MOST NOTEWORTHY: Novartis AG (NVS), Barnes & Noble, Inc (BKS), Altria Group (MO) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were some of today's more notable upgrades:
- Credit Suisse upgraded Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) to Neutral from Underperform on valuation and the approval of its drug Tekturna.
- Merrill Lynch upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble, Inc (NYSE: BKS) to Neutral from Sell on valuation.
- Deutsche Bank believes the recent weakness in Altria Group (NYSE: MO) presents a buying opportunity given the potential to unlock value, upgrading shares to Buy from Hold.
- JMP Securities upgraded shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) to Market Outperform from Market Perform following checks that indicate the company's next-generation "Barcelona" quad-core server chip and next-generation low-power mobile PC processor chip is exhibiting excellent power, performance, scalability, and price/performance characteristics at key OEM customers.
OTHER UPGRADES:
- ThinkEquity upgraded Microchip Technology Inc (NASDAQ: MCHP) to Accumulate from Source of Funds following the company's improved guidance.
- Morgan Stanley upgraded Eni SpA (NYSE: E) to Equal-Weight from Underweight as they believe management made it clear that the dividend is sustainable and a large-scale acquisition is not forthcoming.
- JP Morgan upgraded Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) to Neutral from Underweight citing management's new focus on customer service and expectation's for modest growth for the upgrade.
- AG Edwards upgraded Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc (NYSE: BUD) to Buy from Hold.
- Morgan Joseph upgraded Boyd Gaming Corp (NYSE: BYD) to Buy from Hold based on key markets the company operating in and its diversification.
- Bernstein upgraded Cablevision Systems Corp (NYSE: CVC) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).
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