May 5 - 1:40pm EDT   American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu has reversed a prior downgrade on share's of Apple Inc, changing his rating on the stock to from Neutral to Buy. Wu's downgrade came right before Apple's blowout March quarter, in which the company announced record revenues on surging Mac sales. Barrons quotes Wu: "We overestimated the potential negative reaction on the quarter and in hindsight should have moderated our near-term posture rather than downgrading. While AAPL shares will likely remain volatile and may offer a better entry point, we need to align our rating with our longer term view on fundamentals." Wu has set a $210 price target on Apple's stock. Barrons also ... [full story]

April 7 - 8:45am EDT  Research firm Thomas Weisel Partners (TWP) on Monday upgraded Apple stock and set a target price of near its previous trading high, noting that the current price severely discounts the long-term growth potential and that any risk for a near-term earnings shortfall has faded. While most analysts have focused on the impending launch of Apple's "3G iPhone" that runs on AT&T's faster mobile network, analyst Doug Reid said that Apple will continue its longer-term growth through its core Mac business as well as continued roll-out of the iPhone to additional countries. [full story]