Before the bell: Futures higher ahead of data, earnings

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) shares are up over 3.2% in premarket trading after the company reported its profit plunged 94% in the third quarter, as sales fell substantially in its cell phone business and it narrowly averted a third straight quarterly loss. The company missed expectations but gave a better-than-expected outlook and guidance for the fourth quarter.

Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) said its profits fell sharply in the third quarter due to changes in German tax laws, higher domestic tax rates and charges for research and development. Excluding items, Dow reported profit of 84 cents per share for the quarter on a 10% sales climb to $13.59 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected earnings of 90 cents per share on revenue of $12.65 billion.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) shares are gaining over 7% in premarket trading after the company reported a 74% rise in third-quarter profit as the data storage vendor recorded a hefty gain from its recent sale of an ownership stake in fast-growing virtualization software maker VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) -- VMW shares are up over 6.5% in premarket trading. EMC earned $492.9 million, or 23 cents per share on a 17% revenue growth to $3.29 billion. Excluding one-time gains, EMC's profit was $377.8 million, or 17 cents per share, matching analysts' forecast.

Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA) reported a 2% rise in profit excluding one-time items, although it lost basic video subscribers to rival video services through satellite and telephone operators. Net profit was $560 million, or 18 cents a share on a 21% revenue growth to $7.781 billion. Analysts had on average been expecting profit of $559.3 million, or 18 cents a share and revenue of $7.751 billion, according to a Reuters Estimates' poll. Comcast shares are down about 1.25% in premarket trading.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) said its third-quarter profit more than doubled on a surge in sales of its blood thinner Plavix, and raised its outlook for adjusted 2007 earnings. Revenue grew 22%. The company earned 38 cents per share excluding one-time items, beating estimates by a penny.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are up 1.6% in premarket trading. Piper Jaffray upped the target price on Apple shares from $222 to $250. Also, both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have written good reviews of the upcoming Leopard system.