New York, January 3^rd (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades

Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR), the maker of programmable logic devices, was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO), the specialty retailer of casual apparel and outerwear for men and women, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Jefferies. The stock was also upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), the networking giant, was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Fusion-io (NYSE:FIO) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), the dynamic random access memory chips maker, was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD), the developer and manufacturer of WAN optimization and network traffic measurement products, was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer. The firm set its target price at $30.

TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP), the online travel research Company, was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill. 

V.F. Corp (NYSE:VFC), the owner of brands like Wrangler, Nautica, and The North Face, was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

Under Armour (NYSE:UA) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird. The firm raised its target price to $90 from $84.

Downgrades

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM), the provider of delivery services for streaming media, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital Markets.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT), the owner and operator of wireless towers, was downgraded to a Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), the provider of nano-manufacturing technology solutions, was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), the world’s largest chipmaker, was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP), the maker of microcontrollers and related mixed-signal and memory products, was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays. Microchip was also downgraded to a Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE), the Florida based electric utility, was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK), the maker of flash storage products, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE), the natural gas distributor, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM), the home furnishings and cooking equipment retailer, was downgraded to a Sell from Neutral at Janney Capital Markets.