One of the big themes in technology for 2010 has been the scramble to buy up data storage companies. Perhaps the most interesting transaction was the bidding war for 3Par. HP (HPQ) paid a premium price to beat out Dell (DELL).

As margins on PCs and laptops continue to fall, the large computer makers are trying to find ways to boost margins. And data storage products are a key way to do this.

Analyst Upgrades

• Procter & Gamble (PG) upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Capital One (COF) upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Airgas (ARG) upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Broadcom (BRCM) upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Lululemon (LULU) upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• DryShips (DRYS) upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Analyst Upgrades

• BB&T (BBT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.
• Amylin (AMLN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Morton's Restaurant (MRT) to outperform from market perform.
• Check Point (CHKP) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Excel Maritime (EXM) to buy from hold.
• JinkoSolar (JKS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Compellent (CML) to overweight from neutral.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Crane (CR) to buy from neutral.
• Goldman upgraded Wisconsin Energy (WEC) to conviction buy from buy and American Electric (AEP) to buy from neutral.
• Motorola (MOT) was upgraded due to increasing carrier support by MKM Partners.
• Under Armour (UA) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

Just when the American consumer is about to throw in the proverbial towel on the economic recovery, Dell Inc. (DELL) and Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) erupt into a classic black-heart-of-capitalism, knock down, drag out, donnybrook of a bidding war over data warehousing upstart 3PAR, Inc. (PAR), a Silicon Valley-based company that is an early entrant in the much-ballyhooed cloud computing, virtualization, optimization revolution. Damn the consumer, business is business!

So in the wake of the 3PAR bidding war, which tech stocks are on the auction block as the next buyout targets?