Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) beat estimates but shares fell to a new 52-week low.
• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) posted better-than-expected Q2 results and listed its guidance.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) issued a lackluster Q2 earnings report and will buy back shares.
• Concur Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CNQR) Q3 revenues spiked, and it announced a big deal.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) swung to a Q2 profit due to a tax refund, but revenue growth was minimal.
• Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) narrowed its loss in Q1 as revenue more than doubled.
• First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) easily beat analysts' expectations and raised its guidance.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) posted a bigger-than-expected Q2 loss on massive charges.
• Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) posted solid Q2 results on price increases, and raised its guidance.
• Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) reported healthy Q2 results on merger and restructuring deals.
• Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MER) warned of a $5.7 billion write-down in the third quarter.
• Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) posted breakeven earnings while revenue fell but beat estimates.
• Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) reported a Q2 loss due to slower sales, sending shares lower.
• Siemens (NYSE: SI) said that Q3 earnings fell from a one-time gain last year.
• Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) Q1 profits tumbled on lower handset and flat-panel TV sales.
• Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) forecast a loss in this quarter due to weakness in the financial sector.
• Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) had better-than-expected Q2 results on growth in wireless.
• Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) reported strong Q3 results that easily beat Wall Street expectations.
• Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) posted better-than-expected Q2 profit on theme park and ESPN strength.

For more highlights from this week, see: Exxon, Starbucks, Viacom, Comcast, Sirius, Kraft and others

Upcoming quarterly reports include Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Jack-in-the-Box (NYSE: JBX), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI), Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), and Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Back in 2001, Concur Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ: CNQR) hit a low of 31 cents per share. At that time, investors had lost all confidence in the Internet. What's more, Concur was in an un-sexy space; that is, a provider of software to help companies with travel expenses.

But the company's CEO, Steve Singh, was still a believer and thought the market opportunity was huge.

Well, as of now, things are starting to pay off. In fact, this week, Concur announced that it received a $251 million strategic investment from American Express (NYSE: AXP) at $39.25 per share. There is also a warrant to purchase an additional 1.28 million share (see more of today's earnings news).

The earnings crunch is in full swing, and here are a few of the highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ATI) posted lower fourth-quarter profits but record full-year sales.
• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) posted strong results and offered bullish guidance (see transcript).
• Concur Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CNQR) revenue soared and it offered revised guidance.
• Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) posted a bigger-than-expected loss for the fourth-quarter.
• Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) beat earnings expectations but fell short of revenue estimates.
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) beat estimates but shares were dragged down by VMware results.
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) shocked investors and missed earnings expectations (see transcript).
• Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) beat estimates as revenue soared.
• Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) sidestepped the subprime mess and fourth-quarter earnings soared.
• MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) reported a $2.3 million loss due to mortgage write downs.
• Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) posted a $1.6 million loss and lowered its full-year guidance.
• Monster Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST) posted strong results despite weakness in North America.
• ScanSource Inc. (NASDAQ: SCSC) beat earnings estimates but matched revenue forecasts.
• Somanetics Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTS) beat estimates and offered revised guidance.
• Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) beat expectations on revenue growth from overseas.
• UBS (NYSE: UBS) reported a record loss for the fourth quarter due to the subprime crisis.
• VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) missed revenue forecasts, sending shares tumbling.
• Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) posted unimpressive results, but beat earnings expectations (see transcript).

For additional BloggingStocks earnings highlights, see Exxon, Boeing, Halliburton, Sony, UPS, Honda, and others and McDonald's, Kraft, P&G, Verizon, MasterCard, 3M, and others.

Before tailgating begins today, I like to take the time to run through some equity research. While not as exciting as reading Tim Ferriss' 4-Hour Work Week and some of the radical lifestyle experimentation he writes about on his blog, I stumbled upon a company whose IPO I missed, SuccessFactors (NASDAQ: SFSF).

I've written before about new Software as a Service (SaaS) firms like Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) and Concur Technologies (NASDAQ: CNQR) that deliver their software via the internet. Companies employing the software typically rent it and pay as they use it. The software is hosted, which means the software provider manages updates and versions.

I thought it would be worthwhile summarizing some of the research put out this week on the firm by the likes of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.

Corporate strategy expert Sramana Mitra had a nice post yesterday that looked at a broad spectrum of the burgeoning Software as a Service (SaaS) market. Companies like salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) are revolutionizing the software industry by providing hosted versions of traditional software packages and essentially renting them to customers. Customers benefit by paying less money upfront and don't assume the cost of ownership, opting instead to rent software from SaaS companies. Updating and maintenance of software is handled by SaaS firm.

I've been looking at Concur Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNQR). Concur's solutions address automate corporate travel and expense management. Larry Schutts had a good post on the firm saying:

Its flagship program provides the process and information for management to reduce manual processing, improve internal controls, increase business policy compliance, speed up reimbursement, and increase expense report accuracy. The software features Web-based modules for tracking, submitting, and processing reports.

Large corporations like The Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB), J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) and Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) are all looking to 1) manage complicated expense processing 2) lower costs.

SaaS companies are just in their infancy as more business look to rent rather than buy. Check out Taleo Corporation (Nasdaq: TLEO), RightNow Technologies (Nasdaq: RNOW), and Vocus, Inc. (Nasdaq: VOCS).

Zack Miller is the managing editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.