Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Estee Lauder — The beauty company slipped nearly 2% after Bank of America downgraded the stock, citing headwinds in its China market. Softening U.S. demand is also weighing upon shares, the firm added. Applied Materials — The semiconductor equipment company’s shares dipped 1.8% despite posting better-than-expected…

Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading. Applied Materials — The material engineering stock slipped 2.5% despite third-quarter earnings coming in better than analysts anticipated. Applied Materials earned $2.12 per share, excluding items, on $6.78 billion in revenue. Analysts had penciled in just $2.02 a share in profits and $6.67 billion in revenue.…

Warren Buffett speaks during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 4, 2024.  CNBC A coincidence or master plan? Warren Buffett now owns the exact same number of shares of Apple as he does Coca-Cola after slashing the tech holding by half. Many Buffett followers made the curious observation after a…

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Walmart — Shares of the discount retailer jumped 7% on strong earnings. Walmart topped Wall Street’s quarterly estimates and lifted its full-year outlook as consumers show ongoing resilience. For the year, the company expects sales to rise between 3.75% and 4.75%, and adjusted earnings to come…

Buy now, pay later firms like Klarna and Block’s Afterpay could be about to face tougher rules in the U.K. Nikolas Kokovlis | Nurphoto | Getty Images Financial technology firm Klarna is pushing deeper into banking with its own checking account-like product and a cashback offering that rewards users for shopping via its app. The…

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Ulta Beauty — Shares of the beauty retailer popped a whopping 13% in premarket trading after a regulatory filing revealed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway took a stake worth $266 million in the second quarter. The bet is relatively minor for Berkshire, whose equity portfolio is…

Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading. Cisco Systems — The stock jumped 6% after the networking company reported an earnings and revenue beat for its fiscal fourth quarter, and also issued an optimistic forecast. Cisco posted adjusted earnings of 87 cents per share on revenue of $13.64 billion, while analysts polled by…

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Brinker International – The stock plummeted around 12% after the Chili’s parent issued a weaker-than-expected profit forecast for the full year and reported disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter earnings . The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.61 per share, below the StreetAccount consensus estimate of $1.72 per share.…

Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. Kellanova — Shares rose more than 6% in the premarket after the foodmaker agreed to be acquired by snackmaker Mars for $83.50 per share in cash. The deal values Kellanova at about $36 billion and is expected to close in the first half of 2025. Alphabet…

Sergio Ermotti, chief executive officer of UBS Group Stefan Wermuth | Bloomberg | Getty Images ZURICH, Switzerland ꟷ UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said Wednesday that market volatility could intensify in the second half of the year, but he does not believe the U.S. is heading into a recession. Global equities saw sharp sell-offs last week…