Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) is emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a new stock today, sans its old OTC "NWACQ" pink sheet ticker. The company is even ringing the opening bell on the NYSE this morning, in what is probably a "Welcome Back Cotter" moment.

The company's airline labor woes were until recently perhaps the most brutal out there, and the labor problems are not yet over. The airline will need to be careful now that it is outside of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because it won't have the 'we are broke and trying to stay afloat' argument any longer.

By some accounts, the top brass and managers will receive 5% of the new company and that is going to be a blow to the airline employees who are still fighting for higher wages and better benefits. Northwest no longer has the highest cost structure in the industry but it is still a higher structure than some legacy carriers and above that of most discount and regional carriers. The company is still gambling on a robust airline travel industry and a too-slow economy could begin to pinch the company again.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ), Tekay Offshore Partners LP (TOO), Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc (AUXL) and Northwest Airlines Corp (NWA) were today's more noteworthy initiations:

• Friedman Billings started Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) with an Outperform rating and $53 target.

• Teekay Offshore (NYSE: TOO) was initiated with a Hold rating and $30 target by Deutsche Bank based on valuation.

• Banc of America noted that if approved, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ: AUXL) lead candidate, AA4500, could become a first-in-class therapy, with an over-$800M sales potential in niche markets, with no competition. Bank of America started AUXL with a Buy rating and $22 target.

• Northwest Airlines (OTC: NWACQ) was initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Banc of America assumed coverage of Gilead Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) with a Buy rating and increased its target to $94 from $90. Banc of America also started Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ARNA), Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: AMLN) and Celgene Corp (NASDAQ: CELG) with Neutral ratings.

• Credit Suisse assumed coverage of RF Micro Devices, Inc (NASDAQ: RFMD) with an Outperform rating.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Burger King Holdings, Inc (BKC), Supertel Hospitality Inc (SPPR), OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc (OSIP), Brown-Forman Corp (BF.B) and NGAS Resources, Inc (NGAS) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• CIBC considers shares of Burger King Holdings (NYSE: BKC) to still be attractive and has above-consensus estimates, starting shares with an Sector Outperformer rating. The firm believes increased operating hours and breakfast value meals will drive results, while cost savings should help margins.

• JMP Securities believes there is plenty of room for growth at Supertel Hospitality (NASDAQ: SPPR) via acquisitions, leading to strong FFO upside, initiating shares with an Outperform rating and $8 target.

• ThinkEquity sees additional upside for Tarceva and started OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP) with a Buy rating and $50 target.

• AG Edwards believes Brown-Forman (NYSE: BF.B) is well-positioned to benefit from new trends in spirits and wine, starting shares with a Buy rating and $74 target.

• RBC Capital is positive on NGAS Resources' (NASDAQ: NGAS) growth potential and high quality assets, starting shares with an Outperform rating and $11 target...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) was started with a Market Perform rating at Keefe Bruyette.

• Oppenheimer started shares of Watsco, Inc (NYSE: WSO) with a Buy rating.

• ThinkEquity started Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc (NASDAQ: COLY) with an Accumulate rating and $10 target.

• Goldman initiated shares of Northwest Airlines Corp (OTC: NWACQ) with a Neutral rating and $26 target.

• Duetsche Bank initiated PPL Corp (NYSE: PPL) with a Buy rating and $51 target.

• Citigroup initiated Comverge, Inc (NASDAQ: COMV) with a Hold rating and $26 target.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Salesforce.com, Inc (CRM), Black & Decker Corp (BDK), GenVec, Inc (GNVC) and RightNow Technologies (RNOW) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• With customers wanting an alternative to Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) is making an attempt to be that alternative. It is rumored that management is in talks with Google (GOOG) about the two companies working together, a move that could include offering Google Apps via the AppExchange and integrating more closely those apps with Salesforce.com. Baird initiated shares of Salesforce.com with a Neutral rating and $49 target.

• Banc of America sees major headwinds from declining construction and slower consumer spending on housing and started shares of Black & Decker Corp (NYSE: BDK) with a Sell rating and $85 target.

• Merriman sees upside from strong mid- and late-stage clinical programs, key collaborations and potential for revenue generation, starting shares of GenVec (NASDAQ: GNVC) with a Buy rating.

• Baird finds Rightnow Technology (NASDAQ: RNOW) to be well-positioned within the customer service segment of the CRM market with above average L-T prospects and views the recent uncertainty as a buying opportunity. Baird started shares of RightNow with an Outperform rating and $19 target...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Jefferies initiated RadNet Inc (NASDAQ: RDNT) with a Buy rating.

• Lehman started Mobile Mini, Inc (NASDAQ: MINI) with an Equal Weight rating.

• Northwest Airlines Corp (OTC: NWACQ) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Goldman.

• Pacific Growth started shares of Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc (AMEX: JAV) with a Buy rating.

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

Northwest Airlines, (OTC: NWACQ), mired in Chapter 11 since last year, showed a dramatic improvement in 4th quarter earnings over the same period in 2005, losing only $7 million (after reorganization costs were subtracted) against $386 million in 4th Q 2005. Adding these reorganization costs, the total deficit was $267 million.

For the whole of 2006, the company was in the black, not counting reorganization costs, on pre-tax income by a margin of $301 million. With those costs, however, loses mounted to $2.8 billion. The company's relative success is attributed to a trimmed schedule of fuller flights at a higher per-passenger net, as well as better cost control, including decreased labor expenses as a result of renegotiated union contracts.

These results are especially positive in light of the increased fuel costs that so heavily impacted the industry in 2006. Earlier this week, the company joined other industry giants in testing a fare increase to compensate for the fuel cost increase, but it did not fly and was quickly rescinded.

According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Northwest will file a business plan next week for leaving Chapter 11 later this year.

The rumored merger discussions about a merger of Delta and Northwest seemed to die last month when U.S. Airways went after Delta. The merger of legacy airlines, however, seems inevitable.

Morningstar, among others, expresses considerable doubt however that, even combined, these companies will be able to compete with newer, more flexible airlines such as Southwest (NYSE: LUV), JetBlue or the new Skybus. With the market skepticism about the long-term prospects for Northwest, having a less abysmal 4th quarter in 2006 than the previous year may be progress, but is it enough to excite prospective investors?

Also check out some other earnings reports that we're following, and let us know what you're expecting.