Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Novo Nordisk — The maker of obesity drug Wegovy’s U.S. stock fell about 13% after unexpectedly warning that fiscal 2026 sales will be hurt by lower drug prices in the U.S. even as it anticipates more patients will use its popular GLP-1 drug. Novo Nordisk said fourth-quarter sales would be down 2% and it expects fiscal 2026 adjusted sales to fall between 5% and 13%, hurt by the reversal of sales rebate provisions. Sales for fiscal 2025 are expected to be up about 10%. The company will report its full results on Wednesday morning. Gartner — The IT research firm plunged 23% and hit a 52-week low after its full-year guidance missed Wall Street’s expectations. Gartner anticipates total revenue of $6.46 billion for 2026, less than the $6.71 billion LSEG consensus estimate. Its adjusted earnings guidance came in at $12.30 per share, below the $13.53 per share expected from analysts. AES — Shares of the power company jumped nearly 9% after a Bloomberg report that BlackRock ‘s Global Infrastructure Partners is partnering with Swedish investment firm EQT AB to acquire AES. The report said the two firms could come to an agreement in the coming weeks to buy the company. Rocket Cos. — Shares of the mortgage provider rose more than 8% after the company revealed that mortage loan volume is surging in an interview with CNBC . CEO Varun Krishna said the company is “on track to produce the highest mortgage loan production in terms of volume that we’ve had in four years, and the highest gain on sale that we’ve had in four years as well.” Teradyne — The robotics company saw shares jump more than 12% after posting strong guidance for the current quarter. First-quarter adjusted earnings are expected to range from $1.89 to $2.25 per share, versus the $1.29 per share FactSet consensus estimate. Management said it expects year over year growth across all of the company’s businesses “with strong momentum in compute driven by AI.” Fourth-quarter results also trounced expectations on the top and bottom lines. Ball — Shares popped 9% on the news of strong guidance for 2026. The aluminum packaging company expects diluted earnings per share growth of at least 10% in 2026 over 2025. In the fourth quarter, the company reported earnings per share of 91 cents, excluding certain items, beating the 90 cent estimate from analysts polled by FactSet. Lennar, Taylor Morrison Home – Shares of both companies popped more than 3%. Bloomberg News reported that homebuilders are hatching a plan that would address housing affordability, including a possible rent-to-own program. Both Lennar and Taylor Morrison are among the builders involved in the initiative, people familiar with the plan told Bloomberg. Palantir — The stock jumped almost 8% following the AI-powered software provider’s fourth-quarter earnings beat . Palantir reported adjusted earnings of 25 cents per share, versus the 23 cents expected from analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue was $1.41 billion, topping the $1.33 billion consensus estimate. Merck — Shares rose more than 2% after the pharma giant issued a modest 2026 outlook , as the company gets set to lose some drug patent protections and face competition from generic versions. The company expects revenue to range between $65.5 billion and $67 billion for the year. Analysts polled by LSEG expected revenue around $67.6 billion. PepsiCo — The snack and beverage giant’s stock rose nearly 4% after reporting fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations . Pfizer — Shares dipped 3% even after Pfizer reaffirmed a modest outlook, overshadowing a beat on quarterly earnings and revenue. PayPal — The digital payments company fell 20% after an earnings and revenue miss along with a change in CEO. The company’s board announced Enrique Lores will become president and CEO on March 1, replacing Alex Chriss. “While some progress has been made in a number of areas over the last two years, the pace of change and execution was not in line with the Board’s expectations,” said PayPal in a press release . PayPal’s stock is down more than 40% in the past year. Woodward — The maker of aerospace and industrial products surged more than 15% after posting first quarter results that exceeded expectations, as well as a wider-than-expected EBITDA margin. Woodward posted earnings of $2.17 per share on revenues of $996 million. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected per-share earnings of $1.65 on revenues of $893 million. It also posted an EBITDA margin of 20.9%, better than the 18.9% estimate. NXP Semiconductors — The Dutch maker of semiconductors dropped 9%. NXP Semiconductors beat expectations on the top and bottom lines, but posted automotive revenue of $1.88 billion that was weaker than the $1.89 billion expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount. Non-GAAP gross margin of 57.4% also fell short of the 57.5% StreetAccount consensus estimate. Rambus — The maker of memory-interface chips tumbled about 14% after Rambus posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 68 cents per share, in line with the LSEG consensus estimate. On the other hand, revenue of $190 million exceeded the forecasted $188 million. DaVita — The healthcare provider specializing in kidney care rallied around 20% after posting fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped forecasts. DaVita posted earnings of $3.40 per share, on an adjusted basis, beating the consensus expectation of $3.24 per share, according to FactSet. Revenue of $3.62 billion also exceeded the $3.51 billion expected by analysts. — CNBC’s Michelle Fox, Davis Giangiulio and Fred Imbert contributed reporting
