Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded SAP (NYSE: SAP) to Buy from Hold on expectations license declines will trough in Q2 and margins will expand going forward due to cost control and price increases. The firm has a $46 price target on shares.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) to Buy from Underperform on expectations the company will benefit from improving industry fundamentals in 2010.
• Citigroup upgraded Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) to Buy from Hold to reflect the firm's positive copper outlook, as well as valuation following the recent pullback in shares. The firm has a $58 price target on the stock.
• Phototronics (NASDAQ: PLAB) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) was raised to Hold from Sell at RBS.
• Peabody Energy (NASDAQ: BTU) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) to Market Weight from Underweight. Thomas Weisel said they are less negative on the outlook for memory industry dynamics but they do expect SanDisk shares to be range bound.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) to Buy from Hold as they believe Hershey is benefiting from increased advertising spending and the consumer trade-down to less expensive chocolate. The firm maintains a $39 target on the stock.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) to Buy from Holdas they believe the company will be a beneficiary from the Circuit City liquidation.
• Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) and Virgin Media (NASDAQ:VMED) were raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) was upgraded at KeyBanc to Buy from Hold.

Analyst downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded Kellogg (NYSE:K) to Hold from Buy as they believe the company's U.S. trends are decelerating and that FX trends will have a negative impact. The firm lowered their target price to $47 from $58.
  
• Jefferies downgraded Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) to Hold from Buy following Eclipsys' (NASDAQ:ECLP) negative pre-announcement as they believe both companies are suffering from a downturn in hospital spending. Jefferies lowered their target on Cerner to $38 from $51.
  
• Oppenheimer cut Amdocs (DOX) to Perform from Outperform following the weak Q1 results citing lack of near-term catalysts and the macroeconomic slowdown.
• Eclipsys (NASDAQ:ECLP)was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies and to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  
• PetSmart (NASDAQ:PETM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) was lowered to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst initiations:

• Wunderlich initiated Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) with a Buy rating and $30 target and believes the company should enjoy sustainable pricing leverage following the merger with Waste Management.
  
• RBC Capital initiated Elan Corp (NYSE:ELN) with an Underperform rating and $4 target based on Tysabri uncertainty, bapineuzumab clinical risk, MS competition, and debt overhang.
  
• Oppenheimer expects Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) to become an aggressive acquirer of financially distressed biotech companies with the completion of the acquisition of Pharmacopeia. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating and $5 target.
• Zebra Tech (NASDAQ:ZBRA) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $25 target at JP Morgan.
  
• Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) was reinitiated at Friedman Billings with an Outperform rating and $14 target.
  
• Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was assumed with a Hold rating at Jesup & Lamont.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Solarfun Power, BioMarin Pharmaceutical and Genentech were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Jefferies initiated Solarfun Power (NASDAQ:SOLF) with a Buy rating and $18 target. The firm believes the one-third stake purchased by Good Energies and new management hires could generate operational momentum and that declining silicon costs may help margins.
  
• BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN) was started at Oppenheimer with a Perform rating. The firm recommends waiting for Street estimates on Kuvan sales to moderate and for positive pipeline signals before adding to positions.
  
• Genentech (NYSE:DNA) was initiated at Citigroup with a Buy rating and $91 target. The firm believes several studies could lead to robust growth and points out the company's Q2 results showed Avastin reaccelerating due to growth in breast cancer.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Goldman reinstated Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Zebra Tech (NASDAQ:ZBRA) was initiated with a Hold rating at KeyBanc.
  
• Rodman & Renshaw assumed coverage of Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORT) with an Outperform rating and $8 target.
  
• AuthenTec (NASDAQ:AUTH) was initiated at JP Morgan with an Overweight rating and at Canaccord Adams with a Hold rating and $10 target.

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA) provides printers, supplies and software used to produce bar codes, text and graphics on labels, cards, receipts, tickets and tags. It also makes EPC-compatible radio frequency identification (RFID) smart label printers/encoders for firms required to comply with major retail and government mandates. The company's products are used by businesses and governments in over 100 countries around the world, including more than 90% of the firms in the Fortune 500. Major clients include AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB).

The Street was surprised late last month, when the company reported Q4 EPS of 45 cents and revenues of $233.6 million. Analysts had been looking for 43 cents and $226 million. Management also guided Q1 EPS to 36-44 cents (42 cent consensus) and Q1 revenues to $238-$255 million ($232.78M consensus). The Board authorized the purchase of an additional three million common shares.

Optical bar codes are on most of the products we buy in stores these days, and there is a firm in Vernon Hills, Illinois, that is a leader in making the machines that create the codes. The same company also provides the machines that make the radio frequency labels that are replacing barcodes.

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA) provides printers, supplies and software used to produce bar codes, text and graphics on labels, cards, receipts, tickets and tags. It also makes EPC-compatible radio frequency identification (RFID) smart label printers/encoders for firms required to comply with major retail and government mandates. The company's products are used by businesses and governments in 100 countries around the world, including ninety percent of the firms in the Fortune 500. Major clients include AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB).

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).