Analyst Upgrades

• Netflix (NFLX) and Zions Bancorp (ZION) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Akamai (AKAM) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• CSX (CSX) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Nordstrom (JWN) to buy from neutral, WellCare (WCG) to conviction buy from buy and Humana (HUM) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• E-Commerce China Dangdang (DANG) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• VMware (VMW) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Celanese (CE) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• Micron (MU) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Baker Hughes (BHI) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• PDL BioPharma (PDLI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Fluor (FLR) and Rush Enterprises (RUSHA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Camden Property (CPT) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Linear Technology (LLTC) to neutral from reduce at Nomura.
• Hologic (HOLX) and Illumina (ILMN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• F5 Networks (FFIV) to buy from neutral at Gleacher.

Analyst Upgrades

• Amgen (AMGN) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Tutor Perini (TPC) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Covidien (COV) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Sara Lee (SLE) and Comcast (CMCSA) to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Research In Motion (RIMM) to outperform from sector perform at FBN Securities.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Mosaic (MOS) to buy from hold and raised its price target to $78 from $64 citing improving ag fundamentals and the potential for BHP (BHP) to issue a higher bid for Potash (POT), which Citi feels would bode well for Mosaic.
• Cowen upgraded VMware (VMW) to outperform from neutral, citing recent share weakness and the company's significant growth opportunity.
• Citigroup upgraded CareFusion (CFN) with a $29 price target, citing valuation and the potential for margin expansion.
• Pfizer (PFE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Juniper (JNPR) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Stryker (SYK) was upgraded to buy from gradually accumulate at Soleil.

Analyst upgrades

• UBS upgraded CF Industries (CF) to neutral from sell. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade. In addition, UBS raised its price target on shares to $84 from $81.
• Baird upgraded Johnson Controls (JCI) to outperform from neutral and raised its price target to $42 from $33. The upgrade was based on improving margins, China growth, and upside from a cyclical recovery.
• Barrington upgraded G&K Services (GKSR) to outperform from market perform ahead of the company's Q3 results to reflect optimism regarding the company's operational turnaround. The firm set a $35 price target for shares.
• LaSalle Hotel (LHO) was upgraded to top pick from outperform at RBC Capital.
• Zimmer (ZMH) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Thermo Fisher (TMO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.

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

• Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) lower Q1 earnings were better than expected but it lowered its full-year outlook.
• McDonald's Corp. (MCD) solid Q1 numbers were driven by its value menu, McCafe, and strength overseas.
• Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) topped Q1 earnings expectations and cash from operations rose, but shares declined.
• Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares were lifted after its strong Q1 earnings beat consensus estimates.
• PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) fell short of Q1 revenue estimates but beat earnings per share expectations by a penny.

VMware (VMW) is known for its virtualization technologies, which make it easier to get more power from existing information technology (IT) resources. Yet, the company has been building on this platform by adding security and even cloud-computing capabilities.

It has certainly helped to continue the growth -- and make shareholders happy. So far this year, VMware's shares have gone from $43.50 to $60. In light of the recent quarterly report, the good times are likely to continue.

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

• Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) better-than-expected Q4 numbers due to strong holiday sales of media products.
• BlackRock Inc. (BLK) reported strong Q4 results and doubled assets under management due to an acquisition.
• Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) shares fell despite better-than-expected Q4 earnings as guidance fell short of the Street view.
• DeVry Inc. (DV) reported better-than-expected Q2 numbers due to increasing enrollments, which lifted shares.
• EMC Corp. (EMC) reported strong Q4 results that beat the Street view and offered full-year guidance.
• General Dynamics Corp. (GD) Q4 results fell short of expectations and its guidance was less than estimates.

The stock market was a roller-coaster today, and suddenly over the last week and a half we have gone from a market where volatility was very low to one where triple-digit DJIA point moves occur and get reversed in almost the same day. The VIX even opened right over 26.0 today before selling off. We started the day mixed, then went very positive, and then went very negative toward the end of the day. Earnings are still strong, but valuations are weighing on investors as you see many names selling off even after good earnings. The wide budget deficit only highlights more and more long-term concerns.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,200.19 +3.33 (0.03%)
S&P 500 1,092.17 -4.61 (-0.42%)
Nasdaq 2,203.73 -7.07 (-0.32%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades
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For the past year, it's been busy for VMware (VMW), which is a top provider of infrastructure software. The company released two major products -- vSphere and View 4 -- and acquired SpringSource and Zimbra. There was also a strong focus on cost cutting as free cash flows came in at $840 million, up 39%.

As for Q4, VMware continued to show traction. Revenues spiked 18% to $608.2 million and net income was $56.4 million, or $0.14 per share. When making some adjustments, earnings came to $0.31 per share, which beat the consensus of $0.26 per share.

Neither company is saying a thing yet, but word is Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and EMC (NYSE: EMC) are joining up to sell a new collection of products designed to deliver cloud computing capabilities, Reuters reports. Called vBlock, the cloud solution is intended to help the companies compete more effectively with IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ).

The partnership, which no one is admitting to, involves a joint venture between Cisco and EMC that will sell vBlock. The former will supply the networking equipment and servers, with the latter kicking in the storage gear and virtualization technology through its VMWare (NYSE: VMW) subsidiary. The joint venture will put the systems together, integrate the components for clients, and make the whole pile of cables and silicon work. A formal announcement is expected next week.

It goes without saying that I like business models that offer systems to increase efficiency and optimize performance, which is why I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for VMWare (NYSE: VMW), first recommended on June 5, 2009 at a price of $32.59. If you purchased VMW then, you're up about 20%.

VMWare's mission is to improve the efficiency and availability of resources and applications. Examples include running energy systems more efficiently, reducing capital costs, and improving desktop management and control.

Late Monday, VMware (NYSE: VMW) announced that it will acquire SpringSource, a privately held company. The deal carries a total value of $420 million, which will consist of $362 million in cash and equity along with $58 million in unvested stock and options. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of the year.

The acquisition is believed to have been made in order to help VMW expand its management software in order to work with what is known as cloud computing services. Cloud computing is a service over the Internet where users have an external company run the applications.

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

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) narrowed its net loss in Q2 but not as much as expected.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) posted better-than-expected Q3 results on demand for iPhones and Macs.
• Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) reported earnings and revenue that topped expectations.
• JDA Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) shares surged after it reported record results for Q2.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) lower Q4 results still topped earnings estimates, but shares fell.
• VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) unimpressive Q2 results still managed to beat analysts' low expectations.
• Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Q2 profit was flat year over year and revenue and cash flow declined.

For the past decade, VMware (NYSE: VMW) has been one of the fastest-growing software companies in the world. Unfortunately, things have slowed down recently.

According to the Q2 numbers, the revenues came to $456 million, which showed no growth over the past year. The drag came from US market, where sales were down 3%.

VMware's earnings were $32.5 million, which compares to $52.3 million in the same period a year ago.