Take a look at the companies making headlines before the bell. Starbucks: The coffee chain rose more than 2% after Bernstein upgraded the stock’s rating to “outperform” from “market perform.” The firm is bullish on new CEO Brian Niccol, who started Sept. 9. New York Community Bancorp: Shares of the regional lender gained more than 4% after Barclays upgraded the stock’s rating to “overweight” as it repositions itself after a tough period. Micron Technology, Chip Stocks: Micron shares rose nearly 17% after it delivered a stronger-than-expected revenue forecast for the fiscal first quarter. Other chip stocks also rose in tandem Thursday morning. Nvidia rose 2%, while U.S.-listed shares of ASML Holding added nearly 5%. Meta Platforms — Shares advanced more than 1% a day after the company announced a new entry-level virtual reality headset and a prototype of augmented reality smart glasses. Bank of America raised its price target for the tech giant in the wake of the release, citing “renewed optimism” for personal computing devices and new artificial intelligence capabilities. NRG Energy — The energy stock rose nearly 4% after raising its full-year guidance. The company now forecasts adjusted EBITDA in a range of $3.53 billion to $3.68 billion, compared with its prior range of $3.3 billion to $3.55 billion. GE Healthcare Technologies — Shares fell more than 1% after UBS downgraded the name to sell from neutral. Analyst Graham Doyle said growth in the near- to medium-term will likely fall short of expectations and cited risks in its China business. Bilibili — The U.S.-traded shares of the Chinese internet stock rose nearly 12% on the back of a rating upgrade to buy from neutral by Goldman Sachs. The firm highlighted the company’s monetization and profitability potential. CarMax — The used-car retailer fell about 7%. Although CarMax’s fiscal second-quarter sales beat estimates, it also raised its provision for credit losses. Jefferies Financial Group — The investment bank fell more than 1% after reporting third-quarter results. Jefferies said it earned 75 cents a share on $1.62 billion in revenue, boosted by a pickup in transactions. Southwest Airlines — The travel stock rose about 5% after Southwest raised its third-quarter revenue forecast. The airline also announced a new share buyback program and planned changes to its business model as it seeks to fend off activist investor Elliott Management. Sonos: The speaker company fell more than 6% after a double downgrade from overweight to underweight by Morgan Stanley. Analyst Erik Woodring believes the backlash over the company's app redesign in May will hurt the company's revenue and earnings metrics more than the market currently expects. — CNBC's Alex Harring, Samantha Subin, Jesse Pound and Sarah Min contributed reporting
