As one quarter rolls over into the next, here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) beat fourth-quarter expectations and offered a positive outlook for fiscal 2009.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) beat Wall Street earnings estimates for the fourth quarter.
• Citi Trends Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) beat fourth-quarter estimates and offered a rosy outlook for fiscal 2009.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) swung to a fourth-quarter loss but beat estimates.
• Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO) beat second-quarter estimates but slashed its full-year outlook.
• Immucor Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUD) beat third-quarter expectations and offered a positive full-year outlook.
• Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) beat second-quarter expectations but the full-year outlook disappointed.
• Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) third-quarter earnings surged on strong demand and higher crop prices.
• Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) results on path to continue an 18-year earnings/revenue growth streak.
• Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) posted solid fourth-quarter results on strength of JBoss and other offerings.
• Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) fourth-quarter earnings and revenue more than doubled.
• Ruby Tuesday Inc. (NYSE: RT) third-quarter earnings beat low expectations; full-year outlook is bleak.
• Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHL) announced disappointing third-quarter results post-Harry Potter.
• UBS (NYSE: UBS) writes off $19 million for the first quarter and shows chairman the door.

Also, prospects look grim for some newspapers. The financial crisis in the U.S. prompted the IMF to cut its global growth forecast.

Upcoming results to watch for include Alcoa (NYSE: AA), Circuit City Stores (NYSE: CC), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), and General Electric (NYSE: GE).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Red Lion Hotels (RLH), Constellation Energy (CEP), Brinker Int'l (EAT), Nvidia (NVDA) and InfoSpace (INSP) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Red Lion Hotels (NYSE: RLH) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation, brand expansion progress and takeover potential.

• Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup based on higher cash flow expectations and valuation.

• JP Morgan upgraded Brinker (NYSE: EAT) to Overweight from Neutral, and sees potential upside from slower unit development and a possible Mac Grill sale.

• BMO Capital upgraded Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) to Outperform from Market Perform following a strong second quarter.

• Stanford upgraded InfoSpace (NASDAQ: INSP) to Hold from Sell on valuation; They consider the core online segments looks to be priced into the stock and downside support is given with tax credits and the cash balance...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Citigroup raised Cox Radio (NYSE: CXR) to Hold from Sell.

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of PepsiAmericas (NYSE: PAS) to Neutral from Underweight.

• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Emulex (NYSE: ELX) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) was raised to Buy from Hold at Gabelli.

• Seagate (NYSE: STX) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Amazon.com (AMZN), YRC Worldwide (YRCW), SanDisk (SNDK), Activision (ATVI), Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) and KB Home (KBH) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• BWS Financial cut Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares to Sell from Hold on valuation.

• YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) was assumed with an Underweight rating, down from Neutral, as JP Morgan is cautious on the industry's L-T-L pricing.

• UBS downgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Neutral from Buy on valuation.

• Gabelli downgraded shares of Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) to Hold from Buy to reflect their expectation of increasing competition for some of the company's key titles.

• Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at HSBC on valuation.

• Matrix believes the prolonged weakness in the housing market is eliminating economic profits and cut KB Home (NYSE: KBH) to Strong Sell from Sell...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Citigroup and ABN Amro cut Rio Tinto Group (NYSE: RTP) to Hold from Buy.

• Merrill Lynch downgraded J.M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM) to Sell from Neutral.

• First Albany downgraded shares of Travelzoo (NASDAQ: TZOO) to Neutral from Buy.

• Matrix downgraded Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) to Hold from Buy.

• AG Edwards downgraded Aetna (NYSE: AET) to Hold from Buy.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Career Education Corp (CECO) and Expedia Inc (EXPE) were today's most notable downgrades:

• Prudential downgraded Career Education Corp (NASDAQ: CECO) to Underweight from Neutral with a $20 target based fourth quarter results and guidance.

• Expedia inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) was downgraded to Sector Performer from Sector Outperformer based on a deteriorating outlook and valuation following the weak fourth quarter.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Various retail dining companies were downgraded today:
  
• Denny's Corp (NASDAQ: DENN) was reduced to Neutral from Buy at Merriman, citing weak traffic trends and the net unit growth delay into 2008.
• UBS downgraded Applebee's Int'l Inc (NASDAQ: APPB) to Neutral from Buy as they believe sales and traffic declines are likely to continue until easier comps in the second quarter.
  
• BB&T downgraded California Pizza Kitchen Inc (NASDAQ: CPKI) to Hold from Buy on valuation and concerns about earnings visibility.
  

• Constellation Brands Inc (NYSE: STZ) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs on concerns around upcoming guidance and their belief that a recovery in the U.K. and Australia is at least a year away.
  

• Goldman downgraded WellCare Health Plans Inc (NYSE: WCG) to Sell from Neutral.
  

• Citigroup downgraded Petrobras Energia Participaciones ADS (NYSE: PZE) and Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: CNSL) to Sell from Hold.
  

• WedBush downgraded Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) to Sell from Hold with a $15 target to reflect less optimism about the company's sport franchise and risk from the NY AG investigation.

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