Check out the companies making headlines before the market opens. Estee Lauder – The cosmetics company fell nearly 2% after Bank of America downgraded the stock, citing headwinds in the Chinese market. Slowing U.S. demand is also weighing on the stock, the company added. Applied Materials – Shares of the semiconductor equipment company fell 1.8% despite reporting better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Applied Materials earned $2.12 per share (excluding items) for the period on revenue of $6.78 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG forecast earnings of $2.02 per share and revenue of $6.67 billion. JD.com – Shares of the Chinese e-commerce group rose 3% after reporting a second-quarter sales increase driven by price cuts that attracted conscious consumers. JD.com’s second-quarter profit rose 73.7% to 9.36 yuan per share (excluding items), while analysts polled by LSEG had expected 6.07 yuan per share. Microchip Technology – Shares rose 2.4%. Piper Sandler upgraded the semiconductor stock to overweight from neutral and said shares would rise more than 20% on “numerous growth levers.” Amcor – Shares of the packaging company fell 3% after it said revenue fell more than expected in the June quarter. Amcor reported revenue of $3.54 billion for the quarter, less than the $3.57 billion expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount. Bayer – Bayer shares rose more than 11% after the German life sciences company won a legal battle over claims that exposure to Bayer’s weed and grass killer Roundup causes cancer and that the company violated state laws by failing to add a cancer warning to Roundup’s label. H&R Block – Shares of the tax-preparation firm rose 8.4% after it announced a dividend increase and a $1.5 billion share buyback. H&R Block also beat earnings expectations and forecast fiscal year results above expectations. The company earned adjusted $1.89 per share on revenue of $1.06 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, higher than expected adjusted earnings of $1.74 per share on revenue of $1.03 billion, according to FactSet. Coherent — The electronics maker’s stock rose 3.1% after earnings beat expectations in its fiscal fourth quarter. Coherent earned 61 cents per share, excluding special items, on revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 60 cents per share, or $1.28 billion. — CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Sarah Min and Hakyung Kim contributed reporting.
