Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $265 from $170, citing higher iPhone expectations, new partnerships, and likely upward revisions to Street estimates driven by gross margins.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm views a possible deal between end General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal positively, as it thinks NBC will provide higher-margin growth for Comcast.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Michael Baker (AMEX: BKR) to Buy from Neutral after the company completed the sale of its Energy business. The firm raised its target on shares to $46 from $40.
• Jefferies assumed coverage of Endo Pharma (NASDAQ: ENDP) and upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold. The firm cites valuation, a strong base business, and solid cash flow for the upgrade, and has a $30 target price on shares.
• Marten Transport (NASDAQ: MRTN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
• U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

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

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) easily topped Q4 earnings estimates but same-store sales fell.
• Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) forecast Q3 earnings that are well above analysts' estimates.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) said it narrowed its loss in Q4 despite restructuring costs.
• Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM) is expected to fall short of Q4 earnings expectations.
• Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) reported strong Q2 results and and raised its outlook for Q3.

Bermuda-based shipping company Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM) is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter earnings Thursday morning. Ahead of the report, Thomson First Call notes that analysts are expecting a profit of $1.04 per share, down from $1.71 per share in the year-ago quarter. Sales are expected to arrive at $124 million.

Judging by recent option activity, many investors are speculating on an earnings miss for EXM. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), the stock carries a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.66, which ranks higher than 72% of other such readings taken during the past year. In other words, option traders have bought to open the stock's puts at a faster pace only 28% of the time.

Editor's Note: This post was written by Fil Zucchi, one of Minyanville's many sharp minds.

Drybulk shippers have been slammed over the last few days courtesy of a plunge in capesize spot rates. However, according to the sharp eyes at Dahlman Rose, the volume of new spot fixtures has been exceedingly low of late. And taking a slightly longer perspective, spot rates are up more than 100% since last year.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Not all shippers are created equal: Dryships NASDAQ:DRYS) plays in almost strictly in the spot market and therefore it stands to reason that it should swing hard with spot rates. After closing the purchase of Quintana Marine, Excel Maritime (NYSE:EXM) now has a decent balance of long term and short term fixtures contracts. And then you have an outfit like Paragon Shipping (NASDAQ:PRGN) with most of its fleet leased out on long term - fixed price contracts.
  
  
• Despite the vast differences in the business models of these three companies, the market has not been very discerning in how it has treated its stocks, which suggests that there may be some arbitrage opportunity, should one wish to play it that way.
  
  
• Despite growing economic risks in China, it's tough to envision a collapse of infrastructure build-outs, or a sudden change in food needs in the BRIC countries and around the world in general. As long as these two activities hold up, it's tough to see a collpase in the shipping business;
  
  
• I can't stress enough that my long side interest in EXM and PRGN is heavily influenced by some sizable, and so far not so succesful, shorts in broad commodity ETF's.
  
  
• And lastly, the volatility in the shippers offers some very attractive options selling opportunities.
  
  (Positions in EXM, PRGN)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Gen-Probe, iRobot and Emeritus were today's noteworthy initiations:

• RBC Capital expects Gen-Probe Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) to continue to generate high margin, annuity-like revenue from its core business while new tests with good long-term growth. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating and $66 target.
  
• Kaufman Brothers believes robotics technology is more than just a fad and that iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) is well-positioned given its innovation applications and innovative applications that create new solutions to existing issues; Kaufman started iRobot with a Buy rating and $22 target.
  
• Jefferies believes Emeritus Corp. (AMEX: ESC), initiated with a Buy rating, is well-positioned to drive superior cash flow growth given favorable/stable industry fundamentals and renewed operational focus.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Piper assumed Comverge Inc. (NASDAQ: COMV) with a Buy rating and $17 target.
  
• Morgan Stanley initiated Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) was initiated at JP Morgan with a Neutral rating.