Comcast, McDonald’s, Yum, AT&T are stocks to watch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Tuesday's session are Comcast Corp., McDonald's Corp., Yum Brands Inc., and AT&T Inc.

Comcast (CMCSA)  is projected to report first-quarter earnings of 64 cents a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. "We believe that Buy-rated Comcast offers among the best large cap upsides in stock within WSI's [technology, media and telecommunications] coverage, with particular benefit from NBCUniversal as we estimate that the latter business could be worth as much as $64 billion," analyst Matthew Harrigan at Wunderlich Securities Inc. said in a note.

McDonald's (MCD)  is likely to post earnings of $1.24 a share in the first quarter. "We rate the shares of McDonald's Corp. neutral. This rating largely reflects our concerns about domestic same-store sales trends and unit-level operations, including menu complexity and what appears to be slowing average service times," said Mark Kalinowski at Janney Capital Markets.

Yum Brands (YUM)  is forecast to post earnings of 84 cents a share in the first quarter. The stock was downgraded to neutral from overweight at J.P. Morgan on Monday.

AT&T (T)  is expected to report earnings of 70 cents a share in the first quarter. "We maintain our HOLD rating and $35 target ahead of AT&T's first quarter 2014 earnings release. We continue to believe the wireline business remains challenged while wireless competition – and the company's response to it – will limit wireless service revenue growth," said Greg Miller at Canaccord Genuity Inc.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)  is projected to report first-quarter earnings of $2.54 a share.

United Technologies Corp. (UTX)  is forecast to post earnings of $1.27 a share in the first quarter.

Amgen Inc. (AMGN)  is likely to report earnings of $1.94 a share in the first quarter.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD)  is expected to post first-quarter earnings of 89 cents a share.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG)  is projected to report first-quarter earnings of $3.29 a share.

After Monday's closing bell, Netflix Inc. (NFLX)  said it earned 86 cents a share in the first quarter, beating analysts' average estimate of 81 cents a share. The video streaming company also plans to hike prices in the U.S. for new member by $1 to $2. Shares of Netflix jumped 6.9% in after-hours trading.

Shares of Allergan Inc. (AGN)  surged 15% in extended trading following a Wall Street Journal report that hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International have joined hands to take over the company. Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management has already built up almost a 10% stake in the Allergan, the newspaper said.