Juniper's (JNPR) shares have risen significantly since the company's previous earnings release unlike Cisco (CSCO), which have trended in the opposite direction. This could imply that investors are more excited about Juniper's upcoming products relative to Cisco's. One of these is its new data center technology previously called Project Stratus, which is now being branded QFabric. Besides Cisco, Juniper also competes with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) and Huawei-3Com in the network equipment business.

Our price estimate for Juniper's stock stands at $32.59, which is roughly 23% below the current market price.

Analyst Upgrades

• SINA (SINA) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Texas Instruments (TXN), ON Semiconductor (ONNN), Xilinx (XLNX) and Valassis (VCI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Peet's Coffee (PEET) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Invesco Mortgage (IVR) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• BTU International (BTUI) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Chipotle (CMG) to market perform from underperform at Morgan Keegan.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) plans to unveil its new networking system on Wednesday called QFabric, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The increase in data from mobile devices and 'cloud' applications programs delivered over the Internet are creating demand for more computing and storage systems. Juniper's new network claims to be a better mousetrap. Its system is geared toward large data centers. It connects servers and storage devices more directly than traditional systems.

Analyst Upgrades

• FedEx (FDX) and Concur Tech (CNQR) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Hershey (HSY) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Open Text (OTEX) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Bemis (BMS) and Hudson Pacific (HPP) upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• InterActiveCorp (IACI) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• KB Home (KBH) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• News Corp. (NWSA) to neutral from underperform at Cowen.

The FOMC kept rates at zero and kept the pressure n the quantitative easing front. The State of the Union was met with praise from supporters and criticism from the opposition, as you'd expect. Earnings season is fully underway and the DJIA hit 12,000 today for the first time in more than two years. We also had two premium IPOs today.

Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,985.44 +8.25 (0.07%)
S&P 500 1,296.63 +5.45 (0.42%)
Nasdaq 2,739.50 +20.25 (0.74%)

Top Stock Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

Juniper Networks (JNPR) is on the upswing, with the stock catching a 6% boost Wednesday morning on the heels of a well-received fourth-quarter earnings report. Juniper reported a quarterly profit of $190.2 million, or 35 cents per share, substantially improved from its year-ago results of $22.9 million, or 4 cents per share. Excluding items, earnings improved to 42 cents from 32 cents per share on a year-over-year basis.

Meanwhile, revenue for the quarter increased 26% to $1.19 billion. Gross margin retreated slightly, falling to 66.6% from 67.1%.

Analyst Upgrades

• NYSE Euronex (NYX) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• General Dynamics (GD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Deere (DE), Parker-Hannifin (PH) and ExlService (EXLS) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Aflac (AFL) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Amdocs (DOX) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Juniper (JNPR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Rudolph Tech (RTEC) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Hershey (HSY) and Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Micron (MU) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Mosaic (MOS) to buy from hold and raised its price target to $78 from $64 citing improving ag fundamentals and the potential for BHP (BHP) to issue a higher bid for Potash (POT), which Citi feels would bode well for Mosaic.
• Cowen upgraded VMware (VMW) to outperform from neutral, citing recent share weakness and the company's significant growth opportunity.
• Citigroup upgraded CareFusion (CFN) with a $29 price target, citing valuation and the potential for margin expansion.
• Pfizer (PFE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Juniper (JNPR) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Stryker (SYK) was upgraded to buy from gradually accumulate at Soleil.

"With the uber-ambitious Ellison and Hurd now paired, I think the safe bet is we're going so see Oracle (ORCL) make some major moves (yes, probably more than one major acquisition)," suggests tech sector expert Paul McWilliams.

The editor of Next Inning explains, "After all, even without Hurd at his side, Oracle founder, Larry Ellison has been an aggressive buyer and now with Hurd on board I think the appetite could become ravenous.

"I think its probably a good idea to start thinking about what Oracle might do next.

A 21-month run of rock-bottom interest rates have created a perfect environment for corporate bonds --- and as bond yields fall, bond prices rise and investors and companies have made out like bandits. This has put so much cash in corporate coffers that cash (as a percentage of S&P 500 market capitalization and excluding financials) has soared from just 3% of market value back in 1999 to more than 12.5% today! This cash is burning a hole in the pockets of many companies, and they are starting to use it to make bids for other companies so they can grab market share and expand on the cheap.

