Early movers: BBY, AZO, LL, C, BBRY & more

Adam Jeffery | CNBC. Jim Cramer turned to the charts to find out if the S&P can climb higher and found several key hurdles that must be crossed first.

Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY)-The electronics retailer earned an adjusted $1.48 per share for its latest quarter, beating estimates by 13 cents, though revenue was slightly below forecasts. Best Buy also declared a special dividend of 51 cents per share, and increased its regular quarterly dividend by 21 percent to 23 cents per share.

Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS)-The sporting goods retailer earned an adjusted $1.30 per share for its latest quarter, 8 cents above estimates, with revenue also above forecasts. Dick's said it expected to earn $3.10 to $3.20 per share for 2015, compared to analyst estimates Of $3.19.

AutoZone (NYSE: AZO)-The auto parts retailer reported quarterly profit of $6.51 per share, 13 cents above estimates, with revenue also above consensus. Domestic same-store sales were up 3.6 percent from a year earlier.

LabCorp (NYSE: LH), Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX)-Cannacord upgraded both medical lab stocks to "buy" from "hold," based in part on expectations of an increase in medical office visits this year versus last year.

Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL)-Janney upgraded the flooring retailer's shares to "buy" from "neutral," saying fears generated by a "60 Minutes" report are overblown. That report has contributed to a 45-percent slide in the stock over the past week.

Springleaf Holdings (NYSE: LEAF)-The lender is buying Citigroup (NYSE: C)'s OneMain Financial Unit for about $4.25 billion, creating the largest U.S. subprime lender.

Gap (NYSE: GPS)-FBR upgraded the apparel retailer to "outperform" from "market perform," saying Gap could have a "breakout year" in 2015. FBR said Gap has numerous catalysts and an attractive valuation.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE: HLT), Marriott (NASDAQ: MAR)-RBC began coverage on the two hotel stocks with ratings of "outperform" for both, due in part to a strong North American hotel market. It rates Starwood (NYSE: HOT) as a "sector perform," citing near-term headwinds because of less exposure to high-growth segments in the hotel industry.

AK Steel (NYSE: AKS), U.S. Steel (NYSE: X)-Nomura downgraded both stocks to "neutral" from "buy," with the strength of the dollar and weaker pricing weighing on bottom line results.

PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH)-The apparel maker's shares were removed from the "conviction buy" list at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and downgraded to "neutral," with the firm saying PVH will suffer from both cold winter weather and delays relating to the West Coast port dispute.

Mylan (NASDAQ: MYL)-The drug maker adjusted quarterly profit of $1.05 per share, matching Street estimates. Revenue was slightly above forecasts, and the company hinted it would be involved in another "material transaction" before the end of the year.

Ocwen Financial (NYSE: OCN)-Ocwen is selling mortgage servicing rights to $45 billion in Fannie Mae loans to an undisclosed buyer. That comes just a week after Ocwen sold rights to $9.8 billion in Freddie Mac loans to Nationstar Mortgage (NYSE: NSM).

Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR)-The oil drilling company reported adjusted quarterly profit of 33 cents per share, missing estimates by 6 cents. Revenue was also shy of estimates, but Nabors said its operations are showing quarter-to-quarter improvement despite a weak industry environment.

BlackBerry (Toronto Stock Exchange: BB-CA)-The company introduced its new BlackBerry Leap smartphone, aimed at mid-level buyers in emerging markets. The Leap will replace the Z3 device that was introduced last year.

Alibaba (NYSE: BABA)-The online retailer was ordered by Taiwan to withdraw from that country within six months. Taiwan officials say Alibaba violated investment rules pertaining to Chinese companies.

Barclays (London Stock Exchange: BARC-GB)-The bank beat estimates with its latest adjusted earnings, but did take a $1.2 billion fourth quarter charge ahead of settlements related to foreign exchange manipulation charges.

Boeing (NYSE: BA)-Boeing's 777X aircraft doesn't interest United Airlines (NYSE: UAL), but the carrier's chief financial officer John Rainey told Reuters that it does see Boeing's 777-300ER as a potentially good fit.

IBM (NYSE: IBM)-The company was sued by a shareholder alleging securities fraud, related to IBM's deal to pay $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries to take its money-losing semiconductor unit off its hands.

Target (NYSE: TGT)-The retailer will revamp its grocery offerings to increase their appeal to younger shoppers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL)-The company is planning to sell data plans for smartphones and tablets, although it did not give a timeline in its announcement at the wireless show in Barcelona, Spain.



More From CNBC