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

• Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Q3 earnings beat by a penny but sales fell short of expectations; shares fell.
• AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) reported a Q3 net loss and plunging revenue but also raised $4 billion in cash.
• BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) topped Q3 earnings expectations but said bad-loan provisions nearly doubled.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) missed estimates and posted a Q3 loss due to delays for a couple of jet products.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) shares rose after it reported better-than-expected Q3 numbers.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) posted a better-than-expected Q3 profit but sales fell short, and shares fell.

This was the day that could have been. Earnings were coming out favorably, yet the data just couldn't support the stocks. There were also trader comments that BofA/Merrill had large sell orders or sell programs throughout the day. It looks like the DJIA even closed out under the 10,000 mark on an unofficial basis.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,974.75 -106.56 (-1.06%)
S&P 500 1,079.73 -13.18 (-1.21%)
Nasdaq 2,154.47 -10.82 (-0.50%)

Top 10 Analyst Calls
Top Day Traders Stocks
Top Stock/Market Rumors

Analyst upgrades:

• American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at FBR Capital, as the firm sees limited near-term downside in the stock. The firm raised its target price on the shares to $37 from $25.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) to Outperform from Sector Perform. Target to $44 from $34. UBS upgraded Nestle on expectations the company will begin returning cash to shareholders via buybacks and dividends.
  
• Piper Jaffray raised Dicks Sporting (NYSE:DKS) to Neutral from Underweight following positive channel checks and raised its target on the shares to $28 from $18.
  
• Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell by Pali Capital.
  
• Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was raised to Buy from Hold by Natixis.
  
• Sunpower (NASDAQ:SPWRA) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Macquarie.
• China Automotive (NASDAQ:CAAS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merriman.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Warner Chilcott (NASDAQ: WCRX) to Buy from Hold. The firm views Warner Chilcott's acquisition of P&G's (NYSE: PG) pharma business as a positive given its attractive product fit and purchase price.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to Buy from Source of Funds and raised its target to $550 from $400. Previously, the firm thought Google Street estimates were too high and that low single-digit growth in Q2 and Q3 would cause multiple contraction. They said their thesis played out fundamentally but they were wrong on the stock. Given Q2 has past, the analyst raised estimates above consensus and expects an in-line Q3 and for shares to outperform as the economic cycle turns.
• Bernstein upgraded Diageo (NYSE: DEO) to Outperform from Market Perform and views Diageo's valuation as attractive. The firm expects 2H09 results on August 27 to mark a bottom in weakening top-line trends.
• Costco (NASDAQ: COST) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at William Blair.
• Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Siemens (NYSE: SI) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst upgrades:

• Merriman upgraded Sunpower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) two levels to Buy from Sell after transitioning coverage. The firm believes Sunpower is emerging from the current recession as the CleanTech leader and has a $38-$48 price range on shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Varian Medical (NYSE: VAR) to Buy from hold as it believes capex pressure and health care reform uncertainty is priced into shares, and demand will return as hospital budgets stabilize. Citi raised its target on shares to $45 from $36.
• FBR Capital upgraded Gap (NYSE: GPS) to Outperform from Market Perform following the Q2 results to reflect product improvement and ongoing inventory control. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $18.
• Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
• UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Wells Fargo.
• The Buckle (NYSE: BKE) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.

On July 24, Northern California-based SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) stunned the Street with a red-hot earnings beat. For Q2, SunPower reported earnings of 24 cents per share, beating consensus by 10 cents. Revenues rose 39% year-over-year to $298 million versus the $263 million consensus. The company also issued upside guidance for fiscal year 2009, seeing EPS of $1.15 to $1.60, compared to the consensus of 96 cents.

In a really bullish sign for SunPower going forward, the company also reiterated its 2009 capex guidance of $250 million to $300 million.

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

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 net loss as steel prices rise.
• Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) posted a better-than-expected Q2 profit on strong overseas sales.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) shares jumped after it beat earnings, missed revenues, and offered guidance.
• DuPont (NYSE: DD) shares declined after it posted a higher-than-expected profit but lower revenue.
• Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) disappointing results were a sign that the bulls are in charge, said Jim Cramer.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Q2 earnings and sales declined, dragged down by finance and NBC units.

