Home Depot's (HD) third-quarter earnings came in 21% higher than the same period last year, beating analysts' estimates. For the quarter ended Oct. 31, the company reported a profit of $834 million or 61 cents a share, up from $689 million or 44 cents a share last year. Revenue rose 1.4% to $16.6 billion. Same-store sales increased 1.4% These results mark the fourth straight gain after three years of decline.

Chairman and Chief Executive Frank Blake said: "As the business stabilizes, we continue to improve our operational performance ... We are exercising good control over our expenses."

"Home Prices Are About to Bottom" was the headline for the Barron's cover story the week of July 14, 2008. The story explained that the housing market should level off in many areas of the country by the end of the year.

I have made some equally unfortunate prognostications in my tenure at BloggingStocks, so my purpose is not to poke fun at Barron's but to point out that here we are, over two years later, and it is still debatable whether the housing market has bottomed out.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Citigroup (C) to conviction buy from buy, Principal Financial (PFG) to buy from neutral, and Stancorp Financial (SFG) and Hartford Financial (HIG) to neutral from sell.
• JetBlue (JBLU) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Barclays upgraded Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival (CCL) upgraded to overweight from equal weight.
• Hollysys Automation (HOLI) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.
• RBC Capital upgraded Alliance Data Systems (ADS) to outperform from sector perform.
• RRI Energy (RRI) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.

Home Depot (HD), the main rival of Lowe's (LOW), closed higher yesterday by 3.4%, finishing out the session at a price of $28.31. It has a ways to go before reaching the 52-week high of $37.03. Will investors push the stock to that level after the second-quarter report?

I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon, but the data wasn't so bad. Earnings per share grew 9% to 72 cents -- a penny ahead of expectations. Same-store sales expanded by 1.7%.

Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW), the nation's number two home improvement superstore chain, is scheduled to discuss its second-quarter 2010 financial results Monday, August 16, in a conference call beginning at 9:00 AM (ET) hosted by CEO Robert A. Niblock and CFO Robert F. Hull, Jr. You can catch a live webcast at the Lowe's website.

During the three months that ended in July, Lowe's increased its quarterly dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this Mooresville, N.C.-based company to report earnings of $0.59 per share, up from $0.54 per share in the year-ago period. Its revenue is expected to have risen 4.9% from a year ago to $14.5 billion.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded UPS (UPS) and FedEx (FDX) to buy from hold based on recent weakness and leverage to a recovery. The firm raised its price target on UPS to $74 from $72 and on FedEx to $100 from $97.
• Bernstein upgraded Medicis (MRX) to outperform from market perform based on valuation and said the company has been executing well over the past few months. The firm has a $28 price target on the stock.
• Citigroup upgraded Weingarten Realty (WRI) to buy from hold, citing valuation and the company's improved balance sheet. The firm maintains a $24 price target for shares.
• Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's (LOW) were upgraded to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• NextEra Energy (NEE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.
• Nokia (NOK) was upgraded to neutral from reduce at WestLB.

Analyst Upgrades

• Sterne Agee upgraded Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral and has a $115 price target on the stock. The firm believes Encore Macau will drive further share gains near-term.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded PPL Corp. (PPL) to buy from hold and said the equity offering and the the stipulation reached in the KY utilities' rate cases removes important overhangs. The firm has a $30 price target on the stock.
• UBS upgraded CarMax (KMX) to buy from neutral based on forecasts for higher consumer forecast income and positive used car trends. The firm has a $28 target on the stock.
• Aeropostale (ARO) was upgraded to outperform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Cardinal Financial (CFNL) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Baird.
• Pinnacle West (PNW) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

While economists are still worried we may see a slump in the housing market now that the homebuyer tax credits have expired, analysts still believe Home Depot (HD) is going to thrive as consumer confidence picks up and people start tackling long-overdue home-improvement projects.

An analyst at Longbow Research upgraded Home Depot from neutral to buy today -- setting a price target for the stock at $39.

Below are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks. Click through to the original posts for more details.

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) shares sold off after it posted a narrower Q1 net loss, but same-store sales rose.
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) swung from a year-ago loss to a Q2 profit that was better than expected.
• Deere & Co. (DE) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings and improved sales, and raised its full-year outlook.
• Dell Inc. (DELL) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but the gross margin was disappointing, and shares fell.
• GameStop Corp. (GME) higher Q1 earnings beat consensus estimates but same-store sales declined.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) said its higher Q1 earnings beat expectations while revenue fell in line with estimates.

Home Depot Inc.'s (HD) first quarter report mirrored the progress of the U.S. economy during the initial stage of the recovery: modest growth, with the prospect of improving results, but not a return to robust growth.

Home Depot earned 45 cents per share in the first quarter, versus the Thomson/Reuters First Call estimate of 40 cents. A year ago, the company earned 30 cents per share.

Revenue increased 4.3% to $16.9 billion, excluding a one-time charge. Equally significant, Home Depot now expects 2010 sales to increase 3.5% and earnings to rise 21% to $1.88. The 2010 First Call earnings estimate is $1.88; First Call also expects the company to earn $2.22 in 2011.