Today's noteworthy upgrades include: AB InBev (BUD) upgraded to Buy from Hold at ING Group... ARM Holdings (ARMH) upgraded on valuation, expectations at Bernstein... Amazon.com (AMZN) upgraded to Buy on valuation, scale opportunity at Evercore ISI... BB&T (BBT) upgraded on valuation at BMO Capital... BHP Billiton (BHP) upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital... Baker Hughes (BHI) upgraded to Conviction List from Outperform at Iberia... Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Sandler O'Neill... Best Buy (BBY) upgraded to Strong Buy from Market Perform at Raymond James... Children's Place (PLCE) upgraded to Positive at Susquehanna... Ciena (CIEN) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James... Citizens Financial (CFG) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim... Cooper Companies (COO) upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at KeyBanc... Credit Acceptance (CACC) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at JMP Securities... Dover (DOV) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Vertical Research... Eaton (ETN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Vertical Research... Emerson (EMR) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Vertical Research... Fidelity National Information (FIS) upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital... Fifth Third (FITB) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein... Google upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman... Healthcare Realty Trust (HR) upgraded on valuation at Stifel... Healthcare Trust (HTA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel... Helmerich & Payne (HP) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan... IBM (IBM) upgraded to Buy at Argus on valuation, easier comps... Infosys (INFY) upgraded to Buy from Underperform at Jefferies... KMG Chemicals (KMG) upgraded to Accumulate from Neutral at Global Hunter... KeyCorp (KEY) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein... LVMH (LVMUY) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale... Marathon Petroleum (MPC) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan... Mercer (MERC) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James... NICE Systems (NICE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS... National Oilwell (NOV) upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan... Nike (NKE) upgraded to Positive at Susquehanna... Nimble Storage (NMBL) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Wunderlich... Ocwen (OCN) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Compass Point... Orange SA (ORAN) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citi... Oshkosh (OSK) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Drexel Hamilton... PACCAR (PCAR) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray... Prosperity Bancshares (PB) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Sterne Agee CRT... RBS (RBS) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley... Regal Entertainment (RGC) upgraded to Buy from Long-Term Buy at Hilliard Lyons... Sarepta (SRPT) upgraded at RBC Capital on expectations for eteplirsen approval... Spectra Energy (SE) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS... TreeHouse (THS) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens... WhiteWave (WWAV) upgraded to Buy from Outperform at CLSA... Zions Bancorp (ZION) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

BHP Group (BHP) is weighing a possible acquisition of Anglo American (NGLOY), Bloomberg's Crystal Tse, Dinesh Nair, and Thomas Biesheuvel report, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The company has recently been evaluating the possibility of an offer for Anglo American, the authors note. Reference Link

Welcome to "#SocialStocks," The Fly's weekly recap of Wall Street's reactions to social media stock news.  TIK TOK BAN... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Microsoft (MSFT) is scheduled to report results of the third quarter of its fiscal year 2024 after the market close on Thursday, April 25, with a conference call scheduled for 5:30 pm ET. What to watch... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks. NEW RELEASES: This... To see the rest of the story go to thefly.com. See Story Here

Argus raised the firm's price target on Citizens Financial to $39 from $36 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after its Q1 earnings beat. Regional bank shares have faced pressure since the failure of three regional banks amid higher deposit costs, commercial real estate exposure, and unrealized losses in the investment portfolio, but Citizens and other regional banks have adequately allayed these fears with their recent results, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Citizens has also hired a number of ex-First Republic advisors to expand its presence in the wealth management business, Argus added.

Tuesday's total option volume of 40.6 million contracts resulted in net open interest growth of 5.36 million calls and 4.67 million puts. Tesla (TSLA), AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC), Amazon (AMZN) and Ford (F) saw the greatest growth. Top five new positions opened include 40k Wal-Mart (WMT) May-24 59 calls, 37k AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC) Sep-24 8 puts, 36k AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC) Sep-24 7 puts, 28k Ford (F) 4/26 weekly 13 calls and 26k Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) May-24 20 calls.

Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt raised the firm's price target on Amazon.com to $225 from $220 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares ahead of quarterly results. The firm thinks Amazon is well positioned this year with multiple drivers of sustainable margin expansion in place. The company has reported operating income ahead of Street estimates for five consecutive quarters, and Wedbush estimates Q1 operating income of $11.6B, approximately 5% above consensus. Heading into results, the firm is looking for sustained advertising momentum given positive feedback from advertisers in its Q1 Digital Advertising Survey and from digital advertising agencies, accelerating AWS growth and incremental commentary on AI-related demand, and ongoing improvements in both North America and International retail margins.

Citi analyst Ronald Josey raised the firm's price target on Amazon.com to $235 from $215 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst "materially" raised operating income projections on Amazon following an analysis of the company's Advertising and Retail businesses. Citi now projects operating income to reach 10% margins in 2025 on continued advertising strength and improving retail efficiencies. Given faster shipping speeds, the firm believes conversion rates are improving as Amazon's retail business benefits from its regionalization approach with shorter transport distances as the overall cost to serve comes down. Amazon remains one of its top picks across the internet sector.

Loop Capital upgraded Sea Limited to Buy from Hold with a price target of $92, up from $59. The stock's valuation pressure the last two years is mainly because of aggressive competition and share loss to TikTok, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, the firm says the recent announcement of a commission rate increase by the combined TikTok-Tokopedia, its first move since merging to satisfy Indonesian regulators, "has sparked a revaluation" Sea shares. Loop believes this signals that the shift to sustained profitable growth is "finally underway" and serves as a significant catalyst for revaluation of Sea Limited. With "competitive rationality" setting in, Loop moved from its "broken stock" valuation framework for Sea.