MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Restaurant Sector, Blockbuster and Plexus were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Bear Stearns upgraded the Restaurant Sector to Market Weight from Underweight citing better investor sentiment following Fed rate cuts and the economic stimulus plan; upgraded shares include Brinker International (NYSE: EAT), Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) and Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI).
JP Morgan upgraded shares of Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) to Overweight from Neutral ahead of the company's Q4 results on March 6, as they believe the quarter will be at least in-line and 2008 guidance will be above Street expectations.
Plexus (NASDAQ: PLXS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse as they believe current quarter sales and bookings are tracking ahead.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Maxwell Technologies (NASDAQ: MXWL) was upgraded to Market Perform from Market Underperform at JMP Securities.
The firm also raised Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) to Market Outperform from Market Perform.
Goldman Sachs added Allianz AG (NYSE: AZ) to its Conviction Buy List.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Jabil Circuit (JBL), MGM Mirage (MGM), Darden Restaurants (DRI) and Crocs (CROX) were today's more noteworthy upgrades:
Robinson Humphries upgraded Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) to Neutral from Reduce citing limited downside risk.
Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse and to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital based on its better-than-expected Q3 report.
CIBC upgraded MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) to Sector Outperform from Sector Perform and gives the odds of a takeout at 50/50 but said business remains healthy and that the value of Las Vegas Strip assets should continue to rise for the next several years. Susquehanna said Kerkorian's decision not to pursue the Bellagio and CityCenter assets is a strong vote of confidence in MGM's management to create shareholder value and upgraded shares to Positive from Neutral.
Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Matrix based on management's positive steps to improve economic profit by selling off its under-performing units.
ThinkEquity upgraded Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) to Buy from Accumulate on expectations that sales will continue to be strong driven by new product introductions, as well as retail doors and square footage growth...
OTHER UPGRADES:
Goldman upgraded Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) to Neutral from Sell.
Baird upgraded Pentair (NYSE: PNR) to Neutral from Underperform.
Citigroup upgraded AES Corp (NYSE: AES) to Buy from Hold.
Credit Suisse upgraded Sohu.com (NASDAQ: SOHU) to Outperform from Neutral.
Raymond James upgraded Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) to Outperform from Market Perform.
Earlier today, Bear Stearns downgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory to Peer Perform from Outperform on the news. Bear Stearns expected Cheesecake to show revenue growth of 16-17%, or 34c per share. CIBC World Markets followed suit and downgraded shares to Sector Perform from Outperform on the news.
Raymond James cut shares to Outperform from Strong Buy, expecting shares of the restaurant to trade lower in the near-term. The analyst still considered Cheesecake a good long-term buy, given the likelihood that dairy prices will retreat in time.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cheesecake Factory (CAKE), Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), Alltel (AT), Home Depot (HD) and Nokia (NOK) were today's more noteworthy downgrades:
Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at CIBC, to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James and to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns after the company reduced its second quarter guidance.
Lehman downgraded Alltel Corp (NYSE: AT) to Equal Weight from Overweight as the firm doesn't expect a competing bid for the company.
Home Depot (NYSE: HD) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform following yesterday's rally and feels that with the HD sale out of the way, the focus will now turn to Home Depot's ability to grow in the challenging do-it-yourself retail market. Goldman cut Nokia to Neutral from Buy on valuation...
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
JP Morgan cut Headwaters (NYSE: HW) to Underweight from Neutral.
Banc of America downgraded shares of both Nike and Foot Locker to Neutral from Buy, as the firm believes industry pressures in the U.S. could more than offset the potential turn in Europe and benefit from the 2008 Olympics.
Cowen downgraded shares of ADTRAN, Bookham and Tellabs to Neutral from Outperform.
Goldman Sachs also downgraded shares of Tellabs, to Sell from Neutral, as the firm believes the stock fully discounts the expected sales and margin improvement.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Allergan Inc (NYSE: AGN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley citing limited upside.
Lehman downgraded shares of The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) to Equal-Weight from Overweight on increasing risk to the company's title margin and regulatory concerns.
Matrix USA downgraded shares of Lowe's Companies Inc (NYSE: LOW) to Buy from Strong Buy on valuation.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Whirlpool Corp (WHR), Amazon.com, Inc (AMZN), Arkansas Best Corp (ABFS) and Capital One Financial Corp (COF) were today's more noteworthy upgrades:
Citigroup upgraded Whirlpool Corp (NYSE: WHR) to Hold from Sell with a $107 target after better-than-expected Q1 results.
