Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Dollar Tree (DLTR) to neutral from underweight and $48 price target.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Time Warner Cable (TWC) to outperform from neutral and raised its price target to $70 from $59, citing growth in wireline HST demand.
• Needham upgraded NetScout (NTCT) to buy from hold with a $29 price target, citing channel checks that indicate industry spending on network monitoring software may be improving.
• Nstar (NST) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Novo Nordisk (NVO) was upgraded to hold from sell at Societe Generale.
• Air France-KLM (AFLYY) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.

Since I last wrote about Vulcan Materials (VMC), the stock has been under pressure from the sellers. I wrote my previous piece back near the beginning of May. The one-year chart shows the terrible plunge after that particular point in time. Technically, the stock could be unappealing.

Then again, could it have already bottomed out? Joseph Lazzaro brought up that possibility. It's an interesting situation. The 52-week low for the equity is $41.80; the 52-week high is $62. The stock closed yesterday's regular session at $46.85. It was up roughly 3.6%, taking advantage, I'm guessing, of the bullish tone of the overall markets. Volume, however, wasn't too impressive, as it was merely average.

Now may be a decent time to reconsider Vulcan Materials (VMC), which I first discussed here on June 3, 2009, at a price of $46.28.

Institutional investors have been cautious with Vulcan, a major producer of construction aggregates, asphalt and concrete, given the uneven and likely below-normal GDP growth start to the U.S. recovery.

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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) saw shares rise following its report of better-than-expected Q1 earnings.
• Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH) posted a Q2 profit and revenue growth, and announced a stock offering.
• CBS Corp. (CBS) reported improvements in both Q1 net income and cash flow, but shares declined.
• Clorox Co. (CLX) posted Q3 earnings that were higher than analysts had expected and offered weak guidance.
• First Solar Inc. (FSLR) reported quarterly earnings that easily topped analysts' expectations.

Vulcan Materials (VMC) is currently trading in the red. It's very in the red, actually: at the time of this writing, shares were down $3.86, or over 6.5%, to $55.03. The markets are down today, of course, so that has to be taken into consideration; yet, of more importance is the first-quarter report that was released on Monday.

The maker of construction aggregates lost 35 cents per share from continuing operations versus losing 29 cents per share from continuing operations in the year-ago period. There was negative free cash flow during the quarter, too.

The shares of Vulcan Materials (VMC) have accelerated out of a low near $42, hence I'm removing my "stand aside" recommendation and I'm now confident that Vulcan can retake higher ground from here. I first wrote about Vulcan on June 3, 2009, at a price of $46.28.

Institutional investors have been cautious with Vulcan, a major producer of construction aggregates, asphalt and concrete, given the uneven start to the U.S. recovery.

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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) received an analyst's upgrade ahead of next week's Q4 earnings report.
• Acer Inc. reported its highest quarterly earnings in almost three years due in part to growth in shipments.
• Baidu Inc. (BIDU) swung to a better-than-expected Q4 profit, with strong revenue growth, and offered rosy guidance.
• Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) offered an upside surprise as well as full-year earnings above Wall Street estimates.
• Coinstar Inc. (CSTR) strong quarterly results and guidance, as well as litigation concerns, failed to inspire Wall Street.
• Coca-Cola Co. (KO) posted strong Q4 and full-year earnings results due to growth in emerging markets.

Vulcan Materials Company (VMC), a producer of construction aggregates, released Q4 earnings on Monday after the bell. Today, the market is weighing in on the numbers. It doesn't like them. At the time of this writing, shares of the company were down over 3% in afternoon trading, backed by strong volume.

Total revenues dropped 26%. Vulcan booked a loss of 10 cents per share from continuing operations. According to Earnings.com, a loss of 2 cents per share was expected.

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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) said its Q3 profit declined despite the popularity of Guitar Hero.
• Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) said Q3 revenue surged and its offered impressive cash flow numbers.
• Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) easily beat Q3 earnings estimates and raised its full-year guidance.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) lower Q1 results topped estimates and sent shares higher.
• Cognizant Technology Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was upgraded following its strong Q3 results.
• Corporate Executive Board (NASDAQ: EXBD) received an analyst's upgrade following the Q3 results.

Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) issued Q3 results late Monday. Total revenues decreased over 20%. Earnings from continuing operations dropped 29% to 38 cents per share. According to Earnings.com, this means that the company came in a penny ahead of estimates.

Going into yesterday's earnings report, shares of Vulcan Materials were pretty active. They increased over 2% to close at $47.12. Volume was above the norm. The market was obviously quite bullish on the stock.