• Barclays believes Disney (NYSE: DIS) is the best positioned company for "media's digital evolution." The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Underweight and has a $32 target on shares.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Semtech (NASDAQ: SMTC) to Outperform from Perform after channel checks indicated improved inventory levels, better product mix, and market share gains. The firm set a $20 target on the stock.
  
• RBC Capital expects Rigel's (NASDAQ: RIGL) R788 in RA to achieve its primary endpoint in the Phase II trials. Shares were upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform and the price target was raised to $8 from $6.
• WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD) was upgraded to Accumulate from Sell at ThinkEquity.
  
• International Game Tech (NYSE: IGT) was raised to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Infineon (NYSE: IFX) was lifted at Banc of America/Merrill to Buy from Neutral.

• Jefferies upgraded MICROS Systems (NASDAQ:MCRS) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's cost cutting is running ahead of Street expectations. The firm raised its target on shares to $25 from $18.
  
• KeyBanc upgraded Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) to Buy from Hold. The analyst believes companies will beat EPS estimates given lower commodity costs, focus on cost controls, and reduced drag of inefficient, new restaurants on unit level margins. Additionally, they believe reduced mortgage payments from refinancing will incrementally help traffic.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded First Niagara (NASDAQ:FNFG) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the company's Q1 results. The firm raised its target price to $15.
• American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) was upgraded to Sector Performer from Sector Underperformer at CIBC and to Neutral from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.
  
• Micron (NYSE:MU) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

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

• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) reported that Q4 revenue soared despite the recession.
• Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) posted strong annual revenue, but at a slowing growth rate.
• Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) easily topped Q4 earnings expectations, lifting shares up.
• Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Q4 earnings beat expectations and it increased its dividend.
• CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) shares jumped after it reported higher earnings in Q4.
• Digital River Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) shares soared on better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue.
• Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) reported dismal results due to a huge good will write down.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) posted a greater-than-expected Q4 net loss and announced job cuts.
• Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) exceeded Q1 earnings expectations due to the popularity of SPAM.

• Citigroup upgraded WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD) shares to Buy from Hold on valuation following the company's Q4 results and outlook. The firm maintains a $25 target on the stock.
  
• Goldman upgraded Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation and expectations for 2010 earnings growth.
• Roth upgraded Maxwell Tech (NASDAQ: MXWL) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q4 results to reflect strong ultracapacitor sales growth and gross margin improvement. The firm maintains a $12 target on the stock.
• Nara Bancorp (NASDAQ: NARA) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings.
• Cubic (NYSE: CUB) was upgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Terex (NYSE: TEX) was lifted to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, BankUnited and Royal DSM were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• ABN downgraded shares of Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) to Hold from Buy and Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) to Sell from Buy as they believe the slowing economy will drive slower demand over the next 12 months.
  
• Suntrust downgraded BankUnited (NASDAQ: BKUNA) to Neutral from Buy citing the company's intention to raise the number of Class A Common Stock to 500M from 200M.
  
• Royal DSM (OTC: RDSMY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman on valuation following the recent rally.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Platinum Underwriters (NYSE: PTP) was cut at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
  
• UBS cut Methanex (NASDAQ: MEOH) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Infosys Technologies (NASDAQ: INFY) was lowered at Susquehanna to Neutral from Positive.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS downgraded Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) to Neutral from Buy citing the weak economy and increased wireless competition.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN) to Neutral from Buy as the company's acquisition of Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI) alters their investment thesis. The company's target was cut to $38 from $50.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded General Electric (NYSE: GE) to Neutral from Overweight citing further risk to earnings and dislocation from necessary portfolio management in 2009.

• Office Max (NYSE: OMX) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  
• Goldman lowered Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY) to Sell from Buy.
  
• WebMD Health (NASDAQ: WBMD) was downgraded to Sell from Source of Funds at ThinkPanmure.

Kaufman Brothers reiterated its "hold" on NetFlix (NASDAQ: NFLX) ahead of the company's analyst meeting, according to the AP.

Merrill Lynch upgraded UBS (NYSE: UBS) from "neutral" to "buy," according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that JPM upgraded Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) from "market perform" to "outperform."

WebMD (NASDAQ:WBMD) was raised to "buy" from "hold" at Citigroup, according to 24/7 Wall St.. The financial site also reports that Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) was raised to "buy" from "neutral" at UBS.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Display ads are hurting while online search ads remain strong, the New York Times reports today. Specifically, PubMatic, an advertising-technology company in Palo Alto, CA that runs an online-pricing index, found the prices paid for online ads bought through ad networks dropped 23% from March to April 2008.

This drop in pricing has hurt some companies' results:

• Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX)'s AOL, parent of BloggingStocks, saw an 18% decline in display advertising revenue to $191 million.
• The New York Times' (NYSE: NYT) Internet ad revenues increased 16%; a year earlier, though, they increased 20%.
• WebMD Health (NASDAQ: WBMD) revised down its 2008 revenue guidance to a range of $380 million to $395 million, from a range of $395 million to $415 million thanks to lower expected ad revenues.

The good news? Surprise! -- Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). In the most recent quarter, Google had a profit of $1.31 billion on revenues of $5.19 billion. Its United States revenue was up 30%. The reason is that display ads don't offer a tangible payoff to advertisers whereas search ads do.

