MOST NOTEWORTHY: Circuit City, Best Buy, COTT Corp and o2 Micro were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Wachovia started shares of Circuit City Stores Inc (NYSE: CC) with a Market Perform rating, citing low visibility into near-term fundamentals and low conviction in EPS.
• The firm also started shares of Best Buy Incorporated (NYSE: BBY) with a Market Perform rating, citing low visibility into holiday sales and product margin trends and valuation.
• Gabelli started COTT Corporation (NYSE: COT) with a Hold rating, as they believe the company's Q3 was disappointing. The firm thinks COTT lacks pricing power, and would look for margin improvement and successful non-carbonated soft drink penetration from the company before recommending the stock
• Thomas Weisel started shares of o2 Micro International Limited (NASDAQ: OIIM) with an Overweight rating and $24 target. The firm believes the company is in good position to compete in the high growth markets of power management, advanced lighting and security and surveillance

• Goldman started shares of Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY) with a Buy rating and VeriFone Holdings, Inc (NYSE: PAY) and Total System Services Inc (NYSE: TSS) with Neutral ratings.
• Gasco Energy Inc (AMEX: GSX) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Morgan Keegan.
• Morgan Joseph resumed coverage of Stage Stores Inc (NYSE: SSI) with a Hold rating.

Analyst initiations: CC, BBY, COT and OIIM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Prudential upgraded shares of BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) to Neutral from Underweight with a $50 target to reflect capacity expansion in uranium mining and increasing demand for iron ore from China.
• Bank of America upgraded Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ: AMAT) to Buy from Neutral with a $25 target as the firm believes the company's solar power equipment market is accelerating faster than estimates and guidance.
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) was upgraded to Neutral from Reduce at UBS citing limited downside to the shares.
• Oracle Corp (NASDAQ: ORCL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, where its coverage was transferred to another analyst.

• Credit Suisse added Rite Aid Corp (NYSE: RAD) to its U.S. Focus List.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded O2Micro International Ltd (NADAQ: OIIM) to Overweight from Equal-Weight based on the company's announcement of a settlement with Samsung.
• Wachovia added Lehman Brothers Holdings (NYSE: LEH) to its Focus List. Due to Lehman's record banking fee backlog of $1.03 billion in Q1, the firm believes their banking estimate is "quite conservative."
• Continental Airlines, Inc (NYSE: CAL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at FTN Midwest citing the surprisingly strong March unit revenue growth for the upgrade.
• Bear Stearns upgraded Vodafone PLC (NYSE: VOD) to Peer Perform from Underperform.

Analyst upgrades 4-10-07: AMAT, AMD, ORCL & RAD upgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Pali Capital upgraded shares of Warner Music Group Corp (NYSE: WMG) on valuation.

• Matrix USA upgraded Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc (NASDAQ: RRGB) to Hold from Sell on valuation.

• Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK.A) was upgraded to In Line from Underperform at Fox-Pitt, Kelton.

• UBS upgraded ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMHY) to Buy from Neutral as the firm believes the company will be a significant beneficiary of the acceleration in 3G handset adoption in 2007.

• Wachovia upgraded Pactiv Corp (NYSE: PTV) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation.

• Baird raised Patterson Companies (NASDAQ: PDCO) rating to Outperform from Neutral.

• BMO Capital raised UCBH Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: UCBH) rating to Outperform from to Market Perform.

• O2Micro International Ltd (NASDAQ: OIIM) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Oppenheimer citing a possible near-term court settlement with Samsung, which provides significant earnings leverage.

Analyst upgrades 3-29-07: Berkshire Hathaway & Warner Music Group upgraded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.