Analyst Upgrades

• Akamai (AKAM) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Aetna (AET) to Outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Hot Topic (HOTT) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Colonial Properties (CLP) upgraded to Outperform from market perform at FBR Capital and to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Altera (ALTR) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• American Reprographics (ARC), CarMax (KMX) and American Campus (ACC) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Zebra Tech (ZBRA) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• IMAX (IMAX) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Basic Energy (BAS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Mednax (MD) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• UTi Worldwide (UTIW) to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Analyst Upgrades

• Electronic Arts (ERTS) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Helix Energy (HLX) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Quest Software (QSFT) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• LTX-Credence (LTXC) to buy from hold at Needham.
• Anadarko (APC) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Walgreen (WAG) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Pericom (PSEM) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Franklin Resources (BEN) to outperform from market perform and raised its target price for shares to $127 from $105 to reflect its belief the company is well positioned in the current environment.
• UBS upgraded Nuance (NUAN) to buy from neutral and has an $18 price target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and believes the company could be an acquisition target.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded DryShips (DRYS) to equal weight from underweight and has a $5.50 target on the stock. The firm cites the firmer ultra-deepwater drilling market for the upgrade.
• Becton Dickinson (BDX) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) was upgraded to market perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
• Arkansas Best (ABFS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

For the year, the stock price of Nuance (NUAN) -- which develops speech recognition software -- has been in a range of roughly $14 to $17. Unfortunately, in light of the fiscal third-quarter results, the company was unable to break out of this trend and the stock price is off 10% to $15.50. What's more, it looks like the stock will be range-bound for some time.

In the quarter, Nuance posted revenues of $273.2 million, up 13.4% over the past year. True, when accounting for acquisitions, the revenues were $293.4 million. However, the Wall Street consensus was for $300.4 million.

Throughout much of December, the rumors were rampant that Spinvox would sell out. A big problem was that the company owed $47 million in debt, which was coming due by the end of January.

And yes, the rumors proved true. Today, Nuance (NUAN) announced that it purchased Spinvox for $102.5 million ($66 million in cash and the rest in Nuance stock). Keep in mind that the company has raised $158 million in venture capital.

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

• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO) Q3 results were so-so, and it declined to offer a Q4 outlook.
• Benihana Inc. (BNHNA) was downgraded following its weaker-than-expected Q2 results.
• Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings revenue fell short of estimates.
• Deere & Co. (DE) Q4 earnings easily topped low expectations and its cash flow is strong.
• Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR) strong Q3 numbers topped the Street view and it offered Q4 and full-year guidance.
• Eastman Chemical Co. (EMN) earnings prospects led one analyst to upgrade the stock.

Nuance Communications (NUAN - option chain) shares are rising today after the company reported earnings last night, posting a fourth-quarter profit of $6.3 million, or 2 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, NUAN earned 32 cents per share on revenue of $275 million, beating analysts' forecasts of 29 cents per share on revenue of $272 million. 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 NUAN.

NUAN opened this morning at $14.15. So far today the stock has hit a low of $14.00 and a high of $14.87. As of 11:55, NUAN is trading at $14.75 up 1.00 (7.3%). The chart for NUAN looks bearish.

"For investors with a more aggressive bent, one stock on our radar is Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN)," says trading and investing expert Bill Martin.

In BullMarket.com, he explains, "The firm's core niche is producing speech-based voice-recognition and synthesis software for use in corporate customer-care operations, mobile applications including the new iPhone and to automate health records."

