Stock futures were higher on Monday morning as investors prepared for the unofficial kickoff to first-quarter earnings season after the closing bell.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.33%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 0.31%, and Nasdaq futures added 0.39%.

The reporting season will kick off in earnest after markets close Monday when unofficial bell-ringer Alcoa (AA) - Get Report reports. Overall first-quarter earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to fall 7.9%, their third straight quarter in decline and their worst losing streak since mid-2009. Excluding the energy sector, earnings are forecast to fall 3.6%. Only three S&P 500 sectors are expected to have positive earnings growth: consumer discretionary, telecommunications, and health care.

Oil was holding steady as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of a weekend meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Investors hope OPEC members can agree upon a production freeze when they meet on April 17 in Doha, Qatar. Some analysts remain skeptical an agreement can be reached.

"So far, it is not even clear whether Iran will take part in the meeting at all. The Iranian oil minister has not yet committed to attending, while his deputy is not planning to come to Doha," Commerzbank analysts wrote in a note.

Tesla (TSLA) - Get Report shares were on watch ahead of a midday conference call with investors to give "an update" on the company. The automaker recently announced it had received 325,000 pre-orders for its latest vehicle, the Model 3. The vehicle reservations amount to $14 billion in implied future sales. The new model, which will not be out until late 2017, sells for $35,000, appealing to a wider market than Tesla's more expensive vehicles.

Hertz (HTZ) - Get Report tumbled 8% after warning that it anticipates revenue from car rentals in the U.S. to be weaker than expected this year. The car-rental company expects revenue per available car day to fall between 2.5% and 3.5% in the first quarter and to come in flat or down 1.5% for the full year.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) was slightly higher in premarket trading despite news that CEO Michael Pearson has been subpoenaed on an investigation into price increases for certain prescription drugs. Pearson will be questioned by the Senate Committee on Aging before an April 27 hearing.

Yahoo! (YHOO) added 1.3% in premarket trading after the U.K.'s Daily Mail confirmed Monday it's a suitor for the Internet company's assets. The newspaper joins a number of interested companies, most notably Verizon (VZ) - Get Report , which will tender preliminary offers by the April 18 deadline.

Alphabet (GOOGL) - Get Report climbed 0.7% after being upgraded to buy from hold at Pivotal Research. Analysts said business trends appear positive and the company can leverage its scale. as

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