MOST NOTEWORTHY: O'Reilly Automotive, Corning and Lincoln National were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• William Blair downgraded O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) to Market Perform from Outperform following weak Q1 results, citing the potential for further downward EPS revisions.
  
• Thomas Weisel downgraded Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) to Market Weight from Overweight citing balanced risk/reward given the backdrop of a maturing LCD penetration and generational upgrade cycle, and the challenging environment.
  
• Wachovia downgraded Lincoln National Corp. (NYSE: LNC) to Market Perform from Outperform as they believe the weak Q1 market weakness will impact profitability.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Smith International (NYSE: SII) was cut to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  
• Delphi Financial (NYSE: DFG) was downgraded at Friedman Billings to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• CIBC downgraded Biovail (NYSE: BVF) to Sector Performer from Sector Outperformer.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The auto parts retail sector, Electronics Arts (ERTS), Cinemark Holdings (CNK) and Monster Worldwide (MNST) were today's more noteworthy initiations:

• Wachovia initiated coverage on AutoZone (NYSE: AZO), Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) and O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) with Outperform ratings. The firm sees upside for AutoZone from share buybacks, Advance Auto Parts from improved cost control and margins, and O'Reilly Automotive from share gains and fundamental performance.

• First Albany started Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) with a Buy rating and sees significant upside in the first-half of 2008.

• BMO Capital started Cinemark (NYSE: CNK) with an Outperform rating, citing Cinemark's internal growth opportunities as well as its international opportunities in Latin America.

• American Tech started Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST) with a Neutral rating, saying fundamentals and the macro backdrop remain uncertain...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Bernstein initiated coverage on Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) with Outperform ratings and a $635 target and $39 target, respectively, and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), InterActive Corp (NASDAQ: IACI) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) with Market Perform ratings and a $65 target, $38 target and $29 target, respectively.

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