Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of UBS (NYSE: UBS) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 update as they believe the quarter marks a turning point.
Merill raised BP Plc (NYSE: BP) and Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Neutral from Underperform.
DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) was lifted to Hold from Sell at Soleil.
Friedman Billings upgraded Sovereign Bancorp (NYSE: SOV) to Market Perform from Underperform as they believe the company's deposits are showing stability despite the massive sell-off.
Kaufman Bros. raised Longtop Financial (NYSE: LFT) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they believe Chinese software service stocks now reflect the investment risks.
Lear (NYSE: LEA) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
Analyst downgrades:
Morgan Stanley downgraded eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) to Equal Weight from Overweight citing checks that indicate deteriorating trends are worst than expected.
Juniper (NASDAQ: JNPR) and Pediatrix Medical (NYSE: PDX) were downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
Merrill cut StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) to Underperform from Neutral.
HSBC (NYSE: HBC) was lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Salesforce.com, First Marblehead and The E.W. Scripps Co were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Jefferies upgraded shares of Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q1 results and recommends accumulating shares on any weakness from concerns around a slowdown in bookings. They believe that while bookings growth slowed in Q1, CRM's growth remains stellar and its market opportunity remains large.
Friedman Billings upgraded First Marblehead (NYSE:FMD) to Market Perform from Underperform. The firm believes most of the bad news is reflected in shares and that there are early indications of "thawing" within the private student loan ABS market.
Lehman upgraded the E.W. Scripps Co (NYSE:SSP) to Overweight from Underweight and expects the upcoming July 1st split of Scripps Networks Interactive from Scripps will give the company strategic opportunity by separating high growth cable from traditional newspapers and broadcasting.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: J. Sainsbury, Orthofix and Salary.com were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Merrill Lynch downgraded J. Sainsbury (Other OTC:JSAIY) to Sell from Neutral following the company's quarterly results; Deutsche Bank downgraded shares to Sell from Hold as they believe the company's results show it has lost momentum.
ThinkPanmure downgraded Orthofix (NASDAQ:OFIX) to Source of Funds from Accumulate citing the loss of Osteocel, which will impact growth.
Wachovia cut Salary.com (NASDAQ:SLRY) to Market Perform from Outperform citing concerns that FY09 will be a challenging given significant increases in investment for sales and marketing.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Arena Pharma, Windstream and StatoilHydro were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Banc of America upgraded shares of Arena Pharma (NASDAQ:ARNA) to Buy from Neutral on valuation following the recent weakness and would-be buyers ahead of the Lorcaserin 12 month echocardiogram Data Safety Monitoring Committee review expected in March.
Jefferies named Windstream (NYSE:WIN) their Tuesday Value Pick and upgraded shares to Buy from Hold, as they find the current valuation attractive and believe the company can improve operating results over the next 12 months through realization of acquisition synergies, cost cutting, top-line growth initiatives and additional M&A.
Credit Suisse raised StatoilHydro (NYSE:STO) to Outperform from Neutral as they believe the company has addressed issues with growth and capital expenditure and set more conservative targets.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: The trucking sector, Banco Santander and StatoilHydro were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Bear upgraded the trucking sector to Market Weight from Underweight and continues to expect weak pricing but believes valuations are near a bottom. The firm raised Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW) and Knight Transportation (NYSE: KNX) to Peer Perform from Underperform.
WestLB upgraded shares of Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) to Buy from Add as they believe the company's diversified business would shield it from an economic slowdown in Spain.
StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale on valuation, as they believe the company has one of the most risk/reward profiles in the industry.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Under Armour (NYSE: UA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
B. Riley upgraded Actuate (NASDAQ: ACTU) to Buy from Neutral.
Deutsche Bank raised RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Hold from Sell.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: StatoilHydro, Portugal Telecom and STEC Inc were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) to Hold from Buy after the company cut its production forecast.
Credit Suisse lowered its rating on Portugal Telecom (NYSE: PT) to Underperform from Outperform on competition concerns.
