The shares of specialty vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp. (OSK), first discussed here on July 6, 2009, at a price of $21.48, continued to head north this winter, vaulting from $28 to $40, before pulling back to $34. I still like the operation at this stage.

However, if you're in to Oshkosh near $21.48, now may be a good time to consider taking some profits. But those investors who can tolerate the risk can maintain their full position and go for an even bigger gain, as OSK is likely to push toward $50 by the end of 2011.

Analyst Upgrades

• Home Depot (HD) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Delta Air Lines (DAL) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Heico (HEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• MB Financial (MBFI) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Quest Diagnostics (DGX) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Oshkosh (OSK) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Volterra (VLTR) and Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Cytec Industries (CYT) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Specialty vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp. (OSK), first discussed here on July 6, 2009, at a price of $21.48, has rebounded in the past five months to about $36, after declining in bear-hug fashion in the first half of 2010 to about $24.

And given the roller-coaster pattern, if you're in near $21.48 with OSK, now may be a good time to consider taking some profits.

The shares of specialty vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp. (OSK), first discussed here on July 6, 2009 at a price of $21.48, totally misbehaved this summer -- forming a bear-hug pattern, during a swoon from about $45 to about $25.

Talk about haircuts. Since then, the shares have rebounded to about $31, and even though the bears will argue the rise is short-covering, the calculation here is that it's not, and OSK will continue to head north. And the reasons are obvious enough.

The earnings crunch continues this week, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating lots of strong quarterly reports.

For example, year-over-year earnings growth from big oil Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), ExxonMobil (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) are expected to be in double digits. The same is true of many other energy and mining concerns reporting this week: Allegheny Technologies (ATI), Alliant Energy (LNT), Arch Coal (ACI), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), CMS Energy (CMS), CONSOL Energy (CNX), DPL (DPL), Hess Corp. (HES), Minerals Technologies (MTX), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), PPL Corp. (PPL), Southwestern Energy (SWN), Total (TOT), Whiting Petroleum (WLL), Williams Companies (WMB) and Wisconsin Energy (WEC).

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded Oshkosh (OSK) to outperform from neutral, citing valuation as it believes post-Iraq U.S. military spending concerns are overdone. The firm keeps a $42 price target for shares.
• Goldman transferred coverage on CenturyTel (CTL) with a buy from a neutral and has a $42 price target on the stock. The firm believes CenturyTel could increase buybacks and or increase its dividend given free cash generation and low payout ratio.
• Lazard Capital upgraded Hatteras Financial (HTS) to buy from hold to reflect increased dividend projections. The firm has a $30 price target for shares.
• EOG Resources (EOG) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Donaldson (DCI) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Yet another piece of good news has surfaced from heavy truck and tactical vehicle manufacturer, Oshkosh Corp. (OSK). In a press release Wednesday, Oshkosh revealed that it has been awarded a $600 million contract to construct and refurbish 1900 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck A-4 vehicles for the Army's TACOM Life Cycle Management Command. Additionally, Oshkosh must produce 530 specialized material transport trailers.

Oshkosh expects to begin delivering on the contract as soon as next month, and the workload could last until October of 2011. Trailer production is expected to begin in June 2011 and finish in October of that same year.

The shares of specialty vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp. (OSK), first discussed here on July 6, 2009 at a price of $21.48, have declined about 20% from a 2010 high, in-sync with the Dow's spring retreat, but I still like the shares, for the following reasons.

First, in addition to Oshkosh's large, ongoing M-ATV contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, the company's access equipment order backlog continues to rise.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Varian Semi (VARI) to buy from hold following the company's Q2 results and raised its target for shares to $42 from $27.
• Baird upgraded CommScope (CTV) to outperform from neutral following the Q1 report, citing improved visibility and growth. The firm raised its price target to $39 from $28.
• Needham upgraded Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) to strong buy from buy. The firm is more positive on the stock following the company's Q1 results and keeps a $13 price target.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• UBS (UBS) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.

Ignore the static: it's still a good time to consider shares of specialty vehicle maker Oshkosh Corp. (OSK), which I first wrote about on July 6, 2009 at a price of $21.48.

The static? Two competitors protesting Oshkosh's win of a U.S. Army contract for 2,568 trucks, with the possibility of supplying as many as 23,000 vehicles and trailers under a five-year contract.

Defense firm Oshkosh Corporation (OSK) is wallowing in red ink, after Barron's published a downbeat article on the company over the weekend. After securing a $3 billion, five-year Army contract, the author warns that "Oshkosh may have won the battle but lost the war."

The main thrust of the article appears to be an argument against further price appreciation for OSK, which has "gained 448% over the past 12 months based on a booming military business," according to Barron's. Plus, Tom Harenburg, a longtime investor in the company, adds that profit margins on the Army deal "are meager."

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded PNC Financial (PNC) to buy from hold on valuation as it believes the recent pullback in shares provides a buying opportunity. The firm raised its target on shares to $57 from $45.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Expedia (EXPE) to buy from hold on valuation as it finds the risk/reward on shares attractive following the company's Q4 results and believes revenue margin concerns are overblown. The firm has a $27 price target on the stock.
• Jesup & Lamont upgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) to hold from sell following the company's Q4 results to reflect its improving traffic trends. The firm raised its target on shares to $96 from $81. Shares were also upgraded at BofA/Merrill to buy from neutral.
• Rio Tinto (RTP) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• FirstEnergy (FE) was upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• Marriott (MAR) was upgraded to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.

The logic and reasoning behind the July 6, 2009, Oshkosh Corporation (OSK) buy call at $21.48 is obvious enough: a nice U.S. Department of Defense contract win, and that's also a major reason I'm reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares. If you bought OSK in July 2009, you're up an impressive 80%.

In 2009, the company won two contracts totaling $2.1 billion work from the U.S. Army to fund production of 3,944 MRAP all-terrain vehicles for the Afghanistan War.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to buy from hold, citing EPS and revenue momentum heading into 2010. The firm raised its target to $25 from $22.
• Soleil upgraded Zions Bancorp (ZION) to buy from hold on valuation as it believes the recent pullback provides an attractive entry point. The firm has a $17.50 price target on shares.
• RBC Capital expects Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL) to sign a partnership for R788 in the next four months to run its global Phase III program. Shares were upgraded to outperform from sector perform and its target was raised to $11 from $9.
• Deere (DE) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Shire (SHPGY) was raised to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Ann Taylor (ANN) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.
• J.M. Smucker (SJM) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK), first recommended on July 6, 2009 at a price of $21.48. If you bought OSK in July, you're up more than 55%.

The Buy call regarding Oshkosh, as they say, is not based on rocket science: it's based on the U.S. Department of Defense.