Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Palantir — The stock jumped 11% 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 fell around 1% 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 reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations . However, shares were down around 1% as the company sees volumes declining. Pfizer — Shares dipped 1% even after Pfizer reaffirmed a modest outlook, overshadowing a beat on quarterly earnings and revenue. PayPal — The digital payments company fell more than 16% 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 NV — The Dutch maker of semiconductors dropped 5%. 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 9% 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 more than 11% 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
