Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. McDonald's (MCD) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird by analyst David Tarantino, who believes the stock's risk/reward has become more favorable following the year-to-date underperformance. The analyst admits that slower U.S. industry demand trends and challenging upcoming comparisons pose a "short-term headwind," but thinks the company's "attractive" dividend yield can help to limit further downside risk in the shares. 2. United Continental (UAL) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James, with analyst Savanthi Syth applauding the selection of Scott Kirby as President and Andrew Levy as CFO. Syth said both have strong industry experience and has increased conviction United will reduce its margin gap relative to its peers over the next 12-18 months. 3. VMware (VMW) upgraded to Buy from Neutral by SunTrust analyst John Rizzuto, who says that the company has effectively diversified beyond its server virtualization roots. The analyst, who expects the company's revenue to bottom this year and accelerate through the end of the decade, raised his price target on the stock to $92 from $64. 4. Barracuda (CUDA) upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at Pacific Crest, as analyst Rob Owens said he's seeing improved trends due to the company's renewed product alignment and cloud-centric channel marketing campaign. 5. Fortinet (FTNT) upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at Pacific Crest by Rob Owens, who believes management's focus on enhanced profitability should drive share outperformance. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.