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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVID) sees strong Q1 results driven by Guitar Hero.
• Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ATI) raised its Q2 earnings guidance ahead of its report.
• Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) strong Q4 and full-year results included a record quarterly revenue.
• Citigroup (NYSE: C) posted better-than-expected results despite a big loss on further write-downs.
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) reported better-than-expected results and offered a soft outlook (see transcript).
• Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) posted strong Q2 earnings despite the housing slump but lower revenues.
• Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) posted strong Q2 results on expansion in Mexico and China.
• Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) beat Q2 expectations despite profit and revenue declines.
• International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) easily topped Wall Street earnings expectations.
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) beat Q2 estimates and raised its full-year forecast (see transcript).
• Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) warned of lower Q2 earnings due to energy and distribution costs.
• Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) reported worse-than-expected Q2 results on further write downs.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) earnings surged but investors were put off by its full-year guidance.
• Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) reaffirmed its guidance following the Kimberly-Clark warnings.
• United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) beat Q2 estimates, lifting shares from a recent 52-week low.
• ValueClick Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) posted weak results and warned about the second half of the year.

For more highlights from this week, see: Google, Intel, JPMorgan, Coca-Cola, Nokia and others

The earnings crunch continues next week. Among companies scheduled to report are Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Texas Intruments (NYSE: TXN), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Wachovia (NYSE: WB), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Hershey (NYSE: HSY), and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Earnings highlights: Citigroup, eBay, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Neutral from Buy on integration issues, as the firm does not expect a sales recovery before Q3.

• JP Morgan cut both AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK) to Underweight from Neutral on valuation.

• RBC downgraded Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) to Sector Perform from Outperform; following Motorola's pre-announcement, the firm expects shares to trade sideways for the balance of the year.

• Bank Of America downgraded Aeropostale, Inc (NYSE: ARO) to Neutral from Buy with a $42 target based on valuation.

• RF Micro Devices, Inc (NASDAQ: RFMD) was cut to Sector Perform from Outperform at CIBC citing the risk from Motorola; the firm believes RFMD's story outside of Motorola remains strong and consistent but sees downside to FY08 targets given MOT's contribution to RFMD's top line.

• Raymond James downgraded Yamana Gold Inc (NYSE: AUY) to Outperform from Strong Buy. UBS also downgraded Yamana to Reduce from Neutral.

• Citigroup cut Allegheny Energy, Inc (NYSE: AYE) to Hold from Buy with a $53 target.

• Lehman downgraded International Rectifier Corp (NYSE: IRF) to Equal Weight from Overweight and a $40 target.

• Raytheon Co (NYSE: RTN) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman based on valuation.

Analyst downgrades 3-22-07: Aeropostale, Motorola & Alcatel-Lucent downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 11:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Merrill Lynch reinstated Broadcom Corp (NASDAQ: BRCM) with a Buy rating and $42 target to reflect the company's secular growth story.

• Thomas Weisel started American Medical Systems Holdings (NASDAQ: AMMD) with an Overweight rating and $16 target; the firm says American Medical is a leader in surgical urology and gynecology and sees upside from the company's full pipeline.

• NaviSite inc (NASDAQ: NAVI) was initiated with a Market Weight rating at Thomas Weisel.

• Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp (NYSE: MRX) was initiated with a Buy rating and $45 target at Jefferies.

• Soleil initiated Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: AMLN) with a Hold rating.

• DA Davidson started Allegheny Technologies Inc (NYSE: ATI) with a Buy rating.

Analyst initiations 2-09-07: Broadcom started with a Buy at Merrill Lynch originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 11:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer loves Allegheny and slaps Lee Scott of Wal-Mart originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer sticking with Allegheny Tech (ATI) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Allegheny Tech (ATI) and Bell Microproducts (BELM) top today's minuscule upgrade list.

• Allegheny Technologies Inc (NYSE: ATI) was upgraded by Merrill Lynch to Buy from Neutral, citing expectations for continued earnings momentum from a strong demand in titanium.
• Robert W. Baird upgraded Bell Microproducts Inc (NASDAQ: BELM) to Outpeform from Neutral, citing citing strong European demand and improving hard drive datapoint at enterprise resellers and distributors.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Express Scripts Inc (NASDAQ: ESRX) was upgraded by Matrix USA to Buy from Hold based on high demand
• Longbow Research upgraded Rohm and Haas Co. (NYSE: ROH) to Buy from Neutral.

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

Analyst upgrades 10-11-06: Allegheny and Bell Microproducts upgraded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.