Stock Upgrades, Downgrades From TheStreet.com Ratings

Updated from 12:44 p.m. EDT

Each business day, 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.

However, the rating does not incorporate all of the factors that can alter a stock's performance. For example, it doesn't always factor in recent corporate or industry events that could affect the stock price, nor does it include recent technology developments and competitive dynamics that may affect the company.

For those reasons, we believe a rating alone cannot tell the whole story, and that it should be part of an investor's overall research.

The following ratings changes were generated on March 6.

New York Community Bancorp(NYB Quote), the holding company for New York Community Bank and New York Commercial Bank, which offer the New York metropolitan region banking products and services, has been upgraded to buy.

For the most recent quarter, the company has improved earnings per share by 16.7% year over year. This year, the market expects earnings per share to increase to $1.00, compared to 90 cents today. Net income grew 26.8% compared to the same quarter a year ago, significantly exceeding that of the S&P 500 and the Thrifts & Mortgage Finance industry. The company also has a strong gross profit margin of 42.5%, despite a decrease from the same period last year. New York Community Bancorp had been rated hold since Jan. 31.

Clinical Data(CLDA Quote), a provider of molecular and pharmacogenomics services, as well as clinical diagnostics for the improvement of patient care worldwide, has been upgraded to hold. Though the company's cash flow from operations has been weak overall, it has strong revenue growth, a largely solid financial position, and solid stock price performance.

The company's revenue grew at 31% compared to the same quarter a year earlier, well above the industry average of 2.6%. But the revenue growth does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. However, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, Clinical Data narrowed its EPS loss. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings (-$1.62 versus -$2.13). Clinical Data had been rated sell since Feb. 28, 2006.

Sigma Designs(SIGM Quote), a provider of silicon-based digital media processors, has been downgraded to hold. Though the company has robust revenue growth, a largely solid financial position and an impressive record of EPS growth, its return on equity has been disappointing.

Compared with where it was trading a year ago, Sigma Designs' share price has not changed very much. Though return on equity greatly increased year over year, it remains below that of both the industry average and the S&P 500. On the positive side, Sigma Designs' revenue leaped 164% year over year, greatly exceeding the industry average of 15.1%. The company has no debt to speak of and maintains a quick ratio of 10.4, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs. Sigma Designs had been rated buy since June 8, 2007.

Salix Pharmaceuticals(SLXP Quote), a pharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development, and commercialization of prescription gastrointestinal drugs, was downgraded to sell. Shares of the company tumbled by 53% in the past year. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down significantly compared to the year-earlier quarter. Despite the heavy decline in its share price, this stock is still more expensive (when compared to its current earnings) than most other companies in its industry. The gross profit margin for Salix is currently very high at 76%. Net income decreased to a loss of $19.03 million from a profit of $13.88 million. Salix had been rated hold since Sept. 18, 2006.

Additional ratings changes from Mar. 22 are listed below.

Ticker	Company Name	Change	New Rating	Former Rating
PBIO	PRESSURE BIOSCIENCES INC	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
MFLO	MOLDFLOW CORP	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
NYB	NEW YORK CMNTY BANCORP INC	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
CLDA	CLINICAL DATA INC	Upgrade	Hold	Sell
IOSP	INNOSPEC INC	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
QLGC	QLOGIC CORP	Upgrade	Buy	Hold
SLXP	SALIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
SIGM	SIGMA DESIGNS INC	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
RVR	WHITE RIVER CAPITAL INC	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
BTU	PEABODY ENERGY CORP	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
UNTD	UNITED ONLINE INC	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
AHT	ASHFORD HOSPITALITY TRUST	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
ITC	ITC HOLDINGS CORP	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
CMED	CHINA MEDICAL TECHNOLGS -ADR	Downgrade	Hold	Buy
CTCM	CTC MEDIA INC	Downgrade	Sell	Hold
HUGH	HUGHES COMMUNICATIONS	Downgrade	Sell	Hold