Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – Johnson & Johnson reported quarterly profit of $1.88 per share, 1 cent a share above estimates. Fifth Third (FITB) – The bank reported quarterly profit of 96 cents per share, well above the consensus estimate of 72 cents a share. Netflix (NFLX) – Netflix added 8.76 million paying global subscribers during the fourth quarter, more than the 7.6 million that analysts had expected. IBM (IBM) – IBM reported quarterly p

Pedestrians walk past an Express Inc. store in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, May 31, 2017. Clothing retailer Express said Wednesday it plans to shutter roughly 100 of its stores by 2022, as part of its strategy to save $80 million in costs annually over the next three years. Express has a market value of roughly $313 million. Express currently operates more than 600 stores, including factory outlet locations, in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. But it said the lower costs will help boost its earnings b

Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer, says Costco has more room to run. “[Costco had] a great run of outperformance in 2019,” Wald said on CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Tuesday. We think that long term run of outperformance is just getting started again.” However, Nancy Tengler, chief equity strategist at Laffer Tengler Wealth Management, said optimism about Costco may be too late. Home Depot is up nearly 7% this yearDisclosure: Nancy Tengler and Laffer Tengler Investments owns Home

There does need to be artificial intelligence regulation but it must be thoughtfully crafted to allow for technological advancement, IBM Chair and CEO Ginni Rometty told CNBC on Wednesday. Rometty called on lawmakers to regulate “how the technology is used,” but not necessarily the technology itself. She pointed to facial recognition systems as an example of how such regulation could work. “When you go through an airport to get through safely, to find a criminal, those are good uses of facial re

Little Caesars is heading to the Super Bowl for the first time. The company’s Super Bowl ad will star actor Rainn Wilson, best known for his role on “The Office.” But partnering with third parties hasn’t helped Papa John’s or Pizza Hut overtake Domino’s Pizza — or Little Caesars. As Little Caesars moves into Domino’s territory through pizza delivery, the rival pizza chain is trying to steal market share from Little Caesars for carryout pizza. Klein, previously a marketing executive for PepsiCo,

Outgoing BP chief Bob Dudley on Wednesday criticized sweeping climate proposals from Sen. Bernie Sanders, a top-tier 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a champion of the far-left. “They have a completely unrealistic idea of the complexity of the global energy system,” Dudley told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Nearly a year ago, Ocasio-Cortez, with Sen. Ed Markey, released the Green New Deal, an ambitious plan to r

WeWork has sold its business management software company Teem and its minority stake in co-working start-up The Wing, the company announced Wednesday. Artie Minson, co-CEO of WeWork, said in a press release that the sales are part of the company’s effort to focus on the core co-working business. WeWork detailed this strategy last November in a “90-day game plan” that said WeWork would divest all of its non-core businesses in an effort to turn around the troubled co-working company. WeWork said i

—Domm10:21 am: US home sales numbers help sentimentU.S. home sales easily beat expectations, jumping to a nearly 2-year high. However, Piper Sandler said in a note to clients that higher than expected expenses would put pressure on the stock and shares are down roughly 3.3%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit recordsThe S&P 500 added about 0.3% and touched a new intraday record. -Melloy9:03 am: Tesla set to top $100 billion at the openShares of Tesla rose about 5% in premarket trading. If the gains hold, th

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC on Wednesday that negative interest rates are one of the only things that concern him in a market that’s otherwise in a “Goldilocks place.” “The only thing I have trepidation about is negative interest rates, QE, and the diversion between stock prices and bond prices and yield and stuff like that,” Dimon said on “Squawk Box” from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switerzland. Negative interest rates have been used by central banks in Japan and Europe

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — UN experts have called for an immediate investigation into the “possible involvement” of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ iPhone in 2018. “The alleged hacking of Mr. Bezos’s phone, and those of others, demands immediate investigation by U.S. and other relevant authorities, including investigation of the continuous, multi-year, direct and personal involvement of the Crown Prince in efforts to target perceived opponents.”