Advertisers are simply trying to maximize their returns on the advertising investment (ROAI). If someone comes along and offers a higher ROAI than Google, advertisers will switch to that provider. Meanwhile, those stuck with display advertising will suffer at Google's hands.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

The Associated Press reports that CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) is buying CNet Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: CNET) for $1.75 billion. This $11.50 a share deal is a 45% premium over Wednesday's closing price

CNet's Web sites include News.com, TV.com, Mp3.com, MySimon and GameSpot. And CBS expects to use CNet to tap into the Internet advertising market. This deal raises the question of whether any CBS competitors will decide to get into the game of buying Internet content companies.

Here are three possible targets:

• TheStreet.com (NASDAQ: TSCM) - This provider of business, investment and ratings content has $65 million in sales and a market cap of $236 million.
• TechTarget (NASDAQ: TTGT) - This provider of online content for buyers and sellers of corporate information technology (IT) products has $95 million in sales and a $531 million market cap.
• WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) - This provider health information services to consumers, physicians and other healthcare professionals, employers and health plans has $332 million in sales and it's market capitalization is $1.7 billion

I think traditional media companies buying Internet ones could become a trend. It would only take two more such deals to make it one.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup upgraded Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 results. JP Morgan upgraded shares to Overweight from Neutral, as they believe the company's Q3 results underlined the strength of exploration and production growth prospects versus peers.
  
• Friedman Billings raised its rating on HLTH Corporation (NASDAQ: HLTH) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's proposal to merge into WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) for a combination of cash and stock.
  
• The firm also added shares of Aflac (NYSE: AFL) to its Top Picks List, as they believe Aflac is the only high quality, defensive growth story in the Life Insurance sector.
  
• CIBC upgraded shares of First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer following the Q3 upside and set a $230 target on the stock.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Town Sports (NASDAQ: CLUB) to Neutral from Sell on valuation as they believe the downside risk is now priced into the stock.

• Credit Suisse upgraded Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) to Neutral from Underperform.
  
• Merrill upgraded Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's "Weekday Trader" section said that Bankrate Inc (NASDAQ: RATE), Answers Corporation (NASDAQ: ANSW), WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) and The Knot Inc (NASDAQ: KNOT) may be the next preferred takeover targets for Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Brad Tierney is interested in Dow Jones and Company (NYSE: DJ), which in talks with News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) Rupert Murdoch for a possible $5B sale.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a person close to the deal, Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) will acquire the Orange Netherlands unit of France Telecom for about EUR1.3B, and simultaneously sell Ya.com for EUR320M to them.
• The Financial Times reported that three separate research teams showed the embryonic stem cells can be created by reprogramming some of the genes in adult mice skin cells, without creating an embryo. The news will be well-received by opponents of embryonic stem cell research, but scientists said it is too early to tell if the technique can be used with human cells.

• The Herald Sun reported that a new $237B Chinese state-owned investment fund may be interested in acquiring natural resources company BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE: BHP), according to Bell Potter research chief Peter Quinton.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• William Blair started the online health information portal, WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) with an Outperform rating. The firm believes WebMD is positioned to benefit from various trends in the industry, including the increasing use of the Internet for information and patients' assuming more responsibility for their health care decisions.

• Pacific Growth initiated United Therapeutics Corp (NASDAQ: UTHR) with a Neutral rating. The firm sees potential revenue risk from patient switching and reduced new patient starts in response to reports about higher incidence of serious Gram negative infections resulting in a Dear Doctor letter being sent to all IV-Remodulin prescribers in September 2006.

• Soleil Securities started Genuine Parts Co (NYSE: GPC) with a Buy rating and $65 target, noting that Genuine has the highest yield in the auto sector.

• Nollenberger doesn't see a catalyst for double-digit growth in Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ: LRCX) for the next 12-18 months and initiated the company with a Neutral rating and $40 target.

• ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE: CAG) was initiated with a Hold rating at AG Edwards on valuation.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Following the FCC comments, Bear Stearns upgraded Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) to Peer Perform from Underperform after yesterday's sell-off; as they believe investors can now focus on the company's strong fundamentals.

• Wachovia upgraded Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC) to Outperform from Market Perform after the company rejected the Dolan family's $30 a share offer.

• Citigroup upgraded Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) to Buy from Hold with a $64 target, believing that the December quarter miss is priced into shares and investors will begin to focus on upcoming catalysts, including a strong March release slate.

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) to Overweight from Neutral and added the retailer to their Focus List, citing expectations of margin expansion and earnings growth.

• Citigroup also upgraded shares of WebMD Health Holdings (NASDAQ: WBMD) to Hold from Cell, with a $46 target. The upgrade was made to reflect the company's stronger than expected fourth-quarter results and more positive outlook for 2007.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sears Holding (SHLD), Palm (PALM) and American Eagle (AEOS) top today's list of initiations.

• Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHLD) was initiated with a Neutral and $188 target at Goldman Sachs on valuation.
• Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) was initiated with a Neutral at Oppenheimer. The firm said competition will affect the company's near-term impact.
• American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEOS) was initiated at RBC Capital Markets with a Sector Perform and $48 on valuation.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Credit Suisse initiated WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ:WBMD) with an Outperform rating and $47 target. The firm said WebMD is well positioned for growth in online advertising.
• Finally, Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) was initiated with a Neutral at Oppenheimer. The firm said valuation assumes near-term growth rates will continue "well into the future."

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