OpenTable(OPEN) has come a long way since Chuck Templeton envisioned the idea in 1998 after observing the difficulty his wife faced while trying to book a dinner reservation by phone. Today, it is the leading provider of free and real-time online restaurant reservations for users looking to book reservations online as well as a reservation and guest management solution for restaurants. The company is comfortably ahead of its competitors like Urbanspoon, owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp and UK-based companies liveRES Ltd and Livebookings Ltd. It also seems to have hit the right note with its decision to take Groupon head-on by selling third-party restaurants coupons through its website.

We currently maintain a $94.90 price estimate for OpenTable, which is about 10% below the stock's market price.

Analyst Upgrades

• Bristol-Myers (BMY) to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• Pep Boys (PBY) to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• Tesla Motors (TSLA) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Emerson (EMR) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• ARM Holdings (ARMH) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• NetLogic (NETL) and Cavium Networks (CAVM) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Aimco (AIV) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Ceragon Networks (CRNT) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Analyst Upgrades

• Parker-Hannifin (PH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• JDSU (JDSU) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Noble Corp. (NE) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Cerner (CERN) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Cintas (CTAS) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• American States Water (AWR) to buy from hold at Brean Murray.
• National Semiconductor (NSM) and Texas Instruments (TXN) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Lululemon (LULU) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• DuPont Fabros (DFT) to top pick from outperform at RBC Capital.

OpenTable (OPEN) is the largest provider of free and real-time online restaurant reservations for diners in the U.S. It competes with Urbanspoon, owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI) and other UK-based companies like liveRES Ltd and Livebookings Ltd.

OpenTable's share price has grown nearly three-fold from a roughly $30 value following its IPO in May 2009. The stock's current market price stands around $85. The stock price actually breached $95 earlier this month, soon after the company declared better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter of 2010.

OpenTable (OPEN) is a leading provider of free and real-time online restaurant reservations, helping users looking to book reservations online and providing a reservation and guest management solution for restaurants. It also sells third-party restaurants coupons through its website. Its competitors include Urbanspoon, owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), and UK-based companies liveRES Ltd and Livebookings Ltd.

We have a price estimate for OpenTable of $94.90, which is roughly in line with market price.

Analyst Upgrades

• General Electric (GE) and Barclays (BCS) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Warnaco (WRC) to outperform from market perform and Melco Crown (MPEL) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Parker-Hannifin (PH) and Emerson Electric (EMR) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• AMD (AMD) to buy from neutral at Nomura.
• Novellus (NVLS) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• OpenTable (OPEN) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Skilled Healthcare (SKH) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Lear (LEA) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Adobe (ADBE) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

The Republicans took the House of Representatives, but not the Senate, in the mid-term elections. That is exactly what the polls indicated ahead of time and just about exactly what the markets were pricing in. Then came Bernanke and the FOMC with the announcement of what exactly the new $600 billion in quantitative easing would look like. That was also priced in. As noted, it was all baked into the cake at current prices. Outside of a decent mood being prevalent today by many, stocks had a hard time deciding whether they wanted to be in the red or in the black.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA
NASDAQ
S&P500

Top Analyst Calls
ETFs For Quantitative Easing

Analyst Upgrades

• Credit Suisse upgraded Netflix (NFLX) to neutral from underperform and raised its price target to $140 from $90. The firm's survey work indicates Netflix's streaming offering is compelling and will continue to grow as it acquires additional streaming content.
• Barclays upgraded Ford (F) to overweight from equal weight, citing the company's earnings power, reduced cost base, expectations for a return to prior peak margins and valuation. The firm raised its target to $16 from $15.
• Merriman upgraded OpenTable (OPEN) to buy from neutral based on increased visibility into international expansion from the toptable.com acquisition and upside from its Spotlight product.
• Siemens (SI) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Medicis (MRX) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• IDEX (IEX) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded OpenTable (OPEN) to buy from hold, citing stronger than expected near-term trends and traction for the company's Spotlight offering. Citi upped its price target for shares to $70 from $46.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Werner (WERN) to outperform from market perform, citing valuation, the company's reduction in cost, and its above peer exposure to the pricing cycle.
• Goldman upgraded CarMax (KMX) to neutral from sell based on valuation and higher used car profitability. The firm has a $24 target on the stock.
• Apollo Group (APOL) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Nokia (NOK) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Zions Bancorp (ZION) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo believes Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) da Vinci procedures remain under penetrated and that consensus estimates are too low. The firm upgraded shares to outperform from market perform and raised its valuation range to $340 to $360.
• Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Westamerica (WABC) to buy from hold due to the company's FDIC-assisted acquisition of Sonoma Bank and what the firm sees as Westamerica's defensive nature. The firm set a $62 target on the stock.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Corning (GLW) to outperform from perform based on valuation and the belief that downward revisions have peaked. The firm has a $20 target on the stock.
• Quality Systems (QSII) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• OpenTable (OPEN) and Windstream (WIN) were upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• RBC Capital upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP) to outperform from sector perform with a $20 target. The firm thinks the units' valuation is compelling, while the company's proposed acquisition of assets is positive.
• Stifel upgraded First Horizon (FHN) to buy from hold based on valuation and its path towards normalized profitability. The firm has a $15 price target on the stock.
• KeyBanc upgraded Isle of Capri (ISLE) to buy from hold based on improved earnings growth and valuation. The firm has a $13 target on the stock.
• ATA Inc. (ATAI) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at Piper Jaffray.
• Buckeye Partners (BPL) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Sinopec (SNP) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded T. Rowe Price (TROW) to overweight from neutral while downgrading Janus Capital (JNS) to underweight from neutral to reflect valuations and fundamentals. The firm has a $67 price target for T. Rowe Price shares.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Lincoln Electric (LECO) to overweight from neutral as it believes the rebound in global manufacturing is accelerating. The firm has a $70 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Highwoods Properties (HIW) to market perform from underperform, citing valuation and a strong balance sheet.
• Corning (GLW) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Allergan (AGN) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Mohawk (MHK) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.

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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) received an analyst's upgrade ahead of next week's Q4 earnings report.
• Acer Inc. reported its highest quarterly earnings in almost three years due in part to growth in shipments.
• Baidu Inc. (BIDU) swung to a better-than-expected Q4 profit, with strong revenue growth, and offered rosy guidance.
• Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) offered an upside surprise as well as full-year earnings above Wall Street estimates.
• Coinstar Inc. (CSTR) strong quarterly results and guidance, as well as litigation concerns, failed to inspire Wall Street.
• Coca-Cola Co. (KO) posted strong Q4 and full-year earnings results due to growth in emerging markets.

Last year, OpenTable (OPEN) was one of the hottest IPOs. Priced at $20, the stock price surged to $31.89 on its first day of trading.

Hype? Not really. The company has continued to grow, despite the sluggish economy.

Founded in 1998, OpenTable allows restaurants to manage their reservations, using cloud-computing technologies. Revenues come from installation fees, subscriptions and per-diner fees.

Analyst Upgrades

• Merriman upgraded Regal Entertainment (NYSE: RGC) to Buy from Neutral as the analyst is less concerned about Q2 box office performance following the Transformers 2 opening weekend.
• Baird upgraded Ball (NYSE: BLL) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $52 from $46 citing cost cutting initiatives, a volume trough in Q1, and expected earnings growth.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) to Overweight from Equal Weight. The firm cites valuation and gross margin opportunity for the upgrade. The firm has a $35 target on shares.
• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
• Lloyds Banking (NYSE: LYG) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.