Analyst upgrades:

• Baird expects Thor Industries (NYSE: THO) to benefit from industry consolidation and the eventual recovery. Shares were upgraded to Neutral from Underperform.
  
• Jefferies upgraded SPSS Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Buy from Hold on valuation and believes the company's cost cuts will be positive for EPS. The company's target was lowered to $28 from $29.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Entergy (NYSE: ETR) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and believes the company is unlikely to spin-off Enexus by year-end. They believe a spin-off in 2009 or no spin at all suggests a higher share price from current levels. The company's target was raised to $104 from $101.50.
• AMN Healthcare (NYSE: AMN) was upgraded to hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Argus upgraded Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) to Hold from Sell.
  
• Transdigm Group (NYSE: TDG) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Tyson Foods, Unilever, Brooks Automation, Akzo Nobel and Yahoo! were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) to Buy from Hold on valuation and the potential for protein complex improvement.
  
• Goldman upgraded shares of Unilever (NYSE: UN) to Neutral from Sell to reflect the company's diversified product range and growing exposure to developing and emerging markets.
  
• Bear Stearns raised its rating on Brooks Automation (NASDAQ: BRKS) to Outperform from Peer Perform. The firm cited the company's compelling valuation and growth drivers.
  
• Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at SNS Securities, as they see absolute total return greater than 20%.
  
• CIBC upgraded Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer on valuation following the recent pullback and their analysis of Yahoo's non-operating assets. They believe Yahoo's stake in Alibaba Group is now worth about $4/share and raised their target to $31 from $28.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• First Analysis upgraded Spss Inc (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• UBS upgraded Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• WestLB upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Hold from Reduce.
  
• HSBC upgraded Posco (NYSE: PKX) to Overweight from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: CheckFree (CKFR), Talbots (TLB), SPSS Inc (SPSS), Network Appliance (NTAP) and Pozen Inc (POZN) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Following FiServ's (NASDAQ: FISV) acquisition of CheckFree, Raymond James cut CKFR shares to Market Perform from Strong Buy and Baird downgraded shares to Neutral from Outperform.

• Talbots (NYSE: TLB) was cut to Sell from Hold at Citigroup based on valuation, continued earnings disappointments, and a lack of earnings visibility.

• Cowen downgraded shares of SPSS Inc (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Underperform from Neutral citing decelerating growth and poor earnings quality.

• Bear Stearns cut Network Appliance (NASDAQ: NTAP) to Underperform from Peer Perform on the negative Q1 pre-announcement. Pacific Crest downgraded shares to Sector Perform from Outperform.

• After Pozen (NASDAQ: POZN) received a second approvable letter for Trexima, shares were downgraded by three firms:
  
• To Neutral from Strong Buy at First Albany
  
• To Hold from Buy at Jefferies and Lazard...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Oppenheimer downgraded Applebee's (NASDAQ: APPB) to Neutral from Buy.

• Gabelli downgraded Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM) to Hold from Buy.

• Lehman downgraded Luxottica (NYSE: LUX) and Clorox (NYSE: CLX) to Equal Weight from Overweight.

• Thomas Weisel downgraded Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) to Market Weight from Overweight.

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