Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: TKTM) and Live Nation Inc. (NYSE: LYV) are considering a merger, according to a media report late Tuesday. LYV shares jumped over 38% in premarket trade at last check.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) warned early Wednesday that its earnings for the current quarter would fall well below expectations. It reported same-stores sales declined 2% in January. COST shares declined 6.6% in premarket trading at last check.

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) reported a 72% drop in fourth-quarter profit to $163 million, or 11 cents per share, due to costs related to a restructuring program, and the company cut 2009 guidance due to the stronger dollar and pension costs. Excluding one-time items net income was 43 cents per share, a penny short of estimates. Still, revenue rose 6% to $10.77 billion, but that also missed analyst predictions of $11.29 billion due to weakness in the U.S. KFT dropped 9.6% in premarket trade at last check.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported Wednesday a massive euro3.89 billion loss in the fourth quarter due to a large charge. The world's largest provider of network technology for fixed and mobile telecommunications operators was expected to return to profit once its restructuring was complete, but due to the economic slowdown, the company would only break even this year at the operating level. ALU shares advanced over 4.3% in premarket trade at last check as results still beat estimates.

Panasonic Corp. (NYSE: PC) said Wednesday it will slash as many as 15,000 jobs and shut 27 plants worldwide. It also announced a net loss for the October-December quarter and lowered its forecast for the fiscal yea.\

Also reporting today are Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), which is projected to post first-quarter earnings of 66 cents a share, and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), which is likely to post earnings of 26 cents a share.