Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Netgear — The San Jose, Calif.-based maker of WiFi routers and network switches soared 11% after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned imports of foreign-made consumer routers, saying they posed a national security risk. Jefferies Financial Group — Shares in Jefferies rose nearly 7% after the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan’s second-largest lender, is planning a potential acquisition of the company. Apollo Global Management — The asset management giant fell 2% after it was revealed that the company would limit withdrawals from its flagship private credit fund to less than half of its requests. Apollo said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that redemption requests totaled 11.2% of its outstanding shares in the first quarter, exceeding the fund’s 5% quarterly cap. Smithfield Foods — The processed meat stock rose 5.6% after better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Earnings from continuing operations were 83 cents on an adjusted basis, on revenue of $4.23 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected earnings of 68 cents per share on sales of $4.14 billion. Earnings guidance also beat expectations, with the company increasing its quarterly dividend by 25% to 31 cents per share. FS KKR Capital — Shares fell 2% after Moody’s downgraded the business development company’s bond rating to junk, citing declining profitability due to asset quality issues. The rating agency lowered the rating from Baa3 to Ba1. CoreWeave — Shares of the AI cloud computing provider rose more than 2% premarket after Bank of America restored coverage and upgraded the stock from hold to buy. The Wall Street firm said CoreWeave is well-positioned to capture AI infrastructure share given the continued demand for AI computing and proprietary software optimized for AI workloads. Ralph Lauren — The fashion company has been upgraded to Buy from Neutral in the City, where affluent consumers believe Ralph Lauren can help weather the current macro volatility. The stock price rose 1.5%. Estee Lauder Companies — Estee Lauder stock was last up slightly after the beauty company confirmed it was in talks with Puig about a possible merger. KB Home — The homebuilder fell 2% even after Citizens initiated coverage of the company with an above-market valuation, calling KB Home undervalued. — CNBC’s Michelle Fox, Davis Giangiulio, Fred Imbert and Yun Li contributed reporting.
