Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Morgan Stanley — The bank stock fell more than 2% in premarket trading even after the firm’s second-quarter results beat Wall Street estimates thanks to strong performance in trading and investment banking. The bank said profit surged 41% from the year-earlier period, helped by a rebound in Wall Street activity. Revenue rose 12% to $15.02 billion. Meanwhile, the wealth management business reporter lighter-than-expected revenue due to lower net interest income. Bank of America — Shares added nearly 1% after the bank reported second-quarter financial results that topped expectations. Earnings came in at 83 cents a share, versus the 80 cents expected from analysts polled by LSEG. Revenue was $25.54 billion, beating the $25.22 billion consensus estimate. Bank of America also gave new guidance on net interest income rising by the fourth quarter. UnitedHealth — Shares were rose slightly after the release of better-than-expected results for the second quarter. The health insurance giant earned $6.80 per share, excluding certain items, on revenue of $98.86 billion. Analysts expected a profit of $6.66 per share on revenue of $98.84 billion. Shopify — The e-commerce company gained more than 3% after Bank of America upgraded shares to buy from neutral, citing revenue growth and healthy margin expansion. Match Group — Shares popped 7% on news that activist investor Starboard Value has acquired a roughly 6.5% stake in the company. Starboard is calling for the online dating company to improve its growth and profitability, or to otherwise consider going private. PNC Financial Services Group — Shares were flat after the regional bank posted second quarter revenue of $5.41 billion, which was in-line with an LSEG consensus estimate. Reddit — The social media stock dropped 3.4% after Loop Capital downgraded Reddit to hold from buy, saying the risks now outweigh the potential upside. EPAM Systems — Shares advanced ticked slightly higher after Jefferies upgraded the software engineering services company to buy from hold. The firm cited a valuation and earnings trough and an underappreciated AI opportunity. Dollar Tree — Shares of the discount retailer dipped more than 1% after a downgrade to neutral from overweight at Piper Sandler. The investment firm said that proposals from both the Joe Biden and Donald Trump campaigns would be damaging for Dollar Tree. Charles Schwab — The stock declined more than 3% on the back of its second quarter results. Adjusted earnings of 73 cents per share and revenue of $4.69 billion narrowly topped analysts’ estimates for 72 cents earnings per share on $4.68 billion in revenue, according to FactSet. However, net interest margin missed analysts’ expectations. — CNBC’s Yun Li, Jesse Pound, Michelle Fox, Sarah Min and Fred Imbert contributed reporting
