Tax specialist H&R Block (HRB) is slated to take the earnings stage tonight, with Wall Street anticipating a fiscal second-quarter loss of 38 cents per share -- right in line with the firm's year-ago deficit. HRB has been a solid performer on the earnings front, as the company has surpassed analysts' bottom-line expectations in each of the past four quarters.

Judging by today's option activity, traders are anticipating another upside surprise from HRB. Within the first two hours of the session, no fewer than 13,000 calls crossed the tape -- absolutely dwarfing HRB's average daily call volume of just 4,012 contracts.

It's been brutal for H&R Block (HRB). Its stock has gone from $23 to $12.50 a share over the past year. But in the latest earnings report, there was some hopeful news for shareholders. In fact, H&R Block's shares were up 8% following the report. However, there are still challenges for the company and its probably better to look at the stock early next year, at the start of the new tax season.

In the fiscal first quarter, H&R Block posted a loss of $130.7 million, or $0.41 per share. Of course, the shortfall is normal because of the seasonality in the business.

H&R Block (HRB) was in focus Tuesday morning, thanks to an SEC filing Monday that revealed Soros Fund Management boosted its stake in the tax preparer during the second quarter. The equity has inched moderately higher Tuesday morning, but option volume has soared well beyond HRB's usual levels. Within the first hour of trading, put volume surged to roughly 26 times the norm, with about 4,300 contracts changing hands.

HRB's January 2011 11-strike put was most active, with 4,140 contracts trading within the first hour of the session. About 97% of these puts changed hands at the ask price, implying they were purchased, and implied volatility on this out-of-the-money option rose 2.9 percentage points. With just 339 contracts in open interest at the January 11 put, it's a safe bet that new positions are being opened.

Analyst upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded Boeing (BA) to outperform from market perform. The firm is more confident about the company's earnings growth going forward.
• Oppenheimer upgraded H&R Block (HRB) to outperform from perform on expectations the company will improve performance in 2011. The firm has a $22 price target for shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded SunTrust (STI) to buy from hold to reflect valuation and expectations the company's credit will improve. The firm raised its target for shares to $34 from $29.
• Children's Place (PLCE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Taubman Centers (TCO) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS.
• Cavium Networks (CAVM) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.

Even though it is the leader in the tax prep business, H&R Block (HRB) hasn't been able to escape the downward pressure from rising unemployment and the move to digital technologies. Today, the company announced that it would fall below its fiscal 2010 outlook of $1.60 to $1.80 per share in earnings and low single-digit revenue growth. As a result, H&R Block's shares plunged 13% to $17.09.

Drilling down on the numbers, there was a 5.6% drop in tax returns from retail stores (as of February 15th). Total returns were off by 6.3%.

These results are troubling in light of the fact that H&R Block should be able to pick-up business from ailing competitors, like Jackson Hewitt (JTX).

H&R Block (HRB) is ready to tackle its 55th tax season. However, the company realizes that it needs to rejuvenate things, as its brand has become outmoded and growth has slowed.

This week, the company posted its latest quarterly report, which showed a 7.2% decrease in revenues to $326.1 million and a loss of $128.6 million, or $0.38 per share. Because of the seasonality of the tax business, the second half of the year typically has losses.

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

• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings due to higher enrollments.
• Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) expected earnings growth resulted in an upgrade from one analyst.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) shares soared after Q1 earnings topped analysts' expectations.
• General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) profit doubled in Q4, beating estimates, and annual sales also rose.
• H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) reported earnings growth for the fiscal year but essentially flat revenues.
• Schnitzer Steel industries Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHN) surprised analysts with a Q3 loss, sending shares lower.
• Sealy Corp. (NYSE: ZZ) Q2 earnings fell short of expectations and revenues declined due to the recession.

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) closed at $15.38. HRB is expected to report Q4 EPS on June 29. HRB July option implied volatility of 42 is below its 26-week average of 47, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

General Mills (NYSE: GIS) closed at $54.72. GIS is scheduled to report EPS Q4 on July 1. GIS pre-announced EPS on June 8. GIS June option implied volatility of 25 is near its 26-week average of 27, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) closed at $15.86. HRB May option implied volatility is at 53, July is at 51; below its 26-week average of 56, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) closed at $25.39. INTU May option implied volatility is at 41; July is at 42; below its 26-week average of 49, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE: JTX) has approximately 6,800 offices. JTX closed at $8.24. JTX is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on March 3. JTX March and April option implied volatility of 79 is above its 26-week average of 58, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) closed at $20.14 HRB is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on March 6. HRB March option implied volatility is at 64, April is at 55 above its 26-week average of 54 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement into EPS.

