Retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) are campaigning to force Amazon.com (AMZN) to pay sales taxes. While these retailers headline the effort and would certainly gain from any such decision, other large players like Costco (COST) have (relatively) flown under the radar. Could Costco see the same benefit? Costco traditionally competes with warehouse club operators like BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ) and Sam's Club, in addition to companies like Walmart, Best Buy (BBY) and Target.

Our price estimate for Costco's stock stands at $64.67, a roughly 10% discount to the stock's current market price.

Costco (COST) traditionally competes with warehouse club operators including BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ) and Sam's Club, in addition to large retailers like Walmart (WMT), Best Buy (BBY) and Target (TGT). The retailer operates a warehouse club model wherein it charges annual membership fees to customers and, in turn, offers deep discounts on selected merchandise.

The company recently released its earnings and based on continued strength in international sales and controlled capital expenditures, we have updated our price estimate to $64.67. This price estimate stands roughly 10% below market price.

Walmart (WMT) is the world's largest retailer, competing with companies like Target (TGT), Costco (COST), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Best Buy (BBY). The company recently released its earnings for last quarter and we have updated our price estimate to $70.75, which implies a 30% premium to the market price.

One of the outcomes in the earnings was continued improvements in Sam's Club's results. Sam's Club is a warehouse club that charges a membership fee to its customers and gives them an opportunity to buy goods at lowest prices in the market. It offers bulk displays of brand name merchandise, including hard goods, some soft goods, commercial-sized grocery items, and selected private-label items under the "Member' Mark", "Bakers & Chefs" and "Sam's Club" brands in a warehouse club format.

Best Buy (BBY) is a specialty electronics retailer that competes with general retailers like Wal-Mart (WMT) and Costco (COST), as well as other specialty retailers like GameStop and Radio Shack (RSH). Our price estimate for Best Buy stands at $38.48, which is about 20% above market price.

The company's stock has struggled to gain ground since Best Buy's earnings release in December 2010. Best Buy has faced limited demand for featured products like 3D TVs, and appears to have underestimated competition from players like Wal-Mart and Amazon.com (AMZN).

At the time of this writing, shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) weren't receiving a lot of interest after the release of fiscal Q1 numbers. They were down 0.5% to $69.31. Volume was below average (although it might be above average by the time the bell rings).

Seems like history is repeating itself. A check of my article on the company's fiscal fourth-quarter report shows that the market wasn't making things exciting for the stock back then either.

After a week full of mixed economic data taking its toll on the markets, things will settle down somewhat this coming week.

• Monday: Fed releases October data on consumer credit outstanding.
• Tuesday: TIPP Economic Optimism Index is due.
• Wednesday: Labor Dept. offers initial jobless claims numbers for last week, EIA's crude oil inventory last week, October wholesale trade numbers from the Census Bureau.
• Friday: Trade balance data for October, Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Import Price Index for November, preliminary Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is due, and the Treasury Dept. releases the federal budget balance in November.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Red Hat (RHT) to overweight from neutral.
• Honeywell (HON) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Regal-Beloit (RBC) and Actuant (ATU) were upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• RW Baird upgraded MedAssets (MDAS) to outperform from neutral.
• Savvis (SVVS) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at William Blair.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Duoyuan Global Water (DGW) to neutral from underweight, citing the potential for positive fundamental news flow through the end of the year, and upped its price target to $16 from $9.
• Jefferies upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) to buy from underperform, expecting a benefit from a significant ramp in EVDO software sales as mobile data growth accelerates.
• Myriad Genetics (MYGN) was upgraded at RBC Capital to outperform from sector perform with a $23 price target based on valuation and potential to be acquired.
• Goldman upgraded Mohawk (MHK) to neutral from sell with a $53 price target.
• Smithfield Foods (SFD) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO capital with a $21 target.
• Priceline.com (PCLN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded EMC (EMC) to buy from hold after channel checks indicated storage demand remains solid. The firm sees potential upside in 2011 from the company's new products and upped its target for shares to $25 from $20.
• BB&T upgraded American Commercial (ACLI) to buy with a $50 target based on pricing leverage and cost reductions.
• Argus upgraded Abercrombie (ANF) to buy with a $52 target based on accelerating comps.
• PerkinElmer (PKI) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Valeant (VRX) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo with a $26 to $28 valuation range.
• Blackrock (BLK) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to overweight from neutral, citing valuation following the recent sell-off and strong business trends. The firm has a $115 price target for shares.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded M&T Bank (MTB) to market perform from underperform on valuation after AIB sold its stake in the company. The firm has a $72 price target for shares.
• Jefferies upgraded OGE Energy (OGE) to buy from hold following the announcement that ArcLight will purchase 9.9% of OGE's interest in Enogex for $183M and believes this deal highlights the hidden value associated with Enogex. The firm raised its price target to $51.50 from $43.
• Thomas & Betts (TNB) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Bayer (BAYRY) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.