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

• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) reported strong Q2 earnings thought revenue fell but beat analysts' estimates.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) beat Q2 earnings estimates but revenue suffered from currency effects.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) reported a drop in Q2 revenue and a net loss on restructuring charges.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) posted a deeper-than-expected Q2 net loss as sales plunged.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported its lowest quarterly profit in years, well short of expectations.

Famous cruise line entity Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), which competes with Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) and The Walt Disney Company's (NYSE: DIS) vacation voyages, reported earnings for the third quarter on Thursday. The company held up well during the summer months. Revenues increased 11% to $4.8 billion. Earnings per diluted share did decrease slightly from a year ago, dropping two pennies to $1.65. But management reported that the number was better than expected because of lower costs and the positive effect of an insurance recovery. As far as Wall Street estimates were concerned, the bottom line beat by a wide margin. This item says that Carnival bested estimates by $0.07.

Another cool thing is that Carnival narrowed its fiscal-year guidance in a most positive way. Before, the company expected that it would book earnings somewhere between $2.70 and $2.80 per share. Well, now management thinks it'll do between $2.79 and $2.81. That shows confidence in the business, and it looks like the market is pretty happy with the results. Taking a look at the stock at the time of this writing, I see that is up almost 3%, and that volume is decent so far.

I personally would not buy Carnival at this time, however, even though there are some sound elements to this story. It does sport a very good dividend yield of 4%, but it's not close to the 52-week low, and one could argue that the upgraded guidance is confirmation that the stock could be a buy. Still, the market is volatile, the economy is questionable, and energy prices remain a concern. Plus, the earnings release did note some weakness in occupancy levels for advance bookings. I'd be fearful of looking at Carnival before a pullback brings the stock in a little. Long term, though, I do think the company will prosper, since I think it is a great brand in the leisure business.

Disclosure: I own Disney; positions can change at any time.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) recently down $1.03 to $20.31:

RCL is expected to report Q2 EPS in late July. RCL call option volume of 2,789 contracts compared to put volume of 8,808 contracts. RCL July option implied volatility was at 67, August at 74; above its 26-week average of 47 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) recently down $1.57 to $30.83:

CCL call option volume of 7,827 contracts compared to put volume of 33,198 contracts. CCL July option implied volatility was at 50, August at 58; above its 26-week average of 39 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), a provider of cruise vacations and competitor of Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL), issued its Q2 earnings numbers on Thursday. Revenues rose more than 16% to $3.4 billion. Net earnings were 49 cents a share. That wasn't too impressive, considering that it was a penny better than the previous year's quarter. However, according to Briefing.com, Carnival killed the earnings expectations of analysts by 8 cents. Net sales were also higher than what Wall Street's expectations.

This performance sent the stock up more than 5%. I think investors need to be a little careful here because Carnival's management has become cautious about the next quarter because of energy costs. The company expects earning of $1.56 to $1.58 per share in Q3. Last year's Q3 saw bottom-line income of $1.67 per share. So, growth will not be found in next quarter's report.

Yet, again, the market didn't seem to mind, as it was high off the expectations-beating data. Is Carnival, therefore, a buy? Well, I don't think it's overly expensive considering the P/E ratio and the yield attached to the stock. But the direction of oil prices has me concerned. Not only will that increase costs for Carnival, but it will compete with the discretionary dollars of potential vacationers. I see the valuation case, but the current state of the market makes me reluctant to pull the trigger on this stock. Some would argue that all this is baked into the shares since they did so well yesterday, but I'm not convinced.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: GFI Group, Wells Fargo and Cirrus Logic were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Goldman downgraded GFI Group Inc (NASDAQ: GFIG) to Neutral from Buy following the company's announcement that credit chief, Donal Fewer, left the company to go to a rival firm and that about two dozen brokers may defect to follow him.
• Oppenheimer cut Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) to Underperform from Perform as they believe the company is under-reserved by at least $4.5B and that there is significant room for multiple contraction.
• Cirrus Logic Inc (NASDAQ: CRUS) was downgraded at Jefferies to Hold from Buy on valuation, as they believe the risk/reward is no longer favorable at current levels.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Baird cut Ryder System Inc (NYSE: R) to Neutral from Outperform.
• Caterpillar Incorporated (NYSE: CAT) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia and to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
• Goldman removed Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) from its Conviction Buy List.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Atmel, Skyworks, Alcatel-Lucent, Parexel and Map Pharma were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Kaufman Bros. initiated Atmel (NASDAQ: ATML) with a Buy rating and $6 target, as they believe the company's increasing focus around its core microcontroller business can drive an improved growth and profitability profile going forward and would be buyers at current levels.
  
• The firm also started shares of Skyworks (NASDAQ: SWKS) with a Buy rating and a $10 target, as they like the company's balanced customer positioning and find the stock attractively valued at current levels.
  
• JP Morgan initiated Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) with an Overweight rating and believes the risks are more than fully priced into shares at current levels.
  
• Parexel (NADSAQ: PRXL) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Broadpoint, as they believe the company's improved execution is already priced into shares.
  