If you have ever seen news exhaustion at the end of a week, this was that week. The only surprise after seeing the post-earnings reactions last night was that the market didn't stay down hard. Coming into this morning, we had a 12 day consecutive NASDAQ winning streak. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,095.51 +26.22 (0.29%)
S&P 500 979.78 +3.49 (0.36%)
Nasdaq 1,965.73 -7.87 (-0.40%)

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

In the wake of its second-quarter earnings report, SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) has garnered no fewer than four price-target increases and at least two upgrades. Running through the list, FBR upgraded the shares from "market perform" to "outperform," while Collins Stewart upped the equity from "sell" to "hold." FBR also hiked its price target from $22 to $40, while Citigroup upped its target from $15 to $18. Elsewhere, Credit Suisse raised the stock's price target from $20 to $32, and Canaccord Adams increased its 12-month estimate from $21 to $29.

In fact, Wedbush Morgan is the lone bearish holdout this morning, with the brokerage firm bucking the trend by downgrading SPWRA from "outperform" to "neutral."

Analyst upgrades:

• Janney Montgomery upgraded Kenexa (NASDAQ: KNXA) and SuccessFactors (NASDAQ: SFSF) to Buy from Neutral on expectations corporate IT spending will accelerate in the second half of 2009. The firm raised its target on Kenexa to $14 from $8 and on SuccessFactors to $12 from $9.
• Jefferies upgraded PSS World Medical (NASDAQ: PSSI) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's cost-cutting measures and efforts to gain market share. The firm raised its target on shares to $25 from $17.50.
• FBR Capital upgraded Sunpower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's Q2 results to reflect increased business prospects in the "rooftop" segment of the market. FBR raised its target on shares to $40 from $22.
• Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Temple-Inland (NYSE: TIN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) and solar technology company SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) teamed up today with an agreement for Wells to finance up to $100 million in new solar energy systems. SunPower will create agreements with end power users and handle operational issues, and Wells will finance and retain ownership of the systems, according to a pair of press releases from the two companies.

The Business Insider says that a research note from FBR Capital says this amount will allow SunPower to add about 20-25 MW of capacity, and that pricing for the solar power will be at competitive rates of under $0.15/kwh. The overall effect on earnings is expected to be immaterial. The average estimate for EPS for the 2009 fiscal year is $1.07, but with a wide range of $0.03 to $1.48. EPS last year was $2.28.

Analyst Ugrades

• Stephens upgraded Old Dominion Freight (NASDAQ: ODFL) to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect the financial problems at YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW), which the firm believes could lead to market share gains. Stephens raised its target on Old Dominion Freight to $40 from $22.
• UBS expects SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) to benefit from the U.S. residential solar segment as investment tax credits come available. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $38 from $26.
• KeyBanc upgraded DPL (NYSE: DPL) to Buy from Hold based on valuation and potential upside from the Ohio approval of the rate settlement, 2010 guidance, and potential to use cash flow for accretive purposes.
• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
• Carnival (NYSE: CCL) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• South Financial Group (NASDAQ: TSFG) was upgraded at SunTrust to Buy from Neutral.

San Jose-based SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings after the market closes this Thursday, April 23. Thomson First Call notes that analysts, on average, are expecting the solar issue to report a profit of 25 cents per share, down from 39 cents per share in the same quarter of 2008.

SPWRA has has an impressive history in the earnings spotlight, having exceeded the Street's profit expectations in each of the previous four reporting periods. Judging by option activity in recent weeks, some investors are betting on the stock to exceed earnings estimates yet again.

Crummy manufacturing and production data and continued weakness in housing data were not stopping buyers today. At least not until the last 90 minutes when we saw selling take away the triple digit gains in the DJIA. This looked like another day where bulls were washing out the bears until late-day from a DJIA financial component took much of the wind out of the sails today. But the tech-heavy NASDAQ was in negative territory most of the day. Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow 7,216.97 -7.01 (-0.10%)
S&P 500 753.89 -2.66 (-0.35%)
Nasdaq 1,404.02 -27.48 (-1.92%)

Top Analyst Calls

Analyst upgrades:

• KeyBanc upgraded Greenbrier (NYSE: GBX) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company has options to forestall covenant violations or bankruptcy, event if conditions deteriorate further.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Market Perform from Underperform citing low expectations, favorable FTC settlement, progress on cost cutting, and valuation.
  
• JP Morgan believes First Merit (NASDAQ: FMER) is one of the best positioned Midwest banks to weather the storm and notes its compelling valuation and capital levels. The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Neutral.
• Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.
  
• Compass Minerals (NYSE: CMP) was lifted to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.