A health official scans the body temperature of a passenger as she arrives at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Deaths from China’s new virus rose to 17 on Wednesday with more than 540 cases confirmed, increasing fears of contagion from an infection suspected to originate from illegally-traded wildlife. The World Health Organization (WHO) was meeting to rule if the outbreak was a global health emergency. “The best way to conquer fear is t

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils the Cybertruck at the TeslaDesign Studio in Hawthorne, Calif. Robert Hanashiro | USA TODAY | ReutersTesla reached a $100 billion market cap for the first time at the beginning of trading Wednesday, setting CEO Elon Musk up for a large payout. Tesla’s stock was up about 6% early Wednesday, pushing its market cap to $104 billion. Musk would earn the first tranche of at least $346 million in options if Tesla’s market capitalization hits and stays at $100 billion. At a ma

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during a climate initiative event at the tech giant’s campus in Redmond, Washington, on Jan. 16, 2020. Another option is bioenergy produced from carbon capture and storage, or BECCS, which captures and contains carbon contained in plants when they are burned. The company’s methods for reducing its carbon emissions to near zero are straightforward, and similar to what other businesses and consumers are doing. Amazon has pledged to reach 100% usage of renewable e

Wall Street analysts are sticking with Netflix after the company reported it’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report on Tuesday after the bell. The company beat on the top and bottom line and reported weak guidance on U.S. subscribers. But that shouldn’t deter clients from owning the stock according to analysts. Netflix also admitted subscriber growth in the U.S. had slowed as competition continues to heat up from the likes of Disney+ and NBCUniversal’s Peacock. Here’s what else analysts are say

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the F8 Facebook Developers conference on April 30, 2019 in San Jose, California. Facebook’s stock is poised to rise after it announces earnings next week, according to Morgan Stanley. In a note to clients on Wednesday, the bank’s analysts picked seven stocks to have a positive near-term catalyst and 11 to have a negative near-term catalyst. The social media giant is one of the stocks Morgan Stanley is most bullish about heading into earnings, with the

As Boeing’s fallout from the 737 Max crisis continues, Vertical Research Partners said it’s “throwing in the towel” on the stock and downgrading it to a hold rating. On Wednesday the firm made “major” cuts to its estimates for 2019-2022, saying “it could get worse before it gets better” and that the company has unresolved issues beyond the 737 Max. Vertical Research Partners also lowered its target on Boeing to $294, which is 6% below where the stock currently trades. Boeing shares have slid 17%

Deutsche initiated coverage on the stock and said it had a “unique scale” across the communications and media business. “AT&T has unique scale across a wide range of media and communications businesses (fiber, spectrum, satellite TV, television programming, film/TV production, and streaming). The stock has underperformed the S&P 500 and Verizon over the past 3, 5, and 10 year periods, but has outperformed VZ over the past 12 months thanks to a renewed focus on driving cost efficiency, restoring

Democratic presidential hopeful US Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district Tulsi Gabbard (L) and former Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard sued former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday for allegedly defaming her by suggesting the Hawaii congresswoman is a “Russian asset.” The suit claims that Gabbard has suffered “actual damages” of “$50 million — and counting” from Clinton’s comments. Clinton, the 2016 De

Amanda Andrade-Rhoades | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump called House impeachment manager Jerry Nadler “a sleazebag” on Wednesday, hours before he and fellow Democrats were to begin laying out their case in the Senate for Trump’s conviction and removal from office. But hours later at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump unloaded on Nadler. In response to a question about the New York Democratic, who heads the House Judiciary Committee, Trump said: “I’ve known him

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday the only financial market bubble he sees right now is in government red ink. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Dimon if he sees any frothy areas in the market. The total U.S. public debt outstanding stands above $23 trillion, with debt held by the public north of $17 trillion. If inflation unexpectedly shot higher, it could force central banks to hike interest rates to help cool down the economy. “D