Hilton boosts outlook, Northrup Grumman posts beats, Facebook’s top lawyer to leave

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

Hilton Worldwide (HLT) just reported earnings in-line with estimates, but boosted its forecast for the rest of the year. Hilton says demand is rising in the US for its properties, and it’s added thousands more rooms to its development pipeline.

Defense giant Northrup Grumman (NOC) is flying high after reporting a beat on Q2 earnings. It also boosted its full-year guidance. Northrup says its purchase of aerospace contractor Orbital ATK is having positive returns, as is the rest of its new Innovation Systems division. CEO Wes Bush says he’s confident Northrup is “well positioned for the future.”

Sinclair Broadcasting (SBGI) is getting a boost from President Trump. He called it “sad and unfair” and “disgraceful” that the FCC blocked Sinclair’s deal to buy Tribune. Last week, FCC chairman Ajit Pai, whom Trump appointed, said he had serious concerns about the merger. An administrative law judge is now reviewing the deal.

Another big departure at Facebook (FB). Top lawyer, Colin Stretch, is leaving. He guided the company’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling. Stretch lives in Washington, D.C., and in a note to the staff said the legal team needed leadership based in California. Facebook is set to announce earnings after the close.

Amazon (AMZN) is taking aim at Microsoft (MSFT) in South Africa. Reuters says Amazon is nearing completion of a new office building in Cape Town and advertising for dozens of new tech jobs. It could be an effort to fend off Microsoft, which has been gaining on Amazon’s cloud computing business.