Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to overweight from neutral and raised its target price for shares to $77 from $53 after The New England Journal of Medicine reported the company's PARTNER Trial met primary endpoints.
• UBS upgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $36 from $25. UBS is positive on Endo's creative strategic deals and believes the switch to Opana TRF from Opana ER will be easy. Additionally, the analyst believes pipeline expectations are very low.
• BMO Capital upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform based on expectations that share loss in the core GPU business will stop, Tegra momentum and valuation. The firm raised its price target to $16 from $9.
• FirstEnergy (FE) and Allegheny Energy (AYE) were upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Mylan (MYL) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman. Warner
• Chilcott (WCRX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI) Q2 results were essentially flat but an analyst's upgraded helped boost shares.
• Borders Group Inc. (BGP) reported strong Q4 earnings due to cost cutting but revenue continued to decline.
• Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (CALM) received an analyst's downgrade on valuation following release of its Q3 report.
• CarMax Inc. (KMX) rose to a new 52-week high following better-than-expected Q4 earnings and sales results.
• Charming Shoppes Inc. (CHRS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q4 net loss and said same-store sales declined.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN) lower Q4 earnings met analysts' expectations but the Q1 outlook was weak.
• Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) posted a Q1 net loss and said it will skip its dividend this quarter.
• Cephalon Inc. (NASDAQ: CEPH) earnings prospects for 2010 resulted in an analyst's downgrade.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) Q1 earnings beat by a penny but revenue fell short of estimates.
• Gannett Inc. (NYSE: GCI) shares rose after it forecast Q3 earnings above Wall Street estimates.

In the most recent edition of Barron's, fund manager Scott Black touted shares of Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ: CALM), the country's largest egg producer, as a stock worth buying. The company generates a return on equity of over 30%, and Black said that at just over 5x earnings, the stock is extraordinarily cheap. When the market revalues Cal-Maine at "just eight times [next year's estimated] earnings, you've got a $38.50 stock." Shares of CALM, which closed Friday at $22.90, were up to $24.86 by Wednesday morning.

I'm familiar with Cal-Maine, having been introduced to the company more than a year ago when it was the focus of a presentation at the Boston College Investment Club. Last summer, I spoke with the company's CFO, Tim Dawson, who gave me a much better understanding of the egg business. Though I came away convinced that Cal-Maine is in very capable hands, I believed then -- as I still do now -- that the stock is not a buy. Here's why.

It was a quiet week, but here are highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) earnings growth prospects for 2009 make the stock worth a look.
• Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) offered no 2009 guidance but may benefit from bankruptcies of other retailers.
• Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) Q2 earnings fell more than expected but revenue rose.
• Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) said it will soon post preliminary Q4 results in the face of falling oil prices.
• Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc. (NYSE: PNY) reported a widened Q4 loss while revenue improved.
• Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) earnings prospects may make the stock a bargain.

Also, a survey indicated that U.S. corporate profits in the fourth quarter probably fell for the sixth straight quarter. Interest cuts haven't helped bank earnings, will the Fed buying mortgage-backed securities do better? And, are food stocks still a defensive play?

Upcoming earnings releases include Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO), and Monsanto (NYSE: MON).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Egg producer Cal-Maine Foods Inc. ( NASDAQ: CALM) reported on Monday that its fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 32% to $27.2 million, or $1.14 per share. Revenue rose 7% from a year ago to $238.3 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had on average expected a $1.26 per share profit. The company said sales to the institutional and food-service sector in the quarter ended Nov. 29 were slower while feed costs remained high. They added that those prices are likely to remain relatively high and volatile over the year ahead.

Shares fell Monday by $1.97, or 6.7%, and continued to fall in after-hours trading. The share price is still up 4.4% in the past three months, and about the same as it was a year ago.

Shares of rivals Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT), Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN), and ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) also declined on Monday.

Based in Jackson, Miss., Cal-Maine is one of the largest fresh shell egg producers in the U.S., selling its products to supermarkets in 29 states. It has a market cap of $588.4 million and its operations include breeding facilities, hatcheries, wholesale distribution centers, feed mills, shell-egg production facilities, pullet-growing facilities, and processing and packing facilities.

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

• Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) will kick off the new earnings season next week, but expectations are low.
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) met low earnings estimates but shares dropped to a new low.
• Cal-Maine Foods' (NYSE: CALM) revenue and profit soared on strength in the market for fresh eggs.
• Merge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: MRGE) announced another dismal quarter, along with an SEC probe.
• Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) beat earnings expectations and revised its guidance.
• Retalix Ltd. (NASDAQ: RTLX) warned that it would miss earnings estimates again this quarter.

Also, Jim Cramer thinks that downgrades of tech stocks don't make sense in light of their strong fourth quarter, but analysts seem to be pessimistic in general about earnings forecasts. Ted Allrich thinks this is the wrong time to ignore financial stocks, despite recent losses.

Upcoming results to watch for include Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) and KB Home (NYSE: KBH).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Back in my hedge fund days, we did a TON of work on U.S. egg prices. This was back in 2003-2004 in the throes of the Atkins craze. Pasta companies, companies with a lot of exposure to grain, and anything anti-Atkins was taking a hit. Even the great, Weight Watchers (NYSE: WTW), with just a great business model and brand, was getting whacked. It looked like Atkins, and its seemingly lethal blend of high fat and high protein, was going to stay.

We decided to play this trend by purchasing Cal-Maine Foods (NYSE: CALM), a huge distributor of eggs to the likes of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and other huge grocery outfits. Based in Jackson, Mississippi, and run by an effervescent CEO, Fred Adams, Cal-Maine rode record egg prices those couple of years. In 2003 alone, the stock was up almost 1000%.

What Mr. Adams told us then was that although Atkins was helping to increase demand for eggs, the egg itself was making a comeback. Once shunned as solely a cholesterol-delivery device, the egg is back in fashion and recognized for its overall health benefits.