Dress Barn (NASDAQ: DBRN), a retailer that specializes in casual fashion, issued results for the fourth quarter on Wednesday after the bell. Net sales increased 4%, and adjusted income came in at 39 cents per diluted share versus 34 cents per diluted share one year ago.

The growth rates weren't all that notable, but Dress Barn, which counts Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) as a colleague, beat estimates, according to Reuters. The call was for 37 cents per share. The top line essentially met expectations.

There is virtually no end of shops offering fashions for young women and the number of stores catering to the older crowd is on the rise, but where do you go for haute couture and you are eight? There is an outfit headquartered in New Albany, Ohio that has an answer.

Tween Brands (NYSE: TWB) is a specialty retailer that features apparel for tween girls (ages 7-14). The stores also carry such items as purses, watches, backpacks, jewelry, footwear, bedroom furnishings and age-appropriate cosmetics. The firm operates 583 Limited Too shops and 221 Justice outlets, in 46 states. It was spun off from former parent, Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD), in 1999.

The company pleased investors earlier in the month, when it boosted earnings forecasts on the basis of quarter-to-date operating results and expected benefits from a newly authorized stock repurchase program. Management now sees Q3 EPS of 43-47 cents (42 cent consensus), Q4 EPS of $1.03-$1.13 (97 cent consensus) and FY08 EPS of $1.84-$1.98 ($1.84 consensus). Susquehanna Financial subsequently upgraded the stock to "positive" and Friedman Billings reiterated its "outperform" rating. The news popped the shares out of an early September "cup" into the mid-September "handle" of a Cup & Handle formation. The price is now showing signs of completing the pattern with a bullish rise from the right-hand side of the "handle."

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ford Motor Co, Advanced Micro Devices, Brocade, Netflix and Equinix were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Bear Stearns believes Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) could also benefit from similar deal to General Motors Corporation's (NYSE: GM) potential VEBA healthcare restructuring with the UAW. The firm upgraded Ford shares to Outperform from Peer Perform.
  
• Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan. The firm expects AMD's Barcelona server chip will help close the gap vs. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC).
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Brocade Communications Systems (NASDAQ: BRCD) to Buy from Hold and added the stock to their Global Tech Conviction List on expectations for market share gains and margin upside in 2008.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded shares of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) to Overweight from Market Weight, citing reduced pressure from competitor Blockbuster Inc (NYSE: BBI), which could lead to upside in subscribers.
  
• Needham upgraded shares of Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) to Buy from Hold to reflect improving fundamentals and potential upside from the IXEurope acquisition.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• UBS upgraded shares of Sun Healthcare Group (NASDAQ: SUNH) and CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Susquehanna raised Tween Brands Inc (NYSE: TWB) to Positive from Neutral.
  
• FTN Midwest upgraded Hudson City Bancorp (NASDAQ: HCBK) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Bebe Stores (NASDAQ: BEBE) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.