B. Riley downgraded shares of STEC Inc. (NASDAQ: STEC) to Neutral from Buy on valuation, as they believe the risk/reward is neutral following the recent rally.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Jefferies downgraded Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) to Hold from Buy.
UBS downgraded Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) to Sell from Neutral.
Deutsche Bank lowered Telekom SA (NYSE: TKG) to Hold from Buy.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: ATP Oil & Gas, Foot Locker, DynCorp and Circuit City were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Calyon upgraded shares of ATP Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: ATPG) to Add from Neutral and raised their target to $52 from $50 as they believe the company is nearing its year-end production target and its balance sheet is positioned to improve.
Merrill upgraded Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) to Buy from Neutral citing easing comps and stabilization in premium product demand.
Wachovia upgraded DynCorp International Inc. (NYSE: DCP) to Outperform from Market Perform citing its re-compete award for the $4.6 billion Army Linguist contract.
Soleil upgraded shares of Circuit City Stores (NYSE: CC) to Buy from Hold, as they believe the company's real estate rationalization program and new "The City" store concept will drive earnings growth over the next few years.
OTHER UPGRADES:
StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) was raised to Hold from Sell at Societe Generale.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ariba, Meredith Corp and Time Warner Telecom were today's noteworthy initiations:
Montgomery initiated Ariba (NASDAQ: ARBA) with a Buy rating and $14 target and said ARBA's SaaS transition is essentially completed and that the benefits of higher cash flow, new sales hires, product releases, and new markets should be seen in FY08.
Jefferies resumed coverage of Meredith Corp (NYSE: MDP) with a Hold rating and $59-$61 target and expects ad growth to slow given the current economic backdrop.
Citigroup initiated Time Warner Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) with a Buy rating and $29 target. The named TWTC its top pick in the emerging telco sub-sector based on its differentiated niche position, strong fiber assets and sustainable revenue growth.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
JP Morgan started Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) and Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT) with Overweight ratings.
Lehman started Transocean (NYSE: RIG) with an Overweight rating.
Bear Stearns initiated StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) with an Outperform rating.
Credit Suisse initiated Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) with an Outperform rating and $87 target.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Chevron, AXA and Emageon were today's noteworthy upgrades:
Bears Stearns upgraded shares of Chevron (NYSE:CVX) to Outperform from Peer Perform after raising their oil price assumption for 2008 to $75 per barrel from $60 per barrel. They believe CVX should benefit from stronger earnings.
AXA (NYSE:AXA) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, as they believe positive Q4 sales results will ease concerns on the impact of the economic slowdown.
Friedman Billings raised its rating on Emageon (NASDAQ:EMAG) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and the belief that the Q4 EPS turnaround is on track.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Starbucks Corporation, Brinker, Healthways and Fluor were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Banc of America downgraded Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) to Sell from Neutral, and lowered their target to $23 from $27, as they see downside risk to estimates due to slower growth. The firm is concerned that expectations for a near-term recovery are too high.
Goldman downgraded Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) to Sell from Neutral citing macro economic pressure on sales.
Credit Suisse downgraded Healthways Inc (NASDAQ: HWAY) to Neutral from Outperform on valuation.
Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Morgan Joseph on valuation.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Statoil (STO), BG Group (BRG), Repsol (REP), Flow International (FLOW) and the refining sector were today's more noteworthy downgrades:
Citigroup cut Statoil (NYSE: STO), BG Group (NYSE: BRG) and Repsol SA (NYSE: REP) to Sell from Hold due to valuation and the difficult operating environment.
Matrix USA downgraded Flow International (NASDAQ: FLOW) to Strong Sell from Hold, citing weak demand from Asian customers that led to slowing sales growth.
Bernstein downgraded the refining sector to Underperform and refiners Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) and Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) to Underperform from Market Perform...
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse; RBC Capital downgraded CP shares to Sector Perform from Outperform.
Goldman downgraded Taiwan Semi (NYSE: TSM) to Neutral from Buy.
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