Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) to Buy from Sell and added shares to its Conviction Buy List citing valuation. The firm also upgraded the Semiconductor Capital Equipment Sector to Attractive.
  
• Morgan Keegan believes Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) will emerge from the slowdown as a stronger company with greater market share and expansion into adjacent markets. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform.
• Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
  
• Daimler (NYSE: DAI) was upgraded at UBS to Neutral from Sell.
• Friedman Billings upgraded Mariner Energy (NYSE: ME) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation and the company's upcoming catalysts in the deepwater GOM.
• Swiss Reinsurance (OTC: SWCEY) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

Analyst downgrades:

• Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
• Deutsche Bank cut Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) and Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) to Hold from Buy and Suncor (NYSE: SU) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) to Sell from Hold after cutting their oil price forecast for 2009 to $60/bbl and 2010 to $58/bbl.
  
• Merrill downgraded Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) to Neutral from Buy on expectations the company's coatings end markets will worsen and chemicals division will see pressure next year.
• Monster (NASDAQ: MNST) was lowered at Citigroup to Hold from Buy.

Wall Street's optimism in last week's preview about the earnings of tech stocks wasn't misplaced, as there were many more positive surprises than negative ones among the stocks we looked at. This week will bring plenty more data for investors in and watchers of the sector to mull over. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), for example, are expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to post modest earnings gains from a year ago, to $1.11 per share (on $8.1 billion in sales), $0.72 per share (on $31.3 billion in sales), and $0.47 per share (on $14.8 billion in sales) respectively. All three of these companies ended the week closer to their 52-week lows than highs, and analysts on average consider them each a buy.

Here's a look at some of the week's biggest expected earnings gainers and decliners in the sector:

• Baidu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU): $1.25 per share (+44.0%) on revenues of $134.7 million (+103.2%)
• Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM): $0.44 per share (+38.6%) on revenues of $1.3 billion (+33.8%)
• QLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC): $0.31 per share (+29.0%) on revenues of $170.0 million (+21.2%)
• FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR): $0.32 per share (+28.1%) on revenues of $275.2 million (+44.0%)
• Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR): $0.30 per share (+26.7%) on revenues of $927.4 million (+26.2%)
• Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT): $0.75 per share (+17.3%) on revenues of $391.6 million (+11.1%)
• Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX): $0.29 per share (+17.2%) on revenues of $8.7 billion (+57.3%)
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC): $0.19 per share (+10.5%) on revenues of $3.7 billion (+12.9%)

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of National City (NYSE: NCC) to Outperform from Perform on valuation as they believe the bank is not seeing a mass exodus of depositors.
  
• Wachovia upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure (NYSE: BIP) to Outperform from Market Perform due to what the firm sees as the company's solid cash flow growth outlook, strong balance sheet, and discounted valuation.
  
• Baird upgraded Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) to Outperform from Neutral citing valuation and improving 2009 prospects from 8800, 8600, and 7100 products and better Opex management..
• Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen.
  
• UBS raised Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Borg-Warner (NYSE: BWA) was raised to Buy from Hold at Keybanc.

Analyst downgrades:

• Merriman downgraded shares of TheStreet.com (NASDAQ: TSCM) and Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) to Neutral from Buy to reflect concerns about display advertising trends and the company's above average exposure to the financial vertical.
  
• Baird downgraded Monaco Coach (NYSE: MNC) to Neutral from Outperform and Thor Industries (NYSE: THO) and Winnebago Industries (NYSE: WGO) to Underperform from Neutral citing valuations and checks that indicate "dreadful" fundamentals.
  
• RBC Capital downgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Sector Perform from Outperform citing weakening consumer spending, reduced visibility, and risks to valuation. The company's target was lowered to $140 from $200.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Marvel Entertainment (MVL), AutoZone (AZO), Home Depot (HD), Molson Coors (TAP) and Semtech (SMTC) were some of today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Matrix upgraded Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) to Buy from Hold as they don't think the company's improving performance is reflected in its falling stock price. They think Marvel represents a good entry point at current levels.

• Kevin Dann upgraded shares of AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) to Buy from Hold on valuation and highlighted their belief that AutoZone may not be seeing as much sales weakness as investors expect. They recommend taking advantage of the recent share weakness and raised their target to $135 from $125.

• Gabelli recommends Home Depot (NYSE: HD) as a long-term buy with a $43 target, upgraded shares from Hold, with the Supply division uncertainty now eliminated. They view the sale positively, even at the lower price.

• JP Morgan upgraded Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) to Overweight from Neutral, and believes Molson will monetize its solid balance sheet and free-cash flow yield to benefit the shareholders. They also consider valuation to be attractive.

• Semtech (NASDAQ: SMTC) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair following the strong Q2 report and outlook...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) was upgraded to Market Outperform from Market Perform at Avondale.

• Longbow raised TTM Technologies (NASDAQ: TTMI) to Buy from Neutral.

• Breen Murray raised to Intevac (NASDAQ: IVAC) to Hold from Sell.

• Stifel upgraded Arch Capital (NASDAQ: ACGL) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Toyota Motor Corp (TM), J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), SourceFire (FIRE), Kohl's Corp (KSS) and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (MLNM) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM) to Buy from Neutral to reflect expectations for greater operating profits and margin expansion in 2007.

• Keybanc upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Buy from Hold based on increased conviction in JBHT's ability to increase intermodal volumes, easier 2H and 2008 comps, buybacks and valuation.

• Jefferies upgraded SourceFire Inc (NASDAQ: FIRE) to Buy from Hold after their checks indicated better Federal IT spending and solid sales activity.

• Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird on valuation.

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MLNM) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings, citing recent monthly Velcade prescription trends for the move higher...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ: ACGL) to Buy from Neutral.

• Bear Stearns raised Parexel International Corp (NASDAQ: PRXL) to Peer Perform from Underperform.

• Morgan Joseph upgraded West Marine (NASDAQ: WMAR) to Buy from Hold.

• Morgan Keegan raised Cost Plus Inc (NASDAQ: CPWM) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).