Analyst Upgrades

• HSBC upgraded Massey Energy (MEE) to overweight from neutral based on improved 2011 pricing power given industry supply-side discipline. Despite the upgrade, the firm cuts its price target to $40 from $54.
• Needham upgraded Blue Coat Systems (BCSI) to buy from hold following yesterday's announcement that Michael J. Borman has been named the new CEO. The firm has a $27 price target on the stock.
• Citigroup upgraded Teekay Offshore Partners (TOO) to buy from hold after the company announced shuttle tanker contracts to reflect improved operating performance. The firm raised its target for shares to $26 from $15.
• Prosperity Bancshares (PRSP) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Ceradyne (CRDN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• CTC Media (CTCM) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland and Prestige Brands were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Wachovia upgraded Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to Outperform from Market Perform as they expect the retail brokerage unit to be valued higher due to its recurring revenue streams, shrinking competition in prime brokerage, deleveraging and continued strength in commodities.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) to Overweight from Underweight following the company's rights offer and higher bad-debt provisions to reflect less concerns about its U.S. operations.
  
• Oppenheimer raised Prestige Brands (NYSE: PBH) to Perform from Underperform on valuation and the early turnaround progress made by the new CEO.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• TranSwitch (NASDAQ: TXCC) was upgraded at Thomas Weisel to Market Weight from Underweight.
  
• Goldman raised Nabors Industries (NYSE: NBR) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

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

• American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) posted a big loss and warned of more to come.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) beat expectations even though its fourth-quarter profit fell.
• DreamWorks Animation Inc. (NYSE: DWA) 2007 earnings and revenue soared, lifted by Shrek the Third.
• HJ Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) posted solid third-quarter earnings and revenue.
• Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KOP) beat fourth-quarter expectations and approved a share buyback plan.
• Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) raised its first-quarter and full-year guidance on subscriber growth.
• Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE: NT) missed expectations due to rising operating costs.
• Origin Agritech Ltd. (NASDAQ: SEED) 2007 earnings sank, missing analysts' expectations.
• Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) beat fourth-quarter estimates and offered revised guidance.
• Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) narrowed its loss due to a surge in subscribers.
• Swiss Reinsurance Co. (OTC: SWCEY) quarterly EPS plunged but 2007 decline was less than expected.
• Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) reported strong fourth-quarter and full-year results.

Also, analysts predict that bank losses will be the highest in 20 years. Timothy Sykes recommends investors not become starstruck by superstar companies such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Upcoming results to watch for include Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS), Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST), and Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP) provides carbon compounds and commercial wood treatment products to the aluminum, railroad, specialty chemical, utility, rubber and steel industries. Its Carbon Materials and Chemicals unit manufactures carbon pitch, phthalic anhydride, creosote, carbon black, furnace coke, refined tars and specialty chemicals. The Railroad and Utility Products segment treats wood for vineyard and construction uses and supplies treated crossties and utility poles. Koppers serves markets in North America, Australia, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported Q4 EPS of 44 cents and revenues of $326.8 million. Analysts had been expecting 38 cents and $310.9 million. Management also guided FY08 revenues to about $1.39-$1.43 billion ($1.41B consensus) and approved a $75 million share repurchase program.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cognos, MSC Industrial Direct, Fastenal Company, Royal Kpn and Koppers Holdings were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman and at Broadpoint following the acquisition by IBM (NYSE: IBM).
  
• Baird downgraded MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE: MSM) and Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) to Neutral from Outperform, as they expect the difficult U.S. manufacturing environment to constrain shares.
  
• Credit Suisse lowered its rating on Royal Kpn (NYSE: KPN) to Neutral from Outperform based on Getronics integration risk and slowing mobile earnings momentum.
  
• Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP) was downgraded to Buy from Aggressive Buy at KeyBanc based on valuation and concerns on 1H08 comps.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Goldman removed Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Gabelli downgraded shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) to Sell from Buy.
  
• Stifel lowered its rating on Amerigroup (NYSE: AGP) to Hold from Buy.