First, let me say that of the ones that are overly shorted, I like Ethan Allen (ETH), Sears (SHLD), Bankrate (RATE) and Panera (PNRA), all profitable, all either doing well or could turn, and all do well if the housing market turns.

Buy - Price $33.01 on July 7
by Merriman Curhan Ford

We are upgrading to Buy from Neutral. We believe that this morning's preannouncement and lower outlook for FY08 is more than priced into the stock. Among other reasons for our upgrade are: 1) Bankrate is among the most pure plays in online advertising, in our view; 2) the company is a leading financial portal in the sector; 3) it has diversified its revenue base away from mortgages; 4) it has a very high level of organic traffic, a valuable asset; 5) the release of the redesigned Website should optimize advertising sales; and 6) it trades below its peer group and the recent takeout multiples of online media companies... .RATE is trading at 9.2 times EV/Ebitda [enterprise value, or market value plus net debt, to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization], below the peer group average of 11.2 times. The company has an above-average Ebitda growth outlook of 32% in FY08, which could potentially command a modest premium valuation to peers. Market cap: $510 million.

Market Outperform - Price 40.24 on June 24
by JMP Securities

[We note] some softness in site traffic in June as interest-rate volatility subsides, offset by continued strength in the [certificate of deposit/money-market] channel....We expect the 15% to 20% price increase for CD/MM rate tables to add about $2 million to revenues in 2008, offsetting the weakness in mortgages. RATE trades at 11 times 2008 enterprise value/earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization...in line with the comparable group's 10.9 times....[this] strong business model is expected to generate 25%-plus organic growth in '08. Market cap: $747 million.

Market Outperform - Price 49.60 on May 21
by JMP Securities

Target: 55. RATE is down 6.5% since announcing impressive 1Q08 results May 1. We believe this [is because] despite 1Q08 outperformance, management did not raise guidance, or discuss organic growth....We believe investor fears are overdone...demand for advertising on Bankrate remains robust, despite the difficult environment...as acquisitions scale, margin expansion should come from both top-line growth and expense optimization. Bankrate currently trades at 13.8 times our 2008 adjusted Ebitda [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] estimate of $65.6 million. Market cap: $910 million.

Barring a deep recession, Bankrate's outlook is surprisingly strong. Bulls see its stock up 25% in a year.

Jefferies said it is downgrading Bankrate (RATE) to Hold from Buy based on valuation. Note recent 40% surge in share price thanks to falling interest rates and expectations for strong Q4 results. Maintained $56 target.

Bankrate (RATE) was downgraded from Buy to Hold, Citigroup said. $57 price target. Valuation call, as the stock is up 57% over the past two months. Fundamental thesis remains unchanged ahead of Tuesday's quarterly report.

Bankrate (RATE) was downgraded from Sector Perform to Underperform, CIBC said. Insider sales make an outright sale of the company unlikely. Stock is also trading at 31% premium to its peers.

Outperform - Price 48.82 on Oct. 16
by RBC Capital Markets
Shares currently trade at 14 times 2008 Ebitda and 25 times EPS, a reasonable but not overly inexpensive multiple versus the range of 10 times to 16 times over the past 12 months...advertisers are spending more on Bankrate than they did this time last year, or even in 1H07...We continue to believe that RATE has among the best fundamentals in the small-cap Internet space. [Yet] we believe the easy money may have been made, [thus, we reduce] our rating from Top Pick to Outperform. Target: 59.

Bankrate (RATE) was upgraded to Buy, Oppenheimer said. $53 price target. Company posted solid growth across the board last quarter, and forward estimates have been raised.

Also, RATE was upgraded from Hold to Buy, AG Edwards said. $50 price target. The company boosted its guidance, as an improved revenue mix is helping margins.

From Barron's 3-26-07

"We are still short Bankrate [RATE]. We were painfully early on Bankrate, judging from the fact the stock went from 20 at the time we spoke two years ago to 39 now. But we actually think our original thesis is unfolding now and see Bankrate as a play on mortgage velocity, which is coming down. Organic growth has all but stopped, as you can see from the deceleration of their page-view growth, but they have made some acquisitions. They've surprised on the upside with earnings expectations because they raised prices aggressively for advertising on their site with Internet banner ads and click-throughs. We think the price increases on ad rates are unsustainable."