Tax specialist H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), whose colleagues include Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) and Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX), prepared its Q2 earnings report for investors on Monday after the exchanges had closed. According to this article, the company met expectations for the bottom line. H&R Block saw a net loss of $0.40 per share from continuing operations. That was an improvement of two cents when compared to Q2 2007.

While the bottom line met expectations, the top line came in below what Wall Street was hoping for. The call was for a little over $397 million in sales revenue. H&R Block actually delivered $351.5 million. So, when you add it all together, you come up with something of a lukewarm quarter, in my opinion.

But you have to remember something about this business: tax season is coming up. So, even though we're talking about a loss right now, we should be talking about a profit once the fiscal year concludes. In fact, analysts are calling for H&R Block to earn around $1.63 per share. Management believes that somewhere between $1.60 and $1.70 per share is conceivable. That leaves room for a beat. And, at the stock's current price, H&R Block may be cheap.

Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX) is recently down 10 cents to $17.07. JTX is scheduled to report Q1 EPS on September 4. Soleil Group says: "We believe there are too many uncertainties to be aggressive one way or the other; we are maintaining our Hold rating." JTX September option implied volatility of 50 is below its 26-week average of 55 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) is recently up 24 cents to $25.23. Soleil Group has a Buy rating and price target of $28 on HRB. HRB September option implied volatility of 40 is near its 26-week average, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX down 27c to 19.48; 10-day moving average is 20.24

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), whose colleagues include Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) and Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX), reported Q4 and full-year earnings on Monday. The numbers looked pretty good to me. For Q4, revenues increased 11% to $2.6 billion and earnings per diluted share from continuing operations increased 17% to $2.11. According to this article, analysts' expectations were beat by $0.08. For the full year, the top line expanded by 10%, coming in at $4.4 billion. Earnings per diluted share from continuing operations jumped 21% to $1.39.

The tax specialist said it worked with 23.5 million clients, the most ever in its corporate history. That's a nice indication of health for the company, I suppose, but here's a better one. The board decided to juice the dividend. The annual payment will now be $0.60 per share, translating to a 5% increase. Okay, 5% isn't too exciting, I'll grant you, but H&R Block has now increased its payments to shareholders every year for over a decade.

But, as the company stated in its release, although it intends on repurchasing shares over the next few years, it will remain "particularly disciplined" about the subject in the next fiscal year. Essentially, that means shareholders should not expect a lot of share repurchases for a while. H&R Block is reacting to the fact that it is still rebooting itself after being victimized by the subprime mortgage crisis. I'd rather hear a more aggressive stance in terms of buyback plans, but I'd say there is prudent motive in such posture given the company's state.

Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) is recently down $1.63 to $36.04. MER call option volume of 10,479 contracts compares to put volume of 69,715 contracts. MER July option implied volatility of 77 is above its 26-week average of 51 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) is recently down 46 cents to $22.66. HRB is scheduled to report Q4 EPS on June 30. HRB July 20 puts have traded 27 times on transaction volume of 10,492 contracts, above its open interest of 3,670 contracts. HRB July option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 43 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

H&R Block Inc (NYSE: HRB) was supposedly going to dispose of its subprime mortgage, use the proceeds to buyback a huge chunk of stock and begin growing its tax business. Further, there was also speculation that following the sale of the mortgage business, private equity might like to scoop the company up.

However, from this week's earnings results and news earlier in the year regarding the complex structure for the sale of its subprime mortgage business, some serious questions have been raised regarding the outlook for this company. In addition, continued weakness in the tax preparation business, its flagship business, raises another red flag.

Recent news regarding Bear Stearns Hedge Fund blow-up with the final settlement-up price for Option One, H&R Block's subprime business, not to be determined until October limits investors knowledge on how much money will be available for share buybacks.

All told, H&R Block is one heck of a franchise name, but, from an investment perspective, appears to be a bet on private equity coming in and paying a premium price. Earning guidance for 2008 is looking pretty weak. If you are willing to bet on the likelihood of a buyout firm taking the company out, buy the stock. However, more evidence of a turnaround in the operations of this business is needed to drive this stock higher in the short term.