Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:
Tesla — The electric car maker said the Justice Department last month requested documents regarding CEO Elon Musk’s tweets in early August about taking the company private. The New York Times also reported the Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to Goldman Sachs and Silver Lake, which helped Tesla evaluate going private.
Tilray — Shares of the Canadian cannabis producer shot up more than 40 percent in the premarket after CEO Brendan Kennedy hinted to CNBC’s Jim Cramer that partnerships between pot companies and alcohol companies and pharmaceuticals could be coming. “If you’re an investor in a pharmaceutical company or you’re a pharmaceutical company, you have to hedge the offset from cannabis substitution,” he said. “I think all the alcohol companies need to enter this industry. It’s a great hedge for them.”
Netflix — Analysts at Guggenheim hiked their price target on Netflix shares to $420 from $360, implying a 14.2 percent upside from Tuesday’s close. “We believe that Netflix subscriber penetration will significantly exceed what is implied in the company’s current valuation,” the analysts said.
E-Trade — Jefferies upgraded the online broker’s stock to “buy” from “hold,” citing an attractive valuation as well as the company’s scale and revenue diversity at a time when competition in the space heats up. E-Trade’s potential as a buyout candidate also makes it attractive, Jefferies said.
Juniper Networks — Nomura Instinet upgraded Juniper shares to “buy” from “neutral,” and hiked its price target to $34 a share from $28. The analysts also raised their 2019 sales estimate to 5 percent and noted: “We expect Juniper to recover from its webscale routing annus horribilis, gain share in webscale switching, and continue its enterprise growth.”
Abbvie — An insurance regulator in California is suing Abbvie for allegedly giving kickbacks to health-care providers for prescribing Humira, an arthritis drug.
AutoNation — CEO Mike Jackson will step down from his role in 2019 to become the company’s executive chairman. AutoNation is also undertaking a search to find its next chief executive.