These are the stocks set to see major action Tuesday

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The major themes unfolding this earnings season – the recovery in energy profits and the dominance of tech stocks – will be focal points on Tuesday, as some big names divulge first-quarter results. On the macro front, auto-stock investors will also be attuned to vehicle sales, which will shed light on whether the U.S. market has plateaued.

Oil and gas stocks are tracking toward huge quarterly gains in profits over last year, although they have the benefit of easy comparisons to the sector's depressed state one year ago.

Large energy producers Encana Corp. and ConocoPhillips are due to release their earnings prior to Tuesday's opening bell. Analysts are forecasting adjusted earnings for Encana at 2.5 cents a share, compared to a loss of 15 cents per share this time last year. ConocoPhillips is expected to post a small loss, which is a dramatic improvement over last year's first-quarter $1.5-billion (U.S.) net loss.

Energy stocks on Tuesday will also have to contend with emerging headwinds on oil prices. On Monday, U.S. crude oil futures fell to their lowest levels in about five weeks, after rising U.S. production and uncertainty regarding an extension of OPEC's production cuts combined to weigh on the commodity.

But as expected, energy sits atop the leaderboard among S&P/TSX composite and S&P 500 stocks, with the sector on track to more than double its profits in Canada, and more than triple in the United States from a year ago.

The star of the U.S. earnings season, however, is the tech sector, which is on course to best last year's earnings by 26 per cent. The Nasdaq composite index rang in another record closing high on Monday, while IT stocks have risen 16 per cent year to date within the S&P 500 index, as investors have fixated once again on the market's technology giants.

Large-cap chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. didn't exactly advance that story, however, in reporting a loss of 4 cents per share after Monday's close, which is about what analysts were forecasting.

But on Tuesday, the mother of all tech stocks, Apple Inc., is scheduled to disclose its financial statements after the closing bell. The consensus forecast is for adjusted earnings of $2.02 a share, up 6 per cent year-over-year, on revenue of $53.1-billion. Apple has a strong history of earnings beats, with 16 of the last 17 quarters coming in ahead of forecasts, according to Bloomberg data.

Beyond last-quarter's results, the market will be looking for hints about the expected success of the redesigned iPhone, due out this fall, as well as some clarity on what Apple plans to do with its $250-billion cash hoard.

Auto stocks, meanwhile, could see some big moves on Tuesday with the release of new vehicle sales for both Canada and the United States The two markets started to diverge in March, as Canadian sales hit a new record, while the U.S. vehicle sales disappointed.

Last month, when February data fuelled concerns that the U.S. market may have peaked, auto maker and parts stocks on both sides of the border fell in the range of 2 per cent to 4 per cent. A similar reaction would be likely should sales figures fall short again. Wall Street is expecting to see total sales of 17.2 million units.

Other possible big movers Tuesday include those reporting early-morning earnings: health care sector giants Merck & Co. Inc., and Pfizer Inc., as well as pharmacy chain CVS Health Corp. Canadian companies scheduled to release pre-market earnings include Agrium Inc., Fortis Inc., Cineplex Inc., and WestJet Airlines.

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