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 company earnings forecasts. Objective elements include volatility of past operating revenue, financial strength and company cash flows.

Coffee retailer Starbucks(SBUX Quote) has been downgraded to a hold from a buy. The company's revenue rose by 20.1% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, outpacing the industry average of 12.4%. Earnings also improved, rising to 21 cents per share from 18 cents a share a year earlier. Starbucks' debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37 is low and below the industry average. However, the company's stock price has dropped 31.44% in the past 12 months. While that could be one of the factors that may make the stock attractive down the road, TheStreet.com Ratings believe it is too soon to buy at this time. Starbucks had been rated a buy since August 2006.