Check out the companies that made headlines before the bell: Novartis — Shares rose 4% after the Swiss drugmaker reported second-quarter core earnings and better-than-expected revenue, adding it “remains on track” to meet its full-year guidance and medium-term outlook. Core earnings were $2.41 per share, beating the StreetAccount consensus of $2.15 per share. Revenue was $14.41 billion, beating expectations of $13.95 billion. General Motors — The company had adjusted earnings of $3.57 per share on revenue of $48.03 billion. Analyst estimates compiled by LSEG were for sales of $47.01 billion and earnings of $3.20 per share. The stock price rose more than 1% following the results. Danaher — The life sciences equipment maker fell 14%. Danaher expects core revenue growth of 2% to 3% in the third quarter and lowered his full-year core revenue outlook to 3% to 4% from 3% to 6%, according to Street Accounts. Second-quarter profits and sales exceeded Wall Street expectations, according to FactSet data. Utz Brands — The potato chip and pretzel maker soared 90% after agreeing to acquire Germany’s Intersnack Group for $14.25 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approval. Domino’s Pizza — Domino’s Pizza posted second-quarter earnings of $4.07 per share, missing the LSEG consensus estimate of $4.17 per share, sending the pizza chain’s stock price down 1%. Meanwhile, sales were $1.19 billion, slightly higher than expectations of $1.18 billion. Nebius Group — The AI cloud company rose 6% after Nvidia took a 9.3% stake in the Amsterdam-based company public, making it one of Europe’s leading neo-cloud providers of AI computing. MMM — Shares rose more than 5% after the American conglomerate that makes Scotch tape and Post-It notes beat expectations for second-quarter profit and sales and raised its full-year outlook. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. — Shares soared more than 3% after Nikkei Asia reported, citing sources, that the foundry would raise prices for chip manufacturing services by up to 10% next year. Crown Holdings — Shares of beverage and industrial packaging supplier Crown Holdings rose more than 2% after the company reported strong sales and bottom line gains in the second quarter. Crown reported earnings per share of $2.49, excluding items, on sales of $3.67 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $2.16 per share and revenue of $3.37 billion. Steel Dynamics — The steelmaker fell 1% even though the company’s latest earnings beat sales and bottom line. However, the company recorded an additional non-cash impairment charge of $16 million. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store — The restaurant chain rose more than 1% after the company said it expects to “achieve or exceed” its revenue range and “exceed its adjusted EBITDA guidance” for its 2026 fiscal year, which ends July 31. — With additional reporting by CNBC’s Scott Schnipper
