Analyst upgrades:

• Stephens upgraded Emergency Medical Services (NYSE: EMS) to Overweight from Equal Weight on valuation as they believe shares are undervalued at current levels. The firm has a $42 target on the stock.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) to Buy from Hold ahead of the company's earnings report as they expect the results to provide confidence in the dividend.
  
• Baird upgraded CoPart (NASDAQ: CPRT) to Outperform from Neutral due to the defensive nature of the salvage auction market, strong balance sheet, and potential growth beyond salvage and outside the U.S.
• First Financial (NASDAQ: FFBC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
  
• GPC Biotech (NASDAQ: GPCB) was upgraded at Piper Jaffray to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

Earnings reports continue to dribble in as the quarter winds down. Much of the attention this week will be on homebuilders KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) as investors look for any sign that the housing sector has bottomed (home sales numbers are also due out this week; see below). Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that both companies will report that they narrowed their losses in the most recent quarter.

KB Home's expected $1.25 per share loss, on revenue of $725.5 million, compares to the previous quarter loss of $3.30 and to a year-ago loss of $6.19. However, KB Home's losses in the past few quarters have been deeper than expected. The Los Angeles-based homebuilder's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.5%, less than the S&P 500. Analysts continue to recommend holding KB Home, and have for at least 120 days. Shares, however, reached a new 52-week high of $31.69 on Friday, and they are up 10.5% year to date.

Lennar is expected to post a loss of 52 cents per share, on revenue of $1.1 billion. That compares to the previous quarter's per-share loss of 76 cents and to a year-ago loss of $3.25. While Lennar also has tended in the past few quarters to miss expectations, the Miami-based company managed a positive surprise in the first quarter of 2008. Lennar's long-range earnings growth forecast is 10.3%, about the same as KB Home's. Analysts also recommend holding Lennar. Friday, shares of Lennar also reached a 52-week high, $27.75, but they are down 6.4% year to date.

National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM) is trading up almost 9% on strong earnings.

Ambac (NYSE:ABK) is down almost 10% on news of a financial package which is less than many analysts had hoped for.

Reddy Ice (NYSE:FRZ) is trading off 24% on news that federal authorities raided that company's offices.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) is off almost 13% on weaker-than-expected earnings.

PeopleSupport (NASDAQ:PSPT) is down 25% on a weak forecast.

Stocks may trade differently in the pre-market than they do in regular session.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Here are a few highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Analogic Corp. (NASDAQ: ALOG) easily beat expectations, sending shares higher.
• Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) posted a loss and forecast sales for 2008 below estimates.
• Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.'s (NYSE: CCE) earnings outlook led shares to a 52-week high.
• Cooper Cos. (NYSE: COO) swung to a loss on acquistion costs and litigation.
• Copart Inc. (NASDAQ: CPRT) beat expectations, sending shares to a new high.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) posted a solid quarter, in line with expectations.
• Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) posted a smaller-than-expected net loss.
• Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: FLE) narrowed its loss through improved efficiency.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reaffirmed its 4Q forecast, but the forward outlook disappointed investors.
• H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) warned of a deep loss due to the mortgage meltdown.
• Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) beat estimates and revised its guidance.
• Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) posted a loss, but share prices rose anyway.
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) earnings fell for the third quarter in a row.
• Methode Electronics Inc. (NYSE: MEI) beat estimates, spurred by international sales.
• Novell Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVL) swung to a loss, surprising Wall Street.
• Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) beat expectations and offered guidance.
• Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) raised its guidance for the fourth quarter.

Copart (NASDAQ: CPRT) provides owners of salvage vehicles with a full range of online remarketing services. The firm's auction format allows such clients as insurers and rental agencies to display their vehicles to licensed dismantlers, rebuilders, used car dealers and exporters in more than 85 countries. Most of the vehicles offered are damaged, trade-ins, or repossessions. Copart also operates a search engine for used parts and provides vehicle storage at 136 facilities in North America and the UK. The company sells over a million vehicles a year.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported fiscal Q1 EPS of 41 cents and revenues of $184 million. Analysts had been looking for 38 cents and $173.3 million. BB&T Capital Markets subsequently reiterated its "buy" rating on the shares and Barrington Research repeated its "outperform" recommendation.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: HealthSpring (HS), CoPart (CPRT), Multi Fineline Electronix (MFLX) and Global Traffic Network (GNET) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• HealthSpring (NYSE: HS) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $20 target at Banc of America, as the firm doesn't expect earnings growth to recover until 2009.

• Rochdale Research started CoPark (NASDAQ: CPRT) with a Buy and $36 target yesterday. The firm said CoPark is in an excellent competitive position and expects growth to re-accelerate as the company integrates and expands its non-U.S. platform.

• Needham reinstated shares of Multi Fineline Electronix (NASDAQ: MFLX) with a Buy rating and $13 target, as the firm believes the current valuation overly discounts the company's opportunities with Sony-Ericsson (SNE/ERIC), Apple (AAPL), and the likelihood of stability at Motorola (MOT).

• Oppenheimer initiated shares of Global Traffic Network (NASDAQ: GNET) with a Buy rating and $9.50 target as the firm believes the company's expansion into new territories such as Canada and the UK should enable double-digit revenue and cash flow growth for the long term.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Goldman Sachs reinstated shares of Qiagen (NASDAQ: QGEN) with a Neutral rating.

• Raymond James initiated shares of Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) with an Outperform rating and $275 target.

• NexCen Brands (NASDAQ: NEXC) was started at Lazard with a Buy rating.

• BMO Capital initiated shares of INVESTools (NASDAQ: SWIM) with an Outperform rating.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).