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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) lower Q3 results still topped expectations and sent shares higher.
• Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) posted much better-than-expected Q4 earnings, the first profit in a year.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) received an analyst's downgrade due to concerns over its earnings prospects.
• Blackstone Group (BX) received an analyst's upgrade following the company's Q3 results.
• Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) widened its net loss in Q3 and revenue and same-stores sales declined.
• Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE) shares declined after its Q3 numbers fell short of expectations.
• Consolidated Water Co. Inc. (CWCO) earnings prospects for 2010 earned it an analyst upgrade.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Aeropostale (ARO) to neutral from sell. The firm, which has a $34 target on the stock, cites the recent sell-off in shares for the upgrade.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Consolidated Water (CWCO) to buy from neutral on valuation and on expectations the company's earnings will recover in 2010. The firm has a $15 target on the stock.
• Wunderlich upgraded Transmontaigne Partners (TLP) to buy from hold on valuation as it believes the sell-off on the company's Q3 results is overdone. The firm keeps a $26.50 price target on the stock.
• Mobile TeleSystems (MBT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• HSBC (HBC) was raised to buy from hold at Societe Generale.
• Redwood Trust (RWT) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.

After the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, the earnings spotlight turns to Canadian banks: Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) are all scheduled to report their second-quarter results.

While banks north of the border of generally have held up better than their U.S. counterparts, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the four listed above to report that earnings declined between 20% and 30% since the same period of last year. All four have P/E ratios around 10, and they are paying dividends. Shares of all four have surged 50% to 83% in the past three months, but are still 26% to 38% lower than a year ago.

• Citigroup upgraded Patriot Coal (NYSE: PCX) to Hold from Sell on easing credit and liquidity concerns following the company's guidance. The firm raised its target on the stock to $7.50 from $4.
  
• UBS upgraded Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $90 from $65 as they expect pent-up replacement demand in enterprise to drive 2010 estimates higher and for the consumer smartphone opportunity to grow in 2009 and 2010.
  
• Goldman upgraded Suncor (NYSE: SU) to Conviction Buy from Sell and raised their target to $33 from $25 citing their bullish view on crude oil for 2H09 and 2010 and in the company's ability to lower operating and capital costs in the oil sands region.
• Canadian National (CNI) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Applied Micro Circuits (NASDAQ: AMCC) was lifted at Oppenheimer to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.

Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) is a leading producer and marketer of packaged bakery foods for retail and foodservice customers. The firm's Bakeries division makes bread, rolls, buns and other bakery items for distribution throughout the southern U.S. Its Specialty division makes snack cakes and frozen bread products for retail and vending customers nationwide. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Cobblestone Mill, Sunbeam, Blue Bird, and Mrs. Freshley's. Clients include Burger King (NYSE: BKC) and Wendy's International (NYSE: WEN).

Flowers Foods surprised the Street late last month, when it reported Q4 EPS of 23 cents and revenues of $473.7 million. Analysts had been expecting 21 cents and $468.8 million. Management also guided FY08 EPS to $1.07-$1.17 ($1.12 consensus) and FY08 revenues to $2.21-$2.258 billion ($2.2B consensus).

As some folks may not realize, most of the food products we see in the grocery store are provided for us by a relatively limited number of firms. On the bakery side, one of the big outfits is an 88-year-old company headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia.

Flowers Foods (NYSE: FLO) is a leading producer and marketer of packaged bakery foods for retail and foodservice customers. The firm's Bakeries division makes bread, rolls, buns and other bakery items for distribution throughout the southern U.S. Its Specialty division makes snack cakes and frozen bread products for retail and vending customers nationwide. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Cobblestone Mill, Sunbeam, Blue Bird and Mrs. Freshley's. Clients include Burger King (NYSE: BKC) and Wendy's International (NYSE: WEN).

Flowers Foods surprised Wall Street earlier in the month, when it reported Q3 EPS of 24 cents and revenues of $475.2 million. Analysts had been expecting 22 cents and $472.2 million. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $0.98-$1.02 (98 cent consensus), FY07 revenues to $2.027-$2.034 billion ($2.03B consensus), FY08 EPS to $1.07-$1.17 ($1.09 consensus) and FY08 revenues to $2.20-$2.258 billion ($2.16B consensus). The FLO share price popped through major moving average resistance on the news and has since been defining a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling on entry. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with five "strong buys," one "buy" and three "holds." The FLO Price to Sales ratio (1.03), Price to Book ratio (3.20), Price to Cash Flow ratio (12.91), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (20.07) and EPS Growth rate (26.32%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutional investors hold about 69% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $17.37 and $23.71. A stop-loss of $19.50 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.