As the calendar quarter winds down, let's take look at some of this coming week's biggest expected earnings gainers.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Memphis-based Fred's Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) to report fourth-quarter earnings of $0.22 per share, 36.4% higher than a year ago, and revenue of $472.5 million, down 4.4%. For the full year, the forecast is for a profit of $0.66 per share on revenue of $1.8 billion, compared to $0.52 per share and $1.8 billion in the previous year. The discount retailer beat or met earnings estimates in the past three quarters. The long-term EPS growth forecast is 14.0%, which is better than the industry average and that of larger rival Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and the forward PE ratio estimate is 15.0. In the third quarter, the company had more cash than debt. The consensus recommendation of analysts is to buy FRED. The share price has risen 2.7% since the beginning of the year to $11.05.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH), RF Micro Devices Inc (RFMD), UTi Worldwide Inc (UTIW) and Viacom B (VIA, VIA.B) were some of today's more notable downgrades:

• UBS cut UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH) to Neutral from Buy citing moderating fundamentals in commercial performance and large government exposure that will make it difficult for the company to outperform its peer group.

• Jefferies downgraded RF Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Hold from Buy with a $7 target as the firm believes the company's June guidance signals a slow down of second-half fundamentals.

• Stephens cut UTi Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ: UTIW) to Equal Weight from Overweight based on ongoing cost issues.

• Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Sanders Morris to reflect weak ad growth at MTV, digital revenues that the firm believes are a displacement rather than accretive to the revenue base and the lawsuit against Google's (GOOG) YouTube, which the firm feels is the wrong call.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Matrix USA cut Total Systems Services (NYSE: TSS) to Sell from Hold and NIC Inc (NASDAQ: EGOV) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• Sealed Air Corp (NYSE: SEE) was taken down to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia citing valuation.

• HSBC downgraded shares of British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (NYSE: BSY) to Underweight from Neutral.

• Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Maguire Properties, Inc (NYSE: MPG) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the fallout from subprime-exposed office space.

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