Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Northern Trust — Shares rose more than 6% after The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Bank of New York Mellon approached Northern Trust last week to convey interest in a merger between the two rivals. The report also said that BNY is considering its next steps, which could include a formal bid to Northern Trust. However, the people cautioned that the talks might not result in a deal. Fiserv — Shares of the financial services firm jumped almost 5% after it revealed plans to broaden its presence in the stablecoin space. The company plans to launch a stablecoin and digital-asset platform for banking clients. It also struck partnerships with Circle and PayPal to further these efforts. Circle shares were up 5%, while PayPal gained almost 1%. Novo Nordisk — The pharmaceutical stock plummeted more than 5% after the latest results for the company’s next-generation obesity drug CagriSema were disappointing and suggested no clear advantage over Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. The company also announced that it has ended its collaboration with Hims & Hers Health , citing compounding and marketing concerns. Hims shares fell about 20%. Estée Lauder — The cosmetics stock popped 2% on the back of Deutsche Bank’s upgrade to buy from hold. The bank now has the highest price target on Wall Street of analysts polled by LSEG. DoorDash — The food delivery company moved 2% higher. Raymond James upgraded the stock to strong buy from outperform. The firm said the synergy potential with British food delivery service Deliveroo, which DoorDash is acquiring, is underappreciated. Energy stocks — Shares of energy companies were higher after Iran’s parliament backed closing the Strait of Hormuz , a key trade route for crude oil. The U.S. has since called on China to prevent Iran from closing the route. Exxon Mobil rose nearly 2%, while Marathon Petroleum and ConocoPhillips each advanced more than 1%. Others linked to nuclear energy such as Centrus Energy and Uranium Energy Corp. also gained more than 3% and 1%, respectively. Tesla — Shares gained nearly 1% after Tesla rolled out its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, over the weekend. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said a ride in the taxi exceeded his expectations . RTX , Northrop Grumman , Kratos Defense and Security — Defense stocks ticked higher on Monday after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities. Shares of RTX and Northrop Grumman each added around 1%. Military tech stock Kratos gained 2%. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Sarah Min, Christina Cheddar Berk and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.
