Check out the companies making headlines before the bell: Netgear — The San Jose, Calif.-based maker of WiFi routers and network switches surged 11% after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned all imports of consumer routers made abroad, saying they pose national security risks. Jefferies Financial Group — Shares of the investment bank rallied nearly 7% after The Financial Times, citing people familiar, reported that Japan’s second-largest lender, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, is planning a possible takeover of Jefferies. Apollo Global Management — The asset management giant fell 2% after it was revealed the company will limit withdrawals from its flagship private credit fund to less than half of requests. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Apollo said it had redemption requests that totaled to 11.2% of shares outstanding in the first quarter, exceeding the 5% cap per quarter the fund allows. Smithfield Foods — The packaged meats stock jumped 5.6% on better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter. Earnings from continuing operations came in at 83 cents on an adjusted bases, while revenue totaled $4.23 billion Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit of 68 cents per share on revenue of $4.14 billion Earnings guidance also exceeded estimates, and the company increased 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, saying its asset quality challenges has resulted in weaker profitability. The ratings agency lowered it to Ba1 from Baa3. CoreWeave — The AI cloud computing provider saw shares rising more than 2% in premarket after Bank of America reinstated coverage and upgraded the stock to buy from hold. The Wall Street firm said CoreWeave is well positioned to capture share of the AI infrastructure given the sustained demand for AI compute and its proprietary software optimized for AI workloads. Ralph Lauren — The fashion company was upgraded to buy from neutral at Citi, which believes affluent consumers will help Ralph Lauren navigate the current macro volatility. Shares gained 1.5%. Estee Lauder Companies — Shares of Estee Lauder were last slightly higher after the beauty company confirmed that it is in discussions with Puig about a potential merger . KB Home — The homebuilder dropped 2%, even after Citizens initiated coverage of KB Home with a market outperform rating, saying it’s undervalued. — CNBC’s Michelle Fox, Davis Giangiulio, Fred Imbert and Yun Li contributed reporting
