Williams-Sonoma (WSM - option chain) shares are rising today after the company reported earnings this morning, posting a fiscal-Q4 profit of $113.4 million, or $1.05 per share. Excluding one-time items, WSM earned $1.08 per share on revenue of $1.195 billion. Analysts had forecast a profit of $0.98 per share on revenue of $1.19 billion. WSM forecast Q1 earnings of 26 to 28 cents per share on revenue of $745 to $765 million. Analysts are expecting Q1 earnings of 27 cents per share on revenue of $748.5 million. WSM also lifted its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to 17 cents per share. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on WSM.

The shares of upscale retailer Williams-Sonoma (WSM), first discussed here on December 14, 2009, at a price of $22.00, continue to push toward $40 in early 2011. If you haven't already, now may be a good time to consider taking some profits if you're in near $22 with WSM.

However, other investors who can tolerate the risk can maintain their full position, as a push beyond $45 by WSM in 2011 would not be a stretch, but the sell/stop loss has been raised to $28 from $22 to lock-in some profits.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Eaton (ETN) to conviction buy from neutral.
• AECOM Technology (ACM) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Hologic (HOLX), Gen-Probe (GPRO) and Qiagen (QGEN) to overweight from neutral.
• GeoMet (GMET) was upgraded to accumulate from neutral at Global Hunter.
• Accretive Health (AH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Reinsurance Group (RGA) to overweight from equal weight.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Clearwire (CLWR) to neutral from underperform.

Analyst Upgrades

• BofA/Merrill upgraded ConocoPhillips (COP) to neutral from underperform following the better-than-expected Q2 report. The firm has a $61 price target on shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Citrix Systems (CTXS) to buy from hold following the company's Q2 results and raised its target for shares to $65 from $45. Shares were also upgraded to neutral from underperform at Cowen following the better-than-expected Q2 report.
• Macquarie upgraded Arch Coal (ACI) to outperform from underperform and raised its price target to $29 from $23. The firm expects PRB priced to move higher given increased domestic and export demand combined with supply shortfalls.
• Boeing (BA) was upgraded to hold from sell at Societe Generale.
• Equinix (EQIX) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Williams-Sonoma (WSM) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.

Analyst Upgrades

• Raymond James upgraded Research in Motion (RIMM) to outperform from market perform based on valuation. The firm has a $70 price target on the stock.
• Macquarie upgraded Halliburton (HAL) to outperform from neutral and has a $40 price target on the stock. The firm said recent pressure pumping activity is above their expectations and pricing has firmed.
• Canaccord upgraded Baldor Electric (BEZ) to buy from speculative buy, citing improving business trends and the upcoming mandatory transition to premium efficiency motors. The firm has a $47 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Williams-Sonoma (WSM) to outperform from market perform.
• Medco Health (MHS) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Repsol (REP) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

In very contrarian fashion, Bernie Schaeffer has used the market pullback to initiate two positions in retail stocks.

The editor of Schaeffer's Research -- who uses a combination of technical, fundamental and sentiment-based metrics to select his trading positions -- has bought shares of Sears Holdings (SHLD) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM).

Schaeffer explains, "I initiated a long position in Sears Holdings. Price action for SHLD has been strong, with the equity up 13 percent year-to-date and 75 percent in the past 52 weeks.

Analyst Upgrades

• Morgan Joseph upgraded Cree (CREE) to buy from hold ahead of Tuesday's Q3 report. The firm, which has a $100 price target on the stock, expects LED demand to drive revenue growth as both China and the U.S. are increasingly strong.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from neutral on expectations the company will benefit from the migration of software to SaaS deployments. The firm upped its target price for shares to $94 from $67.
• Barrington upgraded Henry Schein (HSIC) to outperform from market perform, citing an attractive valuation, increased confidence in the outcome of the Butler-Schein Animal Health integration and improving momentum in dental equipment. The firm has a $74 price target for shares.
• Advance Auto Parts (AAP) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Red Hat (RHT) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• UBS (UBS) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Williams-Sonoma (WSM) to outperform from perform. Opco believes the company's business model is being underappreciated by investors and upped its target price for shares to $40 from $26.
• BMO Capital upgraded Tractor Supply (TSCO) to market perform from underperform and set a $75 target. The firm upgraded the stock after the company's positive preannouncement.
• JCPenney (JCP) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• DISH Network (DISH) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• BJ's Wholesale (BJ) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Taseko Mines (TGB) was upgraded to buy from hold at TD Newcrest.

The so-called cruelest month has begun. And this coming week's economic calendar for the U.S. starts off with the ISM nonmanufacturer's survey results for April and NAR's pending home sales for February on Monday morning. This glimpse at the service and housing sectors will be followed by March's consumer credit numbers Monday afternoon. Then things are pretty quiet until Friday's release of factory orders and wholesale trade numbers for February.

Between the Monday and Friday economic numbers will come the release on Tuesday of the minutes of the March 16 FOMC meeting, a record of the Fed's most recent thinking on monetary policy.

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

• Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) reported that Q1 revenue was up but earnings declined sharply, and it offered guidance.
• Best Buy Inc. (BBY) shares rallied after it topped Q4 earnings expectations and offered encouraging guidance.
• Brinker International Inc. (EAT) raised its outlook for fiscal 2010 and also increased its quarterly dividend.
• China Automotive Systems Inc. (CAAS) reported that its revenue had doubled and it beat earnings expectations.
• ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) Q3 earnings matched estimates and revenue was flat, and it reaffirmed its outlook.
• Finish Line Inc. (FINL) shares rallied after it reported that Q4 earnings came in better than analysts' expected.

Analyst Upgrades

• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Baidu (BIDU) to buy from hold and raised its target price for shares to $690 from $540 after Google (GOOG) said it has stopped censoring its search services on Google.cn in China. The firm believes the Chinese government is likely to restrict access to Google's site now, a move that would benefit Baidu.
• Baird upgraded Autoliv (ALV) to outperform from neutral and raised its target to $60 from $47. The firm cites valuation and strong revenue performance for the upgrade.
• Jesup & Lamont upgraded Tiffany (TIF) to buy from hold following the company's Q4 results and better-than-expected guidance. The firm has a $55 price target for shares.
• Automatic Data Processing (ADP) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Cowen.
• American Superconductor (AMSC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Saks (SKS) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

Williams-Sonoma (WSM), a retailer of high-end merchandise whose concepts include Pottery Barn and West Elm, reported results for the fourth quarter earlier today. If you were trading this name ahead of the numbers, you made out, because the market gave this stock a nice bid on the news.

On an adjusted basis, net income came in at 86 cents per share; the company made 31 cents per share in the comparable period on the same basis. According to our preview, the bottom line beat estimates by twelve pennies. Total sales revenue increased 8%. Same-store sales jumped a very attractive 7.6%; the metric was down double-digits last time around.