Check out which companies are making headlines before the bell:
McDonald's (MCD) — Nomura upgraded the restaurant chain's shares to "buy" from "neutral," on expectations for increased same-restaurant sales. Nomura made a similar call on Wendy's (WEN) shares, also on expectations of better sales trends.
Netflix (NFLX) — The stock was downgraded to "neutral" from "outperform" at Baird, saying risk/reward is balanced at current levels. Baird is still optimistic about the video streaming service's long term prospects, however.
EMC (EMC) — The data storage company's board approved an unspecified number of job cuts as it implements a plan to trim expenses by $850 million. That comes as EMC prepares to be taken private by computer maker Dell.
American Express (AXP), Bank of America (BAC) — Amex and BofA were dropped by Fidelity Investments as credit card partners after 12 years. Fidelity will instead partner with U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Visa (NYSE:V), effective today.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) — The restaurant chain's shares were downgraded to "perform" from "outperform" at Oppenheimer, which said earnings will be well below Street estimates this year and next. In the same report, Oppenheimer named Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Yum Brands (YUM), and Jack In The Box (JACK) as "Top Picks."
Lululemon (LULU) — The yoga apparel maker was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Jefferies, which points to the company's strong and sustainable fundamentals. At the same time, Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "market perform," saying it was confident the company could reach its profit margin goals.
Tesla Motors (TSLA) — The automaker said it met its forecasts by delivering 17,400 vehicles during the fourth quarter and 50,580 for 2015.
Walt Disney (DIS) — Disney's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" top the weekend box office once again, with $88.3 million in North American ticket sales. That puts it on pace to break the all-time box office record held by "Avatar" in the coming week.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Wynn Resorts (WYNN) — The casino operators are among the stocks that could be impacted by the latest gaming figures from Macau, which show gambling revenue down 34.3 percent in the Chinese territory for 2015.
Nokia (Helsinki Stock Exchange: NOKIA-FI) — Nokia received final approvals for its takeover of Alcatel-Lucent, and said it will begin operating on a combined basis on January 14.
Yahoo (YHOO) — Yahoo shareholders are losing patience with CEO Marissa Mayer, according to the New York Post. The paper said activist shareholder Starboard Value plans to nominate a new board.