sales in April.
Sprint: Dish Network asked the FCC to suspend its review of SoftBank's bid for Sprint. Dish points to reported attempts by the Japanese company to thwart Dish's bid for Sprint by asking Wall Street banks not to finance its offer.
General Motors: The automaker's shares have been upgraded to "buy" from "underperform" at CLSA.
