Thursday's Analysts' Upgrades and Downgrades

CHANGE IN RATINGS

Broadcom (BRCM Quote) upgraded at UBS: BRCM upgraded to Buy rating from Neutral at UBS. Maintains current price target and 2007 EPS estimates at $38 and $1.02, respectively.

eBay (EBAY Quote) upgraded at Piper: eBay upgraded from Underperform to Market Perform at Piper Jaffray. $30 price target. Last quarter beat because of forex gains, which are not sustainable. Even so, near-term earnings will be stronger for multiple reasons.

eBay price target raised at Goldman: Goldman is increasing its target on EBAY to $40 from $38 due to accelerating year-over-year revenue growth. Q4 results showed accelerating trends, 29% total revenue growth and 32% incremental margin. Reiterated Buy rating.

eBay numbers raised at Jefferies: EBAY numbers raised at Jefferies following strong Q4 results. Price target rises to $51 from $45. 2007 EPS estimates bump up to $1.29 from $1.24. Reiterates Buy rating.

Emmis Communications (EMMS Quote) initiated at Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley initiates coverage of Emmis Communications at equalweight with a $10 price target.

General Dynamics (GD Quote) downgraded at AG Edwards: GD was downgraded from Buy to Hold at AG Edwards. Stock has run up toward $80, and long lead times in the combat vehicle unit could push some results out toward 2008.

Louisiana-Pacific (LPX Quote) downgraded at Prudential: LPX was downgraded from Overweight to Neutral at Prudential. $25 price target. Estimates also cut, to reflect new lows in OSB prices.

Norfolk Southern (NSC Quote) downgraded at Credit Suisse Credit Suisse is downgrading NSC to Neutral from Outperform following weaker-than-expected Q4 results. Lowered target price from $57 to $53.

Trident Microsystems (TRID Quote) upgraded at Prudential: Prudential is upgrading TRID to an Overweight rating as issues such as inventories, gross margins, and options are being resolved.

Varian (VARI Quote) upgraded at Baird: VARI was upgraded from Neutral to Outperform at Robert Baird. $55 price target. Stronger sales growth has led to leverage gains in two key areas. Company also using its free cash flow to buy back stock.