Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Novo Nordisk — U.S. shares in obesity drug maker Wegoby fell about 13% after the company unexpectedly warned that lower drug prices in the U.S. will hurt its 2026 sales, even as the company expects more patients to use its popular GLP-1 drug. Novo Nordisk said fourth-quarter sales will be down 2% and expects adjusted sales for fiscal 2026 to be down 5% to 13% due to the cancellation of sales rebate provisions. Sales in fiscal 2025 are expected to increase by approximately 10%. The company is scheduled to report full financial results on Wednesday morning. Gartner — The IT research firm plunged 23% to a 52-week low after its full-year outlook fell short of Wall Street expectations. Gartner forecasts total revenue of $6.46 billion in 2026, below LSEG’s consensus estimate of $6.71 billion. Adjusted earnings were expected to be $12.30 per share, lower than analysts’ expectations of $13.53 per share. AES — Shares of the utility company soared nearly 9% following a Bloomberg report that BlackRock Global Infrastructure Partners is partnering with Swedish investment firm EQT AB to acquire AES. According to reports, the two companies could reach an agreement to acquire the company in the coming weeks. Rocket Cos. — The mortgage provider’s stock rose more than 8% after the company revealed in an interview with CNBC that mortgage volumes are surging. Chief Executive Officer Varun Krishna said the company is “on track to achieve its highest mortgage production in four years and its highest capital gains in four years.” Teradyne — This robotics company saw its stock price rise more than 12% after announcing strong guidance for the current quarter. First-quarter adjusted earnings are expected to range from $1.89 to $2.25 per share, compared with the FactSet consensus estimate of $1.29 per share. Management said it expects all of the company’s businesses to grow year-over-year “due to strong momentum in AI-powered computing.” Fourth quarter results also exceeded expectations for both revenue and bottom line. Ball — Shares soared 9% on news of strong outlook for 2026. The aluminum packaging company expects diluted earnings per share in 2026 to be at least 10% higher than in 2025. In the fourth quarter, the company reported earnings per share excluding certain items of 91 cents, beating the 90 cents expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet. Lennar, Taylor Morrison Home – Shares of both companies soared more than 3%. Homebuilders have plans to address housing affordability, including possible rent-to-own programs, Bloomberg News reported. Renner and Taylor Morrison are among the builders involved in the project, people familiar with the project told Bloomberg. Palantir — Shares rose about 8% after the AI-powered software provider posted better fourth-quarter earnings. Palantir reported adjusted earnings of 25 cents per share, compared with the 23 cents expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG. Revenue was $1.41 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. Merck — Shares rose more than 2% after the pharmaceutical giant announced a modest outlook for 2026, saying it will lose some patent protection for its drugs and face competition from generic drugs. The company expects sales this year to be in the range of $65.5 billion to $67 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected sales of about $67.6 billion. PepsiCo — Shares of snack and beverage giant PepsiCo rose nearly 4% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations. Pfizer — Shares fell 3% even as Pfizer reaffirmed its conservative outlook, overshadowing strong quarterly profits and sales. PayPal — The digital payments company fell 20% due to weak revenue and earnings following a CEO change. The company’s board of directors announced that Enrique Lores will succeed Alex Criss as president and chief executive officer, effective March 1. “While we have made some progress in many areas over the past two years, the pace of change and implementation has not been consistent with the board’s expectations,” PayPal said in a press release. PayPal’s stock price has fallen more than 40% over the past year. WOODWARD — The aerospace and industrial products maker soared more than 15% after delivering better-than-expected first-quarter results and a better-than-expected EBITDA margin. Mr. Woodward reported earnings of $2.17 per share on sales of $996 million. Analyst estimates compiled by LSEG were for earnings of $1.65 per share and revenue of $893 million. Additionally, EBITDA margin was 20.9%, exceeding expectations of 18.9%. NXP Semiconductors — The Dutch semiconductor maker fell 9%. NXP Semiconductors beat expectations for sales and bottom line, but its auto sales came in at $1.88 billion, below the $1.89 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Street Account. Non-GAAP gross margin of 57.4% was also below the StreetAccount consensus estimate of 57.5%. Rambus — The memory interface chip maker fell about 14% after Rambus posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 68 cents per share, in line with LSEG consensus estimates. Meanwhile, sales came in at $190 million, exceeding expectations of $188 million. DaVita — The kidney care provider rose about 20% after fourth-quarter earnings and sales beat expectations. DaVita posted adjusted earnings of $3.40 per share, beating consensus estimates of $3.24 per share, according to FactSet. Sales of $3.62 billion exceeded analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. — CNBC’s Michelle Fox, Davis Giangiulio and Fred Imbert contributed reporting
