GM beats, Mattel flops, Yum gets boost from China

Here are some of the stocks the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you today.

General Motors (GM) shares were up sharply in early trading. The auto giant beat on both the top and bottom lines, with its net income for the first quarter of 2016 more than doubling to $2 billion. General Motor's better-than-expected earnings were driven by stronger results in North America and improved performance in Europe.

Mattel (MAT) fell in early trading after the toy maker reported a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss, and even though revenue beat forecasts, sales fell nearly 6% form a year earlier due to weak demand for toys aimed at girls such as Barbie, Monster High, and American Girl.

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Yum Brands (YUM), the owner of the KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell brands, delivered first-quarter profit that topped analysts' estimates thanks to strong sales growth in its China business, which it plans to spin off. Yum also raised its core operating profit growth guidance for the year to 12%.

Alphabet (GOOGL), Google's parent company, is set to report first quarter results after the close. Analysts are looking for the company to report earnings of $7.96 a share, up from $6.57 from a year ago. Revenue is expected to jump 18% to $20.4 billion.