Expedia's (EXPE) stock took a hit in the markets, dropping almost 17% on the release of its FY 2010 earnings on February 10. The response was largely on account of the overall decline in the company's EBITDA margin from over 32% in 2009 to around 25% by the end of 2010. Clearly the market is concerned about Expedia's outlook on the heels of this.

Expedia competes with other online travel agents like Priceline (PCLN), Orbitz (OWW) and Travelocity, as well as hotel chains that offer their own online booking services.

Microsoft's (MSFT) Bing has recently added a new feature called Price Predictors to its travel searches, which automatically suggest flights based on the best air fares -- and even recommends if you should buy now or hold off for a better price based on how fares are trending. For flexible travelers, suggestions are offered as one types in the search bar. We believe this will have an impact on companies like Expedia (EXPE), the largest U.S. online travel agency by booking volumes, and challenge Google's (GOOG) move into the travel search.

Analyst Upgrades

• Expedia (EXPE) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Weatherford (WFT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• MDC Holdings (MDC) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• AutoNavi (AMAP) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Ciena (CIEN) and Nvidia (NVDA) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Canadian Pacific (CP) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• First Midwest (FMBI) and Quiksilver (ZQK) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Sonic (SONC) to neutral from negative at Susquehanna.
• MIPS Technologies (MIPS) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Arrow Electronics (ARW) and Avnet (AVT) to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Analyst Upgrades

• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Trinity Industries (TRN) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Cameron (CAM) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Expedia (EXPE) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Micron (MU) to buy from hold at Lazard Capital.

Priceline, Inc. (PCLN) is the second largest online travel agency in the world after Expedia, Inc. (EXPE) and offers travel services over the Internet, including bookings for air tickets, hotel stays, car rentals, cruises and vacation packages.

What distinguishes Priceline from the rest is its proprietary Name Your Own Price service? While it does sell travel services under the traditional price-disclosed model, the Name Your Own Price service allows customers (that are flexible on the date and time of travel and the choice of supplier) the option to bid for hotel stays and air tickets.

Analyst Upgrades

• Interpublic Group (IPG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Radware (RDWR) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Fluor (FLR) and Waddell & Reed (WDR) to buy from hold, as well as AllianceBernstein (AB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• MetroCorp (MCBI) and American Capital (AGNC) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• International Flavors (IFF) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• BioCryst (BCRX) and Southern Company (SO) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Bunge (BG) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Expedia, Inc. (EXPE), an online service devoted to travel whose related companies include Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) and Priceline.com (PCLN), issued its Q4 results after the bell today. According to the report, which you can find at the company's investor site, adjusted net income increased 10% to 32 cents per share. TheFly says that this number came in below the estimate by a disappointing four pennies.

You can't always beat Wall Street's prediction. Shortly after the data was posted, the stock experienced a drop of 3.7%, making the quote equal to $24.74.

"On our proprietary Quadrix® rating system, ExxonMobil (XOM) has steadily advanced over the past year," says Richard Moroney.

The editor of Dow Theory Forecasts explains, "Out of a possible 100, the oil giant earns an Overall score of 96 -- compared to just 51 in January 2010. As such, we rate the stock a long-term buy.

"Meanwhile, the shares recently rallied to their highest level since January 2009 after Exxon said it earned $1.85 excluding special items in the December quarter, up 46% and $0.22 above the consensus estimate.

Priceline.com (PCLN) issued its third-quarter report yesterday after the bell. The market sent the stock of the online-travel concern higher by 6% in the extended-hours session, bringing it up to $412.

That was well past the 52-week high of $393.33. With a 52-week low set at $167.25, this company has one heck of a yearly range. Those who got in at the low and have still held on must be doing some kind of victory dance right about now.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Vivus (VVUS) to overweight from neutral.
• Citigroup upgraded Corn Products (CPO) to buy from hold.
• Maxim Integrated (MXIM) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Cardinal Health (CAH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Citigroup upgraded Monster Worldwide (MWW) and EchoStar (SATS) to buy from hold, as well as Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to buy from sell.
• BMO Capital upgraded Potash (POT) and Barrick Gold (ABX) to outperform from market perform.

Analyst Upgrades

• BMO Capital upgraded Procter & Gamble (PG) to outperform from market perform as it views P&G's valuation as attractive and expects growth to pick up in the March quarter. The firm has a $74 price target for shares.
• Goldman upgraded Tupperware (TUP) to buy from neutral and raised its target for shares to $60 from $48.
• Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Scansource (SCSC) to buy from hold. The firm believes that the company's growth is poised to accelerate, allowing the stock's multiple to expand or even rise slightly. The firm has a $43 target for shares.
• CA Technologies (CA) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Brady (BRC) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• Lukoil (LUKOY) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.