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

• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Q2 profit fell short of estimates as same-store sales declined.
• Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) Q2 earnings beat very low expectations and same-store sales fell.
• Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) reported better-than-expected numbers for Q2, sending shares upward.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) posted a better-than-expected Q4 profit though revenue declined.
• China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. posted a record Q2 profit after restrictions on fuel prices were lifted.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) said its Q2 earnings declined, but they still topped analysts' expectations.

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

• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, lifting shares.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) posted a better-than-expected Q3 profit said it will continue to buy back shares.
• Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) reported lower Q2 earnings and also announced 1,100 layoffs.
• Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) higher Q1 earnings topped estimates even though same-store sales fell.
• BioMed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR) earnings prospects after the recent capital raise led to a downgrade.

Marvell Technology Group (NASDAQ: MRVL) late Thursday announced first-quarter earnings, excluding items, of a nickel per share, matching the Street's expectations. A year ago, the chipmaker earned 24 cents per share. Quarterly revenue fell 34% to $521.4 million, far short of last year's $804.8 million but better than the consensus estimate.

Unfortunately for Marvell, the revenue expectations on the Street were actually higher, calling for "anywhere from $530 to $540 million," which is "why, when revenue came in at $520 million, although it was better than guidance, it was below the whisper expectations," Barclay's Capital analyst Romit Shah explained.

Marvell Technology Group's (NASDAQ: MRVL) Q3 earnings report had some great numbers that made me want to consider the stock as a potential buy. However, some things about the long-term price action of the company's shares makes me want to avoid the stock altogether.

The bottom line for the storage and networking tech company increased 64% to $0.23 per diluted share; this number beat estimates by three pennies. Pretty cool, right? Here are a couple more positives: operational cash flow increased 41% on a sequential basis compared to Q2 of this year, and free cash flow increased 47% on the same basis. On a year-over-year basis, operational cash flow increased more than ten times, leading to a huge increase in free cash flow. And non-GAAP gross margin, while not seeing an increase, saw fit to at least remain flat instead of decreasing. Not bad. Marvell's shares traded 8% higher in premarket action.

Here's the deal, though. I'm not sure I'd want to buy Marvell at this point in the dreadful economic cycle. Going back to the long-term price action, there's no escaping the significant decline in the stock price as a result of potential future weakness in its business. For example, recently, Melly Alazraki wrote about Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and how sales of that device might be affected by the recession. Marvell is a supplier to the iPhone.

With the stock in single-digit territory, and with the global markets acting horribly, I just can't see buying Marvell. Indeed, I enjoyed the earnings report. But one must consider the company is unsure about demand for the stuff it sells going forward. Maybe Marvell might make a trade or something, but I'm not ready to go long-term on it just yet.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Today was all about financial bailout packages being on and off, and on and off, and on and off. Financial stocks were most of the news, but you've heard enough about that you will only hear about non-financial companies today. Q2 GDP was revised lower than original projections, but that number is older than dirt now. The funny thing today was that they started ringing the closing bell on NYSE a minute early on accident.

Below are the unofficial closing bell levels:
DJIA 11,160.49 +138.43 +1.26%
S&P500 1,214.56 +5.38 +0.44%
NASDAQ 2,185.56 -1.01 -0.05%
10YR T-Note 3.827% (-0.035%)
TOP ANALYST CALLS
52-Week Lows

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) posted really ugly numbers with its losses growing four-fold and sales down over 50%. Yet somehow, traders are hoping a bailout will drive the future. Shares were actually up 1.2% at $21.42 immediately before the close.

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) was downgraded across the board after its earnings disappointment. Shares were down 26%, or $21.50, right before today's close.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was crushed on R-I-M's disappointing numbers. Shares hit a new 52-week low and were down 10.4% at $9.64 in the final minutes of the day.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) was down over 7% in today's final minutes at $146.57. An analyst downgrade from RBC and a cautious sector call from Citi is to blame. The concern here is easy. Farmers are having their credit cut and they can't afford to pay endless increases in agriculture prices.

Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) shares are trading higher after the company posted a first-quarter profit of $69.9 million, or 11 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, MRVL earned 24 cents per share, well above analysts' estimates of 13 cents per share. After earnings were announced, an analyst at Oppenheimer upgraded the stock to "Outperform" from "Perform." 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 MRVL.

