There's not much to like about the U.S. auto industry right now. But, there are still some success stories. An example is DealerTrack Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TRAK), which provides a variety of web-based systems to help auto dealers improve their performance.

The fact remains that the environment is still tough for the company, which reported its Q4 numbers. Revenues came in at $54.7 million, which was down from $60.7 million. There was a net loss of $1.1 million, which compares to a net gain of $4.1 million in the same period a year ago. Then again, the company was able to generate cash net income of $6.2 million in Q4.

Analyst upgrades:

• Wachovia upgraded shares of Exelon (NYSE: EXC) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect the company's attractive nuclear fleets and strong operational track record.
  
• Jesup & Lamont upgraded Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA) to Buy from Hold on valuation and increasing visibility on near-term Products revenue.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded Memc Electronic (NYSE: WFR) to Outperform from Sector Perform on expectations of improved demand growth following the likely eight-year extension of the US solar tax credit program.
• AmBev (NYSE: ABV) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  
• AmerisourceBergen (NYSE: ABC) was upgraded at Merrill Lynch to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Piper upgraded Anadys Pharma (NASDAQ: ANDS) to Neutral from Sell.

Analyst downgrades:

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS believes US airlines estimates are too low and will move higher. The firm upgraded AirTran (NYSE: AAI), AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR), Continental (NYSE: CAL), Delta (NYSE: DAL) and Northwest (NYSE: NWA) to Buy from Neutral and JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• JMP Securities upgraded DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK) to OUtperform from Market Perform as they believe 2H08 guidance represents a floor and that 2009 estimates are achievable, among other reasons.
• Potash (NYSE: POT) and Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) were raised to Buy from Hold at Soleil.
  
• Argus upgraded Seagate (NYSE: STX) to Buy from Hold on Friday.

Analyst downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Underperform from Hold as they do not see a catalyst for the company to grow into 2009 consensus estimates. The firm lowered their target price to $25 from $32.
  
• Citigroup said following Lehman's (NYSE: LEH) bankruptcy, they expect a distressed-sale of American International's (NYSE: AIG) MBS portfolio, resulting in the worst quarter yet for the company. Shares were cut to Hold from Buy.
• D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) was downgraded to Sell from Hold and Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) was downgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Merrill downgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Neutral from Buy and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) to Underperform from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: U.S. Auto Parts, DealerTrack and AspenBio Pharma were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Piper downgraded shares of U.S. Auto Parts (NASDAQ: PRTS) to Neutral from Buy following the company's Q4 results.
  
• JMP Securities cut DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK) to Market Perform from Strong Buy as they believe future market share losses to RouteOne are more significant than previously believed.
  
• Oppenheimer has concerns that most of AspenBio Pharma's (NASDAQ: APPY) market value is tied to the AppyScore test for appendicitis, while available clinical data may not be sufficient to drive adoption. The firm lowered APPY to Perform from Outperform.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Wachovia cut Reddy Ice (NYSE: FRZ) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Deutsche Bank lowered its rating on Valspar (NYSE: VAL) and Airgas (NYSE: ARG) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Goldman downgraded Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) to Neutral from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ford, DealerTrack and Omnicare were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded shares of Ford (NYSE: F) to Sell from Hold, as they see a number of rising headwinds in the company's turnaround, including a low likelihood of Ford's relatively older product lineup holding U.S. share in the first half of 2008.
• Lehman downgraded DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK) to Equal Weight from Overweight citing near-term headwinds from economic uncertainty, declining auto sales, declining growth, and non-prime transaction risk.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Omnicare (NYSE: OCR) to Perform from Outperform to reflect concerns over the timing and pace of a potential recovery.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (NYSE: BBV) was lowered to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Mediaset SpA (OTC: MDIUY) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS.
  
• Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) was cut to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Here are a few highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Amkor Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AMKR) easily beat estimates and raised its guidance.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) posted solid fourth-quarter results on strong overseas sales.
• DealerTrack Holdings (NASDAQ: TRAK) fourth-quarter revenue rose, but the credit crunch hurt results.
• Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) fourth-quarter earnings soared on strong holiday sales.
• Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ: GILT) posted strong quarterly and full-year results.
• HJ Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) raised its guidance productivity gains and favorable exchange rates.
• JAKKS Pacific Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) posted solid results, lifted by Hannah Montana and Disney toys.
• Marvel Entertaiment Inc. (NYSE: MVL) earnings doubled despite investment in films not yet released.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) swung to a fourth-quarter loss despite rising gold prices.
• Safeway Stores Inc. (NYSE: SWY) met fourth-quarter earnings estimates, ending its best year since 2001.
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) posted its first $100 billion quarter but lowered its forecast.

