Analyst upgrades:

• Bernstein upgraded General Electric (NYSE: GE) to Outperform from Market Perform Thursday after the close. The firm sees an improved risk/reward on the stock and raised its price target to $19 from $18.
• Bernstein also upgraded Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes sales growth and margin expansion expectations are too low. The firm raised its target on shares to $160 from $125.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded CBS (NYSE: CBS) to Neutral from Underweight following the company's Q3 results and raised its target on shares to $13 from $12.
• JPMorgan upgraded Macy's (NYSE: M) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect the company's improving comps. The firm has a $23 target on the stock.
• Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• Travelers (NYSE: TRV) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Air Methods (NASDAQ: AIRM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) to Buy from Hold on valuation and believes liquidity concerns are overdone. The firm raised its target on the stock to $27 from $20.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its price target to $19 from $15. Morgan Stanley's survey indicates positive trends in the business supply chain and the analysts expects estimates to move higher from increased server MPU sales and growth in Windows 7.
  
• Pali upgraded Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and believes the company's tough Q2 compares are already priced into the stock. The firm has a $25 target on shares.
• Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
  
• MasterCard (NYSE: MA) was lifted to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Burger King (NYSE: BKC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: BioScrip, Chipotle Mexican Grill and CoStar Group were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• BioScrip (NASDAQ: BIOS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Broadpoint, as they believe the company's specialty business is worth more than the current price implies.
  
• Baird upgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) to Outperform from Neutral following Q4 results, citing valuation and a positive view on fundamentals.
  
• CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities, as they expect the company to report a solid quarter next Thursday.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Groupe Danone (OTC: GDNNY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at ING.
  
• UBS raised Senior Housing Properties (NYSE: SNH) and Fluor Corp (NYSE: FLR) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded RenaissanceRE Holdings (NYSE: RNR) to Overweight from Equal Weight.