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Piper Jaffray, to Hold from Sell at Citigroup, to Neutral from Underperform at Cowen, to Sector Perform from Underperform at Pacific Crest and to Buy from Hold at BWS Financial.
Elsewhere, Stephens raised Arkansas Best Corp (NASDAQ: ABFS) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $30 target.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Time Warner Inc (TWX), Google Inc (GOOG), Yahoo! Inc (YHOO) and Cheesecake Factory Inc (CAKE) filled out today's more notable initiations:
Oppenheimer expects Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) to benefit from double-digit free-cash-flow growth over the next five years as it integrates Adelphia's (ADELQ) systems. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $47 target.
AG Edwards initiated Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) with a Buy rating and $550 target to reflect the company's current business model and search growth. Nollenberger also initiated shares of Google with a Buy rating and placed a $575 value on just the core business.
AG Edwards initiated shares of Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) with a Buy rating and $35 target, expecting Panama to drive ad revenue. Nollenberger started Yahoo! with a Neutral rating saying the company is still a a "solid name" but believes shares are not cheap.
Lehman Brothers initiated four large-cap brokers: Merrill Lynch & Co (NYSE: MER) and Bear Stearns Cos (NYSE: BSC) were started with Overweight ratings, while Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) were initiated with Equal-Weight ratings. Lehman believes broker dealers are winning greater share of global capital-markets revenue from commercial banks as the products available for managing risk and capital become more sophisticated.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: EchoStar Communications Corp (DISH), PeopleSupport, Inc (PSPT), and Quicksilver, Inc (ZQK) were today's most notable downgrades:
Credit Suisse downgraded EchoStar Communications Corp (NASDAQ: DISH) to Underperform from Neutral based on valuation and lower probability of an acquisition by AT&T (NYSE: T).
PeopleSupport Inc (NASDAQ: PSPT) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at both Piper Jaffray and Freidman Billings following disappointing Q4 earnings and guidance; JMP Securities cut PeopleSupport to Market Outperform from Strong Buy.
Quicksilver (NYSE: ZQK) was downgraded by a host of firms: to Market Performer from Outperformer at Piper Jaffray, to Sector Performer from Outperformer at CIBC, to Hold from Buy at W.R. Hambrecht, to Neutral from Accumulate at Buckingham and to Sell from Hold at Wedbush.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Freidman Billings downgraded Tercica, Inc (NASDAQ: TRCA) to Underperform from Market Perform on valuation.
Prudential cut Cheesecake Factory Inc (NASDAQ: CAKE) to Underweight from Neutral citing soft industry sales trends which will impact Q1 and Q2 results.
Raymond James downgraded Goldcorp Inc (NYSE: GG) to Outperform from Strong Buy.
Lehman cut Sprint Nextel Corp (NYSE: S) to Equal-Weight from Overweight.
UBS downgraded New Century Financial Corp (NYSE: NEW) to Reduce from Neutral.
Stifel downgraded C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc (NASDAQ: CHRW) to Sell from Hold.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) and Cheesecake Factory Inc (CAKE) were today's most notable upgrades:
Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CSCO) was upgraded at DA Davidson to Neutral from Sell with a $32 target, following better-than-expected second-quarter results.
Piper Jaffray upgraded Cheesecake Factory Inc (NASDAQ: CAKE) from Market Perform from Underperform on valuation.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Goldman Sachs added both Hewlett Packard Co (NYSE: HPQ) and McDonald's Corp (NYSE: MCD) to its Conviction Buy List.
JP Morgan upgraded Quest Communications Int'l Inc (NYSE: Q) to Overweight from Neutral based on valuation.
Citigroup upgraded Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) and Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL) to Buy from Hold to reflect a favorable outlook for metal prices.
Raymond James upgraded EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) to Outperform from Market Perform following VMware's IPO announcement.
Wachovia upgraded Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) to Outperform from Market Perform citing the company's withdrawal from the Equity Office Properties Trust (NYSE: EOP) bid process.
Baird upgraded Maguire Properties Inc (NYSE: MPG) to Neutral from Underperform with a $42 target.
Brean Murray upgraded Aeropostale Inc (NYSE: ARO) to Hold from Sell.
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MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Restaurant Sector, Blockbuster and Plexus were today's noteworthy upgrades:
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Before the bell: Wall Street headed higher; automakers, retailers in focus
Waiting for the other shoe to drop: The looming credit crisis
Bet on T&A with J&J (JNJ)
