Analyst Upgrades

• Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Leap Wireless (LEAP) and MetroPCS (PCS) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Illumina (ILMN) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Sun Bancorp (SNBC) to neutral from sell at Janney Capital.
• American Tower (AMT), SBA Communications (SBAC) and Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Yesterday's announcement of the AT&T (T) and T-Mobile deal gives both companies a clear "win" in the telecommunications sector. Who are the "losers"?

The tower companies have experienced downward pressure today, with American Tower (AMT) currently trading down over 8%, SBA Communications (SBAC) currently down over 10%, and Crown Castle International (CCI) currently hovering down almost 5%.

Niche mobile play MetroPCS Communications (PCS), first discussed here on December 21, 2009, at a price of $7.55, is positioning itself for play-of-the-year -- and it's only March. The shares have risen another 15% this year to about $15, and I obviously still like the business model.

Last fall, MetroPCS powered through key, psychological resistance at $10, and this winter put it in the rear-view mirror, testing $15 before pulling back slightly.

There has been more progress with niche mobile play MetroPCS Communications (PCS), first discussed here on December 21, 2009, at a price of $7.55.

Last autumn, MetroPCS powered through key, psychological resistance at $10, and this winter put it in the rear-view mirror, testing $14 before pulling back slightly, and I obviously still like the shares here.

Note: I consider MetroPCS to be a high-risk stock not suitable for low/moderate-risk investors.

Analyst Upgrades

• Diamond Offshore (DO) to conviction buy from sell and Baker Hughes (BHI) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Frontier Communications (FTR) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Syntel (SYNT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo, to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank and to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) and Fiserv (FISV) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• 3M (MMM) to neutral from underweight and Tyco (TYC) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Collective Brands (PSS) and Nordstrom (JWN) to overweight from equal weight, as well as Foot Locker (FL) to equal weight from underweight, at Morgan Stanley.
• Amazon.com (AMZN) to buy from hold at Lazard Capital.
• Yamana Gold (AUY) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Analyst Upgrades

• Intel (INTC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Wells Fargo upgraded MetroPCS (PCS), Coventry Health (CVH) and Scientific Games (SGMS) to outperform from market perform.
• Estee Lauder (EL) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Simon Property (SPG) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Citigroup upgraded BreitBurn Energy (BBEP) to buy from hold.

Analyst Upgrades

• State Street (STT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Roth Capital upgraded Intel (INTC), Marvell Technology (MRVL) and Nvidia (NVDA) to buy from neutral.
• Bebe Stores (BEBE) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.
• W&T Offshore (WTI) was upgraded to buy from accumulate at Global Hunter.
• Citigroup upgraded International Rectifier (IRF) and Timberland (TBL) to hold from sell.
• Watson Pharma (WPI) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Atmel (ATML) was upgraded to strong buy from buy at Needham.
• Ashford Hospitality (AHT) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Oppenheimer upgraded MetroPCS (PCS) to outperform from perform.

One rule of stock investing is you "never chose a play just for fun." Even so, some stocks remain more-interesting than others, and MetroPCS Communications (PCS), which I first discussed here on December 21, 2009, at a price of $7.55, is one such stock.

MetroPCS remains "the little engine that might." Note: I consider MetroPCS to be a high-risk stock not suitable for low to moderate risk investors.

MetroPCS provides cell phone service to customers without requiring long-term contracts. Unlike the per-minute cell phone service providers, MetroPCS offers unlimited, flat-rate plans for local and long-distance service. Operating in more than 10 states, it has about 6.6 million customers.

Analyst Upgrades

• Canaccord upgraded Whole Foods (WFMI) to buy from hold based on the company's solid growth outlook. The firm has a $49 target on the stock.
• Bernstein upgraded Mylan (MYL) to outperform from market perform, citing valuation and expectations that its generic business will grow over then next two years. The firm has a $22 target on the stock.
• Jefferies upgraded Omega Healthcare (OHI) to buy from hold with a $26 target based on the company's earnings outlook, valuation and upside from its SNF portfolio.
• Procter & Gamble (PG) was upgraded to buy from hold at Argus.
• Ryland Group (RYL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Deere (DE) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Longbow.

The shares of MetroPCS Communications (PCS), first discussed here on December 21, 2009 at a price of $7.55, 'the little engine that might,' have reversed course.

Note: I consider MetroPCS to be a high-risk stock not suitable for low/moderate-risk investors.

Fundamentally, the major question for PCS concerns whether it can grow its subscriber base without price cuts given strong competition. The calculation here is that while margins may continue to be pressured in the quarters ahead, we've bottomed in terms of the U.S. employment situation -- a bullish trend for PCS's subscriber roles -- and this will more than offset any additional price cuts.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Clear Channel Outdoors (CCO) to neutral from underweight following the company's Q1 results. The firm also doubled its price target for shares to $12 from $6.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded MetroPCS (PCS) to buy from hold to reflect higher EBITDA assumptions and valuation while doubling its target price for shares to $14 from $7.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded America's Car-Mart (CRMT) to overweight from market weight ahead of the company's Q4 results and upped its target for shares to $31 from $30. The firm has increased confidence in its FY11 estimates for the company and sees potential upside in Q4.
• Esterline Technologies (ESL) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Stephens.
• Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.
• J.B. Hunt (JBHT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Longbow.

Analyst Upgrades

• Jefferies upgraded St. Jude (STJ) to buy from hold and raised its target to $49 from $39. The firm cites valuation and the positive impact from the Boston Scientific (BSX) ICD recall for the upgrade. Shares were also upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman, as the firm sees upside for shares into Q1 results.
• RBC Capital upgraded EMC Corp. (EMC) to outperform from sector perform and raised its target to $22 from $21. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and believes the company can meet or modestly beat March quarter expectations.
• Auriga upgraded MetroPCS (PCS) to buy from hold as it believes customer migration away from postpaid to prepaid may be accelerating. The firm raised its target for shares to $9 from $7.
• Caterpillar (CAT) was raised to outperform from neutral at Baird.
• Best Buy (BBY) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Expedia (EXPE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Prepaid wireless play MetroPCS Communications (PCS), first discussed here on December 21, 2009 at a price of $7.55, 'the little engine that might,' has gone in the wrong direction -- down -- in the past three months.

Note: I consider MetroPCS to be a high-risk stock not suitable for low/moderate-risk investors.

Even worse, technically, the chart has formed a bear hug -- a bearish trend in which the stock rallies to the key, 50-day moving average, only to decline again. Typically, the stance would be to close the position. However, a recent pop above the 50-day MA provides some hope, so the stance is to maintain the play.

Personal computer giant Dell Inc. (DELL) traded sharply lower in after hours trading following Thursday's fourth quarter earnings report.

Going into the earnings announcement, Wall Street was expecting to see the company show earnings of 27 cents per share. Excluding special items the company posted earnings of 28 cents per share for the quarter.

During the same period last year the company earned 29 cents per share.

It's a bad habit: losing customers. Unfortunately, Sprint (S) seems to have this problem.

In the latest quarterly report, the company said it lost a net of 148,000 subscribers. Breaking things down, about 504,000 contract customers bolted while 435,000 prepaid customers came on board. In other words, Sprint is trying to deal with its problem by going down-market. However, the prepaid space is competitive, with players like Leap (LEAP) and MetroPCS (PCS). Even the mega carriers -- like Verizon (VZ) -- are moving in.