Analyst downgrades 10-18-06: Yahoo!, Motorola, IBM

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Yahoo! (YHOO), Motorola (MOT) and IBM Corp. (IBM) top today's extensive list of downgrades.

Piper Jaffray downgraded Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Market Perform from Outperform citing market share losses and declining shares of display ad dollars. The firm also said Yahoo! has not kept up with user trends and may have missed earlier opportunities in areas of growth that include social networking sites. Piper also lowered Yahoo!'s target to $28 from $36.
Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at Pacific Crest, following the third-quarter miss. The firm believes market share gains and margin expansion are reflected in Motorola's shares.
Merrill Lynch downgraded IBM Corp (NYSE: IBM) to Neutral from Buy, but raised their target to $91 from $85.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Citigroup downgraded EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) to Hold from Buy citing valuation and limited upside to shares. EMC Corp. was also downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings Ramsey on valuation.
Goldman Sachs downgraded Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) to Neutral from Buy, citing increased competitive concerns as they expect office superstore growth to accelerate.
Pali Capital downgraded Best Buy Co Inc. (NYSE: BBY) to Neutral from Buy on valuation. They believe upside to earnings estimates will be hard to come by in the second-half of the year.
And finally, Robert W. Baird recommends investors take profits on Lear Corp (NYSE: LEA), downgrading the stock to Underperform from Neutral, citing valuation and the Icahn investment.