Stanley Black & Decker release earnings, State Street goes shopping, Starbucks opens 'signing store'

Here’s a look at some of the companies the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you today.

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) just reported a big beat on earnings but lowered its outlook for the year. That’s partly because of costs associated with cleaning up toxic contamination at a superfund site. The company says it’s “operating with the agility” necessary to deal with rising costs, and the potential impact of the tariff fight.

Microsoft (MSFT) has its head in the cloud after a big beat on earnings and revenue in the last quarter. The company says its flagship cloud computing product recorded an 89% spike in revenue. It’s now second only to Amazon in its share of the cloud market. Revenue also soared in Microsoft’s more traditional productivity business, which includes Office 365 software.

A big deal in the financial world. State Street (STT) is buying data provider Charles River Systems for $2.6 billion in cash. The deal will give State Street control of Charles River’s software platform, which delivers analytic tools for hundreds of asset management firms. State Street says the deal will create a powerful opportunity to provide “front-to-back” services for its clients.

Merck (MRK) is slashing prices on some products amid growing pressure on the drug industry from the White House. But don’t get too excited. Many of the drugs impacted are lesser-known items, including one hepatitis C drug whose sales have struggled. Expensive blockbusters like Januvia and Keytruda aren’t on the list.

Starbucks (SBUX) is opening a new location focused on deaf customers. The “signing store” will open in Washington, DC in October, near Galludet University. That’s one of this country’s top schools for deaf students. Starbucks says it will hire 20-25 deaf, hard of hearing and hearing staff to work at the store.