Stock Upgrades, Downgrades From TheStreet.com Ratings

Each weekday, TheStreet.com Ratings updates its ratings on the stocks it covers. The proprietary ratings model projects a stock's total return potential over a 12-month period, including both price appreciation and dividends. Buy, hold or sell ratings designate how the Ratings group expects these stocks to perform against a general benchmark of the equities market and interest rates.

While the ratings model is quantitative, it uses both subjective and objective elements. For instance, subjective elements include expected equities market returns, future interest rates, implied industry outlook and forecasted company earnings. Objective elements include volatility of past operating revenue, financial strength and company cash flows.

TheStreet.com Ratings has initiated coverage of mattress maker Sealy(ZZ Quote - Cramer on ZZ - Stock Picks) with a sell rating. The company reported just a 7.2% increase in net income in the first quarter of fiscal 2007 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Sealy stock currently trades at about the same price level it did a year ago, possibly due to relatively flat earnings growth during that time period.

Chinese search engine Baidu.com(BIDU Quote - Cramer on BIDU - Stock Picks) has been upgraded to a hold from a sell. The company's revenue shot up nearly 111% in the first quarter of fiscal 2007 compared with the year-earlier period. Earnings per share jumped 191% during that same time period. The company has no debt to speak of and seems to have the ability to cover short-term cash needs. Baidu.com had been rated a sell since September 2006.

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