That's great news for small cap stocks with strong fundamentals, since these are always prime buyout targets. And here are three:

Analyst upgrades:

• ThinkEquity upgraded Yahoo! (YHOO) to Buy from Hold based on valuation, checks that indicate Q2 display/search improvement, search stabilization, improved cost structure, and share repurchases.
• Societe Generale upgraded Roche Holding (RHHBY) to Buy from Hold based on expectations Avastin will be approved in breast cancer, despite negative FDA briefing documents.
• FBR Capital upgraded Atheros (ATHR) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and positive checks that indicate powerline networking chips are gaining traction in China. The firm has a $43 price target on the stock.
• Juniper (JNPR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord.
• Ultimate Software (ULTI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.
• Liberty Property Trust (LRY) was upgraded to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Analyst downgrades:

• Auriga downgraded ADC Telecomm (ADCT) to Hold from Buy following the company's merger announcement with Tyco Electronics (TEL).
• TD Newcrest expects Manulife's (MFC) Q2 loss to be worse than expected due to the impact from lower interest rates. The firm cut shares to Hold from Buy.
• Goldman downgraded Perrigo (PRGO) to Sell from Neutral and lowered its target to $50 from $61. The firm cites relative valuation for the downgrade. Target to $50 from $61.
• F5 Networks (FFIV) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord.
• Anglo American (AAUKY) and BHP Billiton (BHP) were downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Analyst initiations:

• QKL Stores (QKLS) was initiated with a Buy rating and $7 price target at Global Hunter.
• Rodman & Renshaw started Rick's Cabaret (RICK) with an Outperform rating.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded VeriSign (VRSN) to outperform from perform, citing better-than-expected domain names trends and the potential for a sizeable share buyback. The firm has a $33 price target for shares.
• Oppenheimer also upgraded EMC (EMC) to outperform from perform, citing valuation and expectations for strong Q2 results. The firm set a $22 price target for shares.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Juniper (JNPR) to overweight from neutral, citing valuation and its longer-term outlook. The firm keeps a $31 price target for shares.
• Kilroy Realty (KRC) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Veolia Environment (VE) was upgraded to buy from add at WestLB.
• QEP Resources (QEP) was upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.

Analyst Upgrades

• Argus upgraded Weyerhaeuser (WY) to buy from hold, citing the better-than-expected Q1 report and expectations that the company is about to be profitable. The firm has a $59 target on the stock.
• Weeden upgraded Cameron (CAM) to buy from hold as it views the recent sell-off as overdone.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Mobile Mini (MINI) to outperform from perform based on valuation and what the firm sees as the company's attractive risk/reward ratio. The firm set a $25 target.
• Johnson Controls (JCI) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• EnerNOC (ENOC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.
• Checkpoint (CKP) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS raised its Global LED demand estimates and upgraded Cree (CREE) to buy from neutral, citing lower margin risk and increased LED lighting growth. The firm raised its target to $92 from $60.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Juniper (JNPR) to outperform from market perform. The firm believes the company is beginning to generate multifaceted growth as a result of increased carrier traffic and impressive products.
• RBC Capital upgraded LHC Group (LHCG) to outperform from sector perform. RBC expects the company to increase 2010 guidance due to the passage of health care reform and raised its target for shares to $39 from $35.
• TransDigm (TDG) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• WebMD (WBMD) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Houston Wire & Cable (HWCC) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Cisco Systems (CSCO - option chain) shares are rising today after company CEO John Chambers said in an interview that tech companies often are among the first to see gains in a recovering economy as businesses upgrade their technology. This could be a good sign for the company, which is scheduled to report Q2 earnings on Wednesday evening. Analysts are looking for the company to post a profit of 35 cents per share on revenue of $9.4 billion, compared to a profit of 32 cents per share on revenue of $9.09 billion in the year-ago period. A good quarter announced last night by competitor Juniper Networks (JNPR) also bodes well for Cisco next week. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on CSCO.