After hitting a one-year high of $20.04 in July, the stock hit a one-year low of $9.77 in January. MRVL opened this morning at $16.95. So far today the stock has hit a low of $16.82 and a high of $17.47. As of 12:50, MRVL is trading at $17.35, up 3.27 (23.2%). The chart for MRVL looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 Stars (out of 5) Hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bull-put credit spread below the $12.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.1% return in eight months as long as MRVL is above $12.50 at January expiration. Marvell would have to fall by more than 27% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

MRVL has been below $12.50 as recently as April but has shown support around $14 over the past month. This trade could be risky if the slowing US economy puts a damper on the next two earnings reports from MRVL but even if that happens, that position could be protected by support the stock might find from its 50 day moving average, which is currently around $12.50 and rising.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in MRVL.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Credit Suisse, Masimo and Marvell Tech were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Bear upgraded Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) to Peer Perform from Underperform as they believe the company's balance sheet will stabilize and the company's Private Banking business is holding up well in difficult conditions. Goldman, which raised shares to Neutral from Sell, believes the worst is over regarding the market downturn.
• Citigroup upgraded Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ: MASI) to Buy from Hold citing expectations of a strong Q1 report, expected FDA approval for hemoglobin monitoring in 2H08, and valuation.
• Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ: MRVL) was raised at Friedman Billings to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and improved business conditions.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman raised LM Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Neutral from Sell.
• JP Morgan upgraded Big Lots Inc (NYSE: BIG) to Overweight from Neutral.
• Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) was upgraded at CIBC to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) announced on Thursday after the close a Q2 net-loss due to higher operating expenses, despite revenue that increased 14%, better than Wall Street expectations. Marvell also forecast a growth margin of "slightly over" 48%, which is down from recent quarters and is a large factor in pushing the stock down today.

After hitting a one year high of $21.85 in December, the stock has been volatile over the past several months, hitting a one year low of $15.25 in May. This morning, MRVL opened at $16.00. So far today the stock has hit a low of $15.68 and a high of $16.28. As of 11:00, MRVL is trading at $15.77, down 2.08 (-11.7%). The chart for MRVL looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bear-call credit spread above the $20 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 8.7% return in 5 months as long as MRVL is below $20 at January expiration. Marvell would have to rise by more than 26% before we would start to lose money.

MRVL has not been above $20 since February and has shown some resistance around $19 recently. This trade could be risky if the company turns their situation around for their next earnings report, but even if that happens, MRVL could have trouble going higher than $19.50 where it topped in July.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) might finally be on the verge of seeing the adoption of Vista, wrote Arnie Berman, chief technology strategist, at Cowen & Company late last week.

Berman surveyed 283 corporate IT buyers and found 47% of small- and medium-sized businesses will begin deploying Vista by December 31, this is up from 43% in a similar survey completed in February. 31% of larger enterprises plan to start rolling out Vista by December 31, up from 25% in the previous survey.

How to invest in the long-awaited Vista uptake? Play the Microsoft food chain stocks, particularly since most investors have given up on Vista's adoption, indicating this is where investors could get the most bang for the buck. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Micron Technology Inc (NYSE: MU), Berman believes will be beneficiaries of Vista's adoption. Other investment plays include memory chip maker Qimonda AG (NYSE: QI), the drive makers Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) and Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC), and Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ: MRVL), a supplier to the drive business.

In our past Intel blogs, the Fly has suggested Intel has capacity in place to start ramping 64 megabyte processors big time, on a scale Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) does not possess. Berman points out that Intel's enterprise value/sales ratio relative to AMD is close to an all-time low, meaning Intel is cheap relative to AMD despite AMD's recent poor stock performance.

Nvidia at 19x consensus calendar 2007 results has shown the ability to deliver favorable financial surprises and could provide the solution to the greatest potential bottleneck for Vista adoption, the graphic processors.

Micron is selling close to its $10.91 book value which historically has supported the stock and memory demand will increase with the new operating system.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) opened at $17.30. So far today the stock has hit a low of $16.61 and a high of $17.44. As of 1:15, MRVL is trading at $16.69, down $0.31 (-1.8%).

After hitting a one-year high of $28.27 in May 2006, the stock fell quickly and has been trading in the upper teens with strong resistance at 21 over the past ten months. Last night, Marvell reported that its Q1 revenue rose 22% to $635.1 million, but fell short of analyst expectations of $645.7 million, sending the stock slightly lower. Recent technical indicators for MRVL have been bearish but improving slightly, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bear-call credit spread above the $20 range. MRVL has not been above $20 for any significant amount of time since July and has shown resistance around $17.70. This trade could be risky if investors think the stock's slide is finished and start buying again, but even if this happens, the stock would have to rise by 18.8% before we would be in trouble.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.
DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls a position in MRVL.