Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Toyota — The stock added 1.3% before the bell upon news that the automaker planned to reduce its holdings in automotive components manufacturer Denso to 20% from more than 24%. Toyota plans to redirect this capital to improve its efforts in electric vehicles. AstraZeneca — The pharmaceutical company gained almost 2% in premarket trading after TD Cowen listed the stock as a top pick for 2024. Analyst Steve Scala’s price target implies a potential upside of 35.9% from Tuesday’s close. “AZN’s outlook is one of the strongest in pharma, yet the valuation is on par with the pharma sector average,” he wrote. Hormel Foods — Shares lost nearly 2% after the food processing company posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that came in below analyst expectations. Hormel reported adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share on $3.2 billion of revenue, lower than the 44 cents per share on revenue of $3.26 billion expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Foot Locker — Shares jumped 12% after the footwear retailer posted third-quarter earnings and sales Wednesday that beat Wall Street expectations and said it expects better same-stores sales this year than it previously did. Adjusted earnings came in at 30 cents per share on revenue of $1.99 billion. Analysts were expecting 21 cents per share on revenue of $1.96 billion, according to LSEG. Petco — Shares of the pet retailer plummeted 17% after reporting a third-quarter loss of 5 cents per share. Analysts had anticipated the company would earn 2 cents per share on revenue of $1.51 billion, according to a LSEG survey. The company’s revenue of $1.49 billion also disappointed. Dollar Tree — Shares of the discount retail chain shed as much as 2% in early morning trading. Despite reporting earnings of $1.02 per share, excluding items — which was more than the $1.01 analysts polled by LSEG were expecting it would earn — the company’s revenue of $7.31 billion fell below…
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