Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Ulta — The beauty chain slipped more than 1% following a downgrade to hold from buy at Jefferies. Analyst Ashley Helgans cited mounting pressure from competitor Sephora as well as a “lack of newness” as two reasons for the change. Netflix — Shares slid nearly 6% after the video streaming platform shared a weaker full-year revenue growth outlook than consensus had expected and said it would no longer report quarterly subscriber gains going forward. Despite this, Netflix posted a first-quarter earnings and revenue beat . Shopify — The Canada-based e-commerce stock jumped 3%. Morgan Stanley upgraded Shopify to an overweight rating, citing confidence in the company’s growth potential and operating leverage upside. First Solar — Shares gained 1.5% after Wells Fargo upgraded shares to overweight. The firm cited several upside catalysts, including the expectation that the Biden Administration will revoke tariff exemptions and potential trade restrictions on Chinese panels. Sunnova Energy — The stock slipped nearly 4% after a Wells Fargo downgrade to equal weight. The bank thinks that a higher-for-longer rate environment will be particularly detrimental for Sunnova’s upcoming debt maturities and tight liquidity. SLB — The energy stock dipped 1.7% despite a first-quarter report that was largely in line with expectations. SLB reported 75 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $8.71 billion of revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were expected 75 cents per share on $8.69 billion of revenue. The company did say that revenue fell in North America. Intuitive Surgical — Shares of the robotic surgery firm popped 3% after posting a first quarter earnings and revenue beat. Intuitive Surgical reported adjusted earnings of $1.50 per share last quarter, while analysts polled by LSEG had estimated $1.41. Western Alliance — Shares slipped 2% after the firm missed earnings expectations in its latest quarter. Western Alliance reported earnings of $1.60 per share, while FactSet had estimated this at $1.64 per share. KB Home — The homebuilding stock climbed 1.6% after announcing a share repurchase plan amounting up to $1 billion . KB Home also said that it would raise its quarterly cash dividend by 25% to 25 cents per share, payable on May 23. Paramount — The media stock soared 10% after the New York Times and Bloomberg reported that Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management have been discussing the possibility of teaming up to acquire Paramount in a joint bid . This comes amid Paramount’s talks to merge with production firm Skydance Media. Bentley Systems — French energy management and automation firm Schneider Electric confirmed that it was currently in preliminary talks regarding a potential strategic transaction of Bentley Systems, sending the software stock up less than 1%. Proctor & Gamble — The consumer products maker reported mixed results for its latest quarter, with earnings of $1.52 per share beating analysts’ estimates of $1.41 per share, according to LSEG. The company slightly missed revenue expectations, however, posting $20.20 billion, while analysts expected $20.41 billion. Shares were little changed in premarket trading. American Express — Shares slid 1.5% despite the financial services company posting a first-quarter earnings and revenue beat above FactSet estimates. American Express also reaffirmed that its full-year guidance would come in line with expectations. — CNBC’s Hakyung Kim, Tanana Macheel, Jesse Pound and Samantha Subin contributed reporting.
