Underperform - Price 42.94 on May 26 by Cowen & Co. BA's investor day had pluses (787 execution; aircraft finance); but potential to avoid a 2010-'11 earnings-per-share decline still looks doubtful. We prefer Precision Castparts (PCP) and Rockwell Collins (COL) for safer 787 plays, with 8%-plus cash-flow yields. Supply-chain issues are easing, and the first flight is likely in late June. But challenges still include an aggressive 8½-month certification schedule and ramp.... Likely use of a large (est.: 700-to-800-unit) accounting block may allow initial 787 profitability, despite massive estimated $8-billion-plus in deferred costs from 787's unprecedented 22-month delay; but this would limit downstream margin upside.... [We also see] lower 2010 free cash flow. Market cap: $30.4 billion.

Outperform/Aggressive - Price 12 on May 26 by Barrington Research Based in San Diego, BPI is regionally-accredited and offers associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs -- through online delivery and traditional ground campuses in Iowa and Colorado -- in...business, education, psychology, and social and health sciences. As of March 31, Bridgepoint had total enroll[ment] of 42,025 students (+115% year/over/year), 98% of whom were exclusively online. With a long-term projected earnings growth rate of 30%-plus, BPI is among the most rapidly growing companies in the post-secondary education group. Trading at 13.4 times and 9.7 times our 2009 and 2010 estimates of 90 cents and $1.25, respectively, it trades at a discount to its peer group. Target: 20. Market cap: $639 million.

Hold - Price 8.26 on May 26 by Roth Capital Partners GA, which develops and operates online games in China, reported first-quarter '09 revenue of $54.7 million...slightly below our and Street estimates; yet EPS of 15 cents was 1 cent ahead of our estimate and consensus. We're maintaining our Hold rating, but increasing our target to 7 (previously 6) to account for sector multiple expansion...which translates into 10 times our [fiscal-year] '10 E-EPS...a slight discount to the peer group. We believe the shares are [now] fairly valued. Market cap: $1.8 billion.

Long-Term Market Outperform - Price 8.54 on May 26 by Sturdivant & Co. [Met-Pro's business is product recovery, pollution control, and fluid-handling applications.] 1Q earnings were 3 cents below our 10-cent estimate. We believe [this] is a well-managed company with a highly experienced management team. [We see MPR's] long-term outlook remain[ing] favorable, due to its growth drivers, growth strategies and margin-improvement initiatives. But in the near-term, unfavorable economic conditions have caused us to lower our estimates, leading us to cut our target to 10 (from 12), based on the stock trading at 20 times our forward four-quarter diluted-earnings estimate. Market cap: $125 million.

Outperform - Price 16.14 on May 26 by Pacific Crest Symantec is still seeing some uncertainty surrounding [information-technology] spending....While SYMC doesn't believe that conditions will worsen, it is hesitant to call a recovery for the June quarter, as many customers still appear to be in wait-and-see mode....We believe SYMC shares will appreciate if the company can show stabilization in its business and some predictability on the top line...[and] we believe that the magnitude of cost control...remains underappreciated by investors and that the current consensus estimate, which calls for 40 basis points of margin compression this year relative to fiscal 2009...represent[s] a worst-case scenario [rather] than provid[ing] a probable outcome. While shares have now reset to our initial upgrade price, we are increasingly confident in the story and new management's ability to drive a return to organic growth in key areas such as security and compliance. We reiterate our Buy rating and 21 [target] on these shares -- roughly 12 times our [calendar] 2010 estimate of $1.73. Market cap: $11.75 billion.

Buy - Price 66.54 on May 26 by Maxim Group With the approval of Adcirca [as a first-line treatment of pulmonary-arterial hypertension, or PAH], UTHR would have two (possibly three, pending late-July Tyvaso approval) PAH drugs....With an increasingly strong position in the PAH treatment marketplace, UTHR should have greater leverage to expand revenue. As such, we believe the stock still has significant room to rise based on our expected rapid top- and bottom-line growth over the next few years and recommend UTHR to moderate-risk-tolerant investors as an important stock in health care. Target: 96. Market cap: $1.7 billion.

Buy - Price 16.38 on May 26 by Sterne, Agee & Leach [World Acceptance Corp. is one of the largest small-loan consumer finance companies in the U.S.] We are raising our rating on World Acceptance from Neutral to Buy and establishing a price target of 23.50. We are reducing our 2010 EPS estimate from $3.80 to $3.70 per share. This change reflects our expectations that losses could move up modestly over 2009 EPS levels. WRLD has indicated that it expects losses to decline modestly....The real issue driving results will be credit quality. After warning investors for several quarters that the expected loss ratio is to increase, management [recently] indicated it expects loan quality to improve. If this occurs, EPS is likely to meet or beat our estimates, and the stock goes higher. [Even] if not -- if credit losses move higher than we are modeling -- the company [should] remain profitable, and the shares should trade within a current range of 15 to 18....The shares are trading below tangible book value, and at a discount to the bulk of its other, branch-based peers....The March quarter is always the most profitable and the period in which the greatest growth in tangible book is likely to occur. Market cap: $265 million.

Outperform - Price 13.70 on May 26 by Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller The key macro themes from [our recent visits to Zions subsidiaries] are: the Colorado and Nevada banks are pursuing acquisition opportunities (which indicates that the company feels confident about its capital and ability to get it if needed); competition has pulled back significantly, causing pricing for both loans and deposits to improve; credit quality continues to weaken, and there are opportunities to improve profitability after the credit cycle. We maintain our outperform rating and 16 target (about 75% of projected tangible book value), as we feel the capital needs are lower than the market expects and credit quality in its worst markets (Nevada and Arizona) is close to peaking, or is being dealt with aggressively. Market cap: $1.6 billion.