Sony launches buyback plan, Baidu reports loss, MGM Resorts may pay big

Here are the companies Yahoo Finance is watching today.

Sony's (SNE) getting a lot of attention this morning after announcing a record stock buyback. The electronics giant will repurchase nearly 5% of its shares, at a cost of nearly $2 billion dollars. It's seen as a move to keep the price up even as demand for its products declines. Sony also just announced a partnership with Microsoft to use its rival's cloud for streaming games.

A weak quarter at Baidu (BIDU). The Chinese search giant posted a loss for the first time since going public in 2005. The slowing Chinese economy is getting part of the blame, along with changing search habits in the world's most populous country. Chinese consumers are increasingly turning away from desktop searches which feeds Baidu's ad revenue.

MGM Resorts (MGM) could be paying up big time for the mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017. The casino giant told regulators they might pay up to $800 million dollars to settle liability lawsuits for the shooting, the deadliest in modern U.S. history. The company told the S-E-C it is insured for about $750 million dollars of that amount.

Nissan (720.T) announced Hiroto Saikawa will stay on as their chief executive. The automaker is also adding Renault's chief executive Thierry Bollore to its board. The moves, which were widely expected, come as Renault pushes for leadership changes as talks of a potential merger continue.