• Microsoft (MSFT) : Microsoft was upgraded today by EVA Dimensions, LLC to Buy from Overweight. MSFT stock closed the trading session at $29.85, down 0.9%.
• Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) : Baker Hughes was upgraded by Citigroup to Hold from Sell. BHI stock finished the trading session down 1.3% at $47.32.
• Electronic Arts (ERTS) : Electronic Arts received a broker upgrade today from Piper Jaffray which boosted its rating on the stock to Neutral from Underweight. The stock closed the day at $19.30, up 1.2%.

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Here are a few of the names that will be reporting tomorrow:

• Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) : Bristol Myers will be reporting its first quarter results tomorrow. The company is expected to report earnings of $0.51 per share, verses $0.41 during the same period last year. The stock closed the day up 0.5% to $24.34 and will report earnings before the market opens.
• Exxon Mobil (XOM) : Exxon will be reporting its first quarter results tomorrow. The company is expected to report $1.41 per share, compared to $0.92 during the same period last year. It will announce its results before the market opens. Exxon stock traded up 1.35% today to $69.19.
• Procter & Gamble (PG) : Procter & Gamble will be reporting its fiscal third quarter results tomorrow. The company is expected to report earnings of $0.82 per share, compared to $0.84 during the same period last year. The stock finished the day up 0.87% to $63.17 and will announce its quarterly results before the market opens.

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• DuPont (DD) : DuPont is going to be reporting its first quarter numbers tomorrow. Analysts have forecast earnings of $1.06, verses $0.54 during the same period last year. The company will be announcing earnings before the market opens in the morning. The stock is trading down 0.9% today to $40.57.
• Xilinx (XLNX) : Xilinx is due to report fiscal fourth quarter numbers tomorrow, and analysts forecasts are for $0.45 per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.20 per share. The stock is trading down 1.4% today to $26.83. Earnings will be released after the market closes tomorrow.
• Sprint Nextel (S) : Sprint is expected to post a loss of $0.17 for its first quarter tomorrow before the market opens. During the same period last year the company had a loss of $0.21. The stock is trading down 0.8% today to $4.20.
• General Dynamics (GD) : General Dynamics will report its first quarter numbers tomorrow before the market opens, and Wall Street is expecting to see the company post $1.51 per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $1.54 per share. The stock is trading down 0.4% today to $78.33.

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Shares of Caterpillar are up 4.5% on the day to $71.91, up $3.13 following better than expected results this morning before the market opened.

Analysts were forecasting $0.39 per share, and the company easily outpaced those estimates with a reported $0.50 per share.

Revenues were a bit shy of analyst estimates, but the stock is surging after it raised its forecast for full year 2010 to $2.50 to $3.25 a share, up from its previous forecast of $2.50 per share.

S&P boosted its price target on the stock to $80 a share, and maintained its Buy rating on the company.

The company noted that the global economy is definitely improving, and as a result construction has been rebounding. This helped pushed the overall market higher today, with the DOW up over 25 points in afternoon trading.

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• Microsoft (MSFT) : Tech giant Microsoft set a new 52 week high today, trading up to $31.58 before closing the trading session down 1.4% on the day to $30.96, down $0.43. The company posted better than expected fiscal Q3 earnings last night following the market close.
• Apple Computer (AAPL) : Apple continues to trade strongly following better than expected earnings earlier this week. The stock hit a new all time high today of $272.18. The stock finished out the session up 1.6% to $270.83, up $4.36.
• Home Depot (HD) : Home improvement giant Home Depot set a new 52 week high today. The stock traded as high as $36.44 and closed the session just under its daily high at $36.39, up $0.67 or 1.9%. Home Depot will not be reporting its earnings until mid May.
• American Express (AXP) : Financial giant American Express set a new 52 week high today of $49.19. The stock closed the day up 2.7% at $48.05, up $1.28. The company posted better than expected earnings Thursday night, reporting $0.73 per share, verses analyst estimates for $0.63.

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Going into this mornings earnings report, analysts were forecasting $0.15 per share, verses $0.05 during the same period last year.

Actual earnings came in well above estimates, at $0.18 per share excluding special items.

Revenues were up by 33% during the quarter to $4.7 billion. Analysts had forecast revenues of $4.79 billion.

Looking ahead Xerox stated that it expects to earn 20 to 22 cents for its second quarter, above Wall Street estimates of $0.18.

The stock is trading up 10.2% today to $11.52, up $1.07.

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• Yahoo (YHOO) : Yahoo was upgraded this morning by EVA Dimensions, LLC to Hold from Underweight. The stock is trading up 0.7% following the upgrade to $17.58, up $0.13
• J. Crew Group, Inc. (JCG) : The stock was upgraded today by EVA Dimensions, LLC today to Overweight from Hold. The stock is trading up 2.0% to $47.83, up $0.96.
• McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) : McDonald’s was upgraded today by Credit Suisse to Outperform from Neutral. The stock is trading up 0.4% on the day to $70.62, up $0.26.

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• Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) : Following tomorrow’s market close, online auction giant Amazon is going to report its first quarter results. Analysts are forecasting earnings of $0.61 per share, verses $0.41 during the same period last year.
• American Express Co. (AXP) : American Express will report Q1 earnings tomorrow after the market close, and Wall Street analysts are looking to see earnings of $0.63 per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.32.
• Pepsico (PEP) : Pepsi is going to be reporting Q1 numbers tomorrow. Analysts are expecting to see the company post earnings of $0.75 per share, verses $0.71 during the same period last year. The company will report numbers before the market open.
• Capital One Financial (COF) : Capital One will be reporting its first quarter numbers tomorrow, and analysts are forecasting earnings of $0.57 per share, verses a loss of $0.45 during the same period last year. Capital One will be reporting its earnings before the market opens in the morning.

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As we noted in our earnings preview for Apple, analysts had forecast earnings of $2.45 per share, and the company blew past those estimates with a reported $3.33.

Once again the company got a big boost from iPhone sales, with 8.7 million new iPhones sold during the quarter, more than double the amount of iPhones sold last year.

Looking ahead Apple expects to earn $2.28 to $2.39 per share for its current quarter.

Apple stock is up 5.6% on the day to $258.28, up $13.69 and hit a new all time high today at $260.25.

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• McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) : McDonald’s is going to be reporting its first quarter numbers tomorrow with analysts forecasting $0.96 per share, verses $0.83 during the same period last year. The company will be reporting its Q1 numbers before the market opens in the morning.
• The Boeing Company (BA) : Boeing is due to report its Q1 results tomorrow, and Wall Street has forecast earnings of $0.64 per share, verse $0.87 during the same period last year. Boeing earnings will be released before the market opens tomorrow.
• Amgen (AMGN) : Amgen will be reporting first quarter numbers tomorrow after the market closes. Analysts have forecast earnings of $1.24 per share, verses $1.08 during the same period last year.
• Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) : Qualcomm is going to be reporting fiscal Q2 earnings tomorrow, and analysts are forecasting $0.57 per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.41, and will be reporting after the market closes Wednesday.

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