"Nuance creates those automated voices you have to listen to when what you really need is a human being to tell you why your cable modem isn't delivering the Internet.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Buy from Hold on a favorable risk/reward profile. The firm thinks sentiment is negative, estimate revisions have troughed, and compares ease in the second half of 2009. Jefferies upped its target price to $35 from $22.
• Citigroup upgraded Home Depot (NYSE: HD) to Buy from Hold on expectations for positive earnings surprises in 2009. The firm thinks home merchandise sales are picking up and consensus estimates could prove conservative. Citi raised its target price on the stock to $32 from $26.
• Bernstein upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Market Perform from Underperform and raised their price target to $23 from $10 based on its credit agreement amendment and valuation.
• SunTrust (NYSE: STI) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman. Fiat (OTC: FIATY) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

Alas, I had to say good-bye to an old friend Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN). This is a technology company that specializes in speech-recognition software and digital-document solutions, and it competes with the likes of IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). It's a cool business, although it grows by acquisition, so you do have to watch that part a bit (i.e., checking the GAAP vs. the non-GAAP numbers, cash flows, etc.). The 52-week high on the stock is $22.55; the 52-week low is $9.31. I remember thinking when the stock hit the high that maybe it was time to sell out. I wish I had. But I had confidence in its long-term future. I still do.

As we all know, though, everything has changed. The financial crisis is bringing everything down to irrational price levels. Shorting is one of the only ways to make money. And capital preservation is now on the top of everyone's agenda. That's what my sale of Nuance was about. It's one of the few stocks I owned that still showed a profit. I bought in well below $10 per share. I sold my shares on Friday for $10.13. I can always buy them back when things settle down. I should have sold a lot earlier during the downtrend; I could have generated more proceeds.

And that's one of the reasons why I'm writing this post. I want to tell you why I didn't try to raise some cash by selling Nuance at a better time period. I want to help you not be the idiot that I was. Okay, ready? Here goes. I didn't sell earlier because I held Nuance in a taxable account and didn't want to deal with paying the capital-gains taxes in '09. Like they say, if you get too cute about avoiding taxes, don't worry, you won't owe them because you'll have no profit. And that's a great way to get rich, of course (big sarcasm there, in case you didn't notice).

United (NASDAQ:UAUA) is up 3% on news that it cut staff and capacity.

IDT (NYSE:IDT) is off over 20% on poor earnings.

Nuance (NASDAQ:NUAN) is off almost 4% on word that it will sell 5.6 million new shares.

Ambac (NYSE:ABK) is up 2% after a huge sell-off yesterday on word it may be downgraded by Moody's

Stocks may trade differently in the pre-market than they do the regular session.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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

• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Q2 profits declined on a glut of flash memory chips.
• Bally Technologies Inc. (NYSE: BYI) beat Q3 expectations and offered full-year guidance.
• Barclay's (NYSE: BCS) reported a big Q1 loss on credit-related write-downs.
• Constant Contact Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) saw big increases in Q1 revenues and in its customer base.
• Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Q2 profits rose on international demand, but results just missed estimates.
• Fluor Corp.'s (NYSE: FLR) strong Q1 results are a signal for the energy sector, says Jim Cramer.
• Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) Q1 loss widened on the housing slump, but not as much as forecast.
• IndyMac Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: IMB) narrowed its loss but predicted it wouldn't see a profit in 2008.
• LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Q1 earnings topped forecasts and it raised its outlook.
• MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) reported a larger-than-expected Q1 loss due to write-downs.
• Mindray Medical International Ltd. (NYSE: MR) beat Q1 expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
• Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) Q2 earnings were in line with analysts' expectations.
• ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN) beat Q1 expectations and raised its Q2 revenue forecast.
• RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) beat Q1 estimates and announced share buybacks and a spin off.
• Salary.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SLRY) missed Q1 forecasts, leading to analysts' downgrades.
• Sykes Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: SYKE) beat Q1 estimates and raised its Q2 and full-year forecast.
• Syniverse Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SVR) beat Q1 expectations on strength in "messaging and mobil data."
• Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) warned of lower Q2 profits and more "challenging times" ahead.
• Website Pros Inc. (NASDAQ: WSPI) reported flat earnings despite soaring revenues and operating income.

Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN), a business devoted to speech recognition technologies and document solutions, reported Q2 earnings earlier this week. Those of you who own this stock know that the company oftentimes puts forth a complicated earnings release, full of GAAP and non-GAAP stats. This is due, in part, to the company's acquisition strategy (not long ago, I wrote about Nuance's purchase of eScription). So, on a GAAP basis, don't expect much. Net loss per diluted share expanded to $0.13 versus a net loss per diluted share of $0.01 in last year's second fiscal quarter (there was a significant non-cash-stock-based compensation charge included in the current quarter). Top-line revenue did well on a GAAP basis, however, rising 54%. Again, though, this growth was due to acquisitions.

On a non-GAAP basis, things look much brighter. Revenues rose 63%, and net income per diluted share increased 50% to $0.18. According to Reuters, this figure matched analyst expectations (I would have liked to have seen Nuance beat expectations, but it is what it is). Of course, Nuance stimulates a classic bull-bear discussion in terms of when GAAP profitability becomes more of an issue than non-GAAP success. As a Nuance shareholder, I definitely would like to see GAAP profits on a consistent basis, but I am well aware that management intends to gamble on acquisitions as a method for creating shareholder value, and for now, I am willing to be patient and watch how the company proceeds.

Nuance could be considered a risky, speculative stock in many ways, but I think it has a good chance of doing well over time with its technologies. You'd probably sleep better with competitors Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) in your portfolio, but since I own it from around $9 per share, I'm willing to wait and see how the share price moves from this point forward (admittedly, I was considering booking profits recently, but decided against such action). Anyone thinking of getting in now might want to perform a lot of due diligence and wait for the proverbial pullback.

Disclosure: I own shares in Nuance Communications; positions can change at any time.

It's not a terribly exciting day today in terms of the market averages, but there are some stocks doing well. Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) is one of them.

Nuance, which provides technologies for speech recognition and solutions for document needs, is up 5% on better-than-average volume as I write this. The catalyst? It appears to be a deal -- what else is new? Nuance is definitely an asset collector, and its business model is based, in part, on leveraging its various acquisitions to drive long-term shareholder value. It needs to do this as effectively as possible to compete with big guns such as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and IBM (NYSE: IBM). That can be risky, but so far, the stock has done well for me -- I've owned this for a while, and my cost basis is somewhere around $9 per share. Lately, though, I've been thinking of selling, as the stock still has yet to break through its 52-week high of $22.55 (shares are currently trading around $18.60) -- I thought that event would have happened a while ago, but I was wrong.

The acquisition announced today was for eScription, a business involved in transcription services for the medical industry. Sounds good to me -- anything to do with helping health care become more efficient should be valuable over time. The price tag was pegged at $400 million. I'll be watching the price action on Nuance -- hopefully it'll make a fresh run toward that 52-week high soon.

Disclosure: I own shares in Nuance Communications; positions can change at any time.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Mako Surgical, ArcSight and ICU Medical were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Mako Surgical (NASDAQ: MAKO) was initiated with an Overweight rating at JP Morgan. The firm believes Mako has the most compelling system for navigated, robotic assisted orthopedic surgery to date.
  
• After ArcSight (NASDAQ: ARST) reported better-than-expected results for its Q3 and guidance for Q4 that Wachovia views as positive, the firm, which initiated shares with an Outperform rating, expects that regulatory compliance initiatives such as SOX will help protect the company from the slowdown, and help result in upward revisions to Wachovia's estimates in the future, as well as margin expansion.
  
• Soleil believes ICU Medical's (NASDAQ: ICUI) close distributor relationship with Hospira (NYSE: HSP) will drive its CLAVE/Custom IV franchises. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $33 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Bear initiated Journal Comm (NYSE: JRN) with an Outperform rating and $10.25 target.
  
• Royal KPN (NYSE: KPN) was initiated at Societe Generale with a Sell rating.
  
• Broadpoint assumed Nuance Comm (NASDAQ: NUAN) with a Buy rating and $22 target.