• Deutsche Bank finds shares of Map Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) attractively valued given the opportunity from the company's two late stage product candidates, UDB and Tempo Migraine. The firm started shares off with a Buy rating and $19 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Wachovia initiated coverage of leisure stocks, starting shares of Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN) and Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) with Outperform ratings.
  
• Credit Suisse initiated PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) with Outperform ratings and targets of $87 and $68, respectively.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: EMC Corporation, Tesco PLC, SL Green Realty, Ariba and Motorola were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns on valuation. Shares were also upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup after coming off restriction to reflect the long-term benefits of virtualization and valuation.
  
• Tesco (OTC: TSCDY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup on valuation and the company's growth prospects.
  
• SL Green Realty Corporation (NYSE: SLG) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Keybanc based on valuation. The firm views concerns regarding NYC office demand as overblown.
  
• Cowen expects FY07 to be a tough year for Ariba Inc (NASDAQ: ARBA) as benefits from the on-demand subscription model are realized. The firm upgraded shares to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital citing firming trends in its handset division.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Jefferies upgraded Optium Corporation (NASDAQ: OPTM) to Buy from Hold.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Susster Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SUSS) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE: VSH) to Overweight from Market Weight.
  
• Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Select newspaper stocks and Dolan Media were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Banc of America initiated six stocks in the newspaper sector with Neutral ratings: Gannett (NYSE: GCI) was started with a $51.50 target, citing a lack of clarity into the company's acquisition strategy; New York Times (NYSE: NYT) was started with a $21 target, reflecting a lack of clarity into the company's acquisition strategy; E.W. Scripps (NYSE: SSP) was started with a $43 target, as the firm feels the company's Interactive division is a "big question mark" that could drag down company growth; McClatchy Co (NYSE: MNI) was started with a $26 target, as the firm is positive longer-term, but sees downside risk to 2007 consensus estimates; Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) was initiated with a $19.50 target; Gatehouse Media (NYSE: GHS) was started with a $12.50 target.
  
• Dolan Media (NYSE: DM) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $24 target at Piper Jaffray. Piper believes DM's Q3 guidance is conservative given the default rates in July and August and notes the company processes defaults in two of the three highest default rate states. Dolan Media was also started with a Buy rating and $26 target at Merrill Lynch and with a Buy rating and $28 target at Craig-Hallum.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Think Equity assumed coverage of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) with an Accumulate rating and $26 target and a Buy rating and $18 target, respectively.
• Citigroup started shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) and Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) with Hold ratings.
• SuperValu Inc (NYSE: SVU) was started with a Hold rating and $47 target at Citigroup.
• Rodman & Renshaw initiated shares of Omrix Biopharmaceuticals (NYSE: OMRI) with a Market Outperform rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Micron Technology (MU), Halliburton Co (HAL), Visual Sciences (VSCN) and Shaw Group (SGR) fill today's noteworthy upgrade list:

• ThinkEquity upgraded shares of Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) to Buy from Accumulate, citing strength in the PC market. The firm believes Micron is well positioned to benefit from the potential secular uptrend in the DRAM market over the next 12 months.

• Credit Suisse upgraded shares of Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) to Outperform from Neutral citing solid cyclical fundamentals, which should offset overly negative perceptions.

• JMP Securities upgraded Visual Sciences (NASDAQ: VSCN) to Market Perform from Underperform based on the potential acquisition.

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's robust backlog growth and changes in management...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• JP Morgan upgraded both Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) and Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) to Overweight from Neutral.

• Roth raised MRV Communications (NASDAQ: MRVC) to Buy from Hold.

• Jefferies upgraded VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) to Buy from Hold.

• Thomas Weisel upgraded Zebra Tech (NASDAQ: ZBRA) to Overweight from Market Weight.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Advance Auto Parts Inc (NYSE: AAP), Solectron Corporation (NYSE: SLR), Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE: RCL) and were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Advance Auto Parts to Neutral from Underweight citing increased confidence in the company's turnaround efforts.
• Solectron was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse to reflect the company's acquisition by Flextronics International (NASDAQ: FLEX).
• Carnival was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform and Royal Caribbean was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• BHP Billiton Ltd (NYSE: BHP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup on valuation and their expectations for higher commodity prices.
• Matrix USA upgraded shares of Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) to Hold from Strong Sell, as the firm believes growing demand for new products is driving positive fundamental trends.
• Lehman upgraded Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) to Overweight from Equal Weight, citing the potential for an accretive acquisition of buyback.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: International Business Machines Corp (IBM) and General Dynanics (GD) were the most notable upgrades this morning:

• UBS upgraded International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM) to Buy from Neutral with a $118 target, citing improving fundamentals and expectations that software acquisitions will contribute to expanding organic growth rates, increased margins and multiple expansions.

• General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen, as the firm sees better-than-expected growth for General Dynamics Combat business, driven by the DoD's 2007 supplemental budget.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bear Stearns upgraded shares of TiVO Inc (NASDAQ: TIVO) to Peer Perform from Underperform, as the company believes risk/reward is now more favorable.

• Bernstein upgraded shares of Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) to Market Perform from Underperform citing valuation.

• Goldman Sachs added Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) to their America's Conviction Buy List, beliving that RCL's overhang from higher energy expenses is abating and that pricing trends may be slightly better than expectations.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).