Also, Jim Cramer sees Hewlett-Packard as a market bellwether, and Ted Allrich looks at some other bellwether stocks. Sheldon Liber gets a sense of deja vu from Exxon Mobil's (NYSE: XOM) big profits and its tussle with Chavez.

Upcoming results to watch for include Nordstom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M), Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Sprint-Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), and Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Since the dot-com implosion, the business-to-business sector has come under much criticism. But that hasn't stopped DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK), which has built a sophisticated lending platform for the automotive retail industry. It deals with more than 22,000 auto dealers and 465 financing sources.

Well, this week the company announced its Q4 results. Revenues spiked 33% to $60.7 million and net income was $4.1 million, or $0.10 per share.

Unfortunately, it looks like the company is decelerating somewhat. No doubt, the credit crunch is putting pressure on dealers, who are having more difficulties in securing financing for car purchases.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: DealerTrack, Healthcare Realty Trust and the employment services sector were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Suntrust believes DealerTrack (NASDAQ:TRAK) is in the stages of significantly increasing penetration of dealers, finance companies, and aftermarket providers with its leading suite of transaction and subscription based solutions. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $61 target.
  
• Jefferies resumed coverage of Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) with a Buy rating and $28 target, as they believe the company is well-positioned to benefit from the superior long-term growth trends for outpatient services.
  
• Credit Suisse initiated the employment services sector with a Market Weight rating, citing economic uncertainty and downside EPS risk. The firm initiated Manpower (NYSE:MAN) with an Outperform rating and $73 target and HireRight (NASDAQ:HIRE) with a Neutral rating and $13 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $45 target at BMO Capital.
  
• JP Morgan initiated Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) with an Underweight rating and California Pizza (CPKI) with a Neutral rating.

Whenever a retailer can offer a package that includes financing, insurance and other aftermarket products, the profit picture is going to improve. There is an outfit in Lake Success, New York that specializes in assisting auto dealers with those very issues.

DealerTrack Holdings (NASDAQ: TRAK) provides software and data solutions for the U.S. automotive retail industry. The company's online credit application processing product automates and accelerates the automotive financing process, while its integrated subscription-based software enables dealers to receive consumer leads, compare financing and leasing options, sell insurance and other aftermarket products, document compliance, and execute financing contracts electronically. A total of 22,630 dealers and 380 financing sources are active in the DealerTrack network.

The company pleased investors earlier in the month, when it reported Q2 EPS of 29 cents and revenues of $58.5 million. Analysts had been expecting 27 cents and $55.6 million. The CEO remarked, "Our second quarter financial results were generated from ongoing momentum in cross-selling our subscription products and strong performance across our transaction businesses." Management also guided FY07 EPS to $1.06-$1.07 ($1.04 consensus) and FY07 revenues to $230-$232 million ($225.04M consensus). Lehman Brothers and JMP Securities subsequently reiterated "strong buy" ratings on the stock. TRAK shares popped on the news and have since been consolidating the gain in a bullish "flag" pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Altogether, brokers recommend the shares with four "strong buys," three "buys" and two "holds." Analysts see a 26% growth rate through the next year. The TRAK Sales Growth rate (34.79%) and EPS Growth rate (70.59%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions hold about 83% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $24.59 and $40.74. A stop-loss of $33.25 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

Any time a retailer can fold financing, insurance and other aftermarket products into a deal, the profit picture is going to improve. There is an outfit in Lake Success, New York that specializes in assisting auto dealers with those very issues.

DealerTrack Holdings (NASDAQ: TRAK) provides software and data solutions for the U.S. automotive retail industry. The company's online credit application processing product automates and accelerates the automotive financing process, while its integrated subscription-based software enables dealers to receive consumer leads, compare financing and leasing options, sell insurance and associated products, document compliance, and execute financing contracts electronically. Over 22,000 dealers and more than 300 financing sources are active in the DealerTrack network.

The company pleased investors late last month, when it reported Q4 EPS of 23 cents and revenues of $45.7 million. Analysts had been expecting 19 cents and $43.2 million. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $1.01-$1.03 ($1.01 consensus) and FY07 revenues to $219-$221 million ($206.84M consensus). Deutsche Securities subsequently reiterated its "buy" rating on the stock and boosted its price target to $38. TRAK shares popped on the news and have since been consolidating the gain in a bullish "flag" pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the shares with four "strong buys," three "buys" and two "holds." Analysts see a 25% average annual growth rate through the next five years. The TRAK Price to Book ratio (3.88), Sales Growth rate (36.83%) and EPS Growth rate (228.57%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages.

Institutions hold about 74% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $18.51 and $33.25. A stop-loss of $26.75 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.