Salesforce.com (CRM) provides applications that manage customer information for sales, marketing and customer support. It has a customer base of approximately 85,000 clients. Its service provides sales leads, maintaining customer information and tracking customer interactions.

Intuit (INTU) caters to small businesses with its QuickBooks and TurboTax software. As well, it provides payroll and financial software for small businesses. The company has about 50 million users of its products.

The next quarter is always the most nerve-wracking for Intuit's (INTU) shareholders. It's during this time that its flagship TurboTax product gets much of its business.

Yet, based on the latest earnings report, it looks like Intuit should do fine. In Friday morning trading, the stock was up nearly 7% to $53.85.

New technology spawns still more technology. Such is the case with smart phones. Entrepreneurs have found a way to facilitate buying with your smart phone. Companies like Intuit (INTU) and VeriFone (PAY) have created a card reader that can be inserted into your iPhone (AAPL) or other smart phone. Then you can swipe a credit card through the reader and use it to make online purchases.

The potential of this new technology is enormous. Analysts estimate that the industry will grow to $11 billion this year.

Intuit Inc. (INTU) received some good word today from a major firm. According to our Analyst Calls article, Citigroup initiated the company with a buy rating. Not bad for shareholders.

Or is it? At the close of the session, shares of the name behind Turbo Tax were off by 0.3% to $48.87. That might represent a very small sell-off, but when you read that a stock has received a buy rating, the hope is for a little more action. It makes you wonder if the idea may not actually be worth buying.

Analyst Upgrades

• Disney (DIS) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Pike Electric (PIKE) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Kindred Healthcare (KND) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• UBS (UBS) to hold from sell at Canaccord.
• Avery Dennison (AVY) and Take-Two (TTWO) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Mercer (MERC) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.

Last week, Intuit (INTU) had its biggest one-day gain since 2001, with the stock surging about 15%. The reason was a strong earnings report, in which the company provided a bullish outlook as well as a $2 billion stock buyback. Even with the higher price, the momentum should continue.

After all, Intuit keeps innovating its product line -- and has the luxury of a hefty customer base. Just look at the company's latest offering: a complete credit card system for the iPhone. To pull this off, Intuit has teamed-up with mophie.

Analyst Upgrades

• Auriga upgraded Leap Wireless (LEAP) to buy from hold following the company's Q2 results and analyst day, citing valuation, longer-term potential for consolidation and prospects for business improvements. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $16 from $19.
• Goldman upgraded Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from sell following the company's announcement to explore strategic alternatives. The firm raised its price target to $15 from $12.
• RBC Capital upgraded ESCO Technologies (ESE) to sector perform from underperform following the better-than-expected Q3 report. The firm raised its price target to $30 from $28.
• MetLife (MET) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Priceline.com (PCLN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• HSBC (HBC) was upgraded to outperform from underperform at CLSA.

Running a consulting business can be a juggling act. It's not easy to manage a variety of accounts while also continuing to look for new business. And, in light of the tough economy, clients are looking for ways to cut back on services.

What to do? Well, you can try to find new revenue sources. And one interesting option is to sell software products.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Psychiatric Solutions (PSYS) to neutral from underweight on expectations the company's merger with Universal Health (UHS) will close.
• Jefferies upgraded Intuit (INTU) to buy from neutral and has a $45 price target on the stock. The firm expects Intuit's 2011 tax season to be at least as good as 2010's and sees improvement in the SMB exposed businesses.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Unica (UNCA) to outperform from market perform. The firm upgraded the stock due to what it sees as improving trends in marketing spending, upcoming enhancements in the company's products and long-term opportunity for marketing software to exceed expectations.
• Textron (TXT) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• RightNow (RNOW) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Beazer Homes (BZH) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.

As a major validation of the importance of smartphones, HP (HPQ) agreed to shell out $1.2 billion for Palm (PALM) this week. The truth is that consumers and businesses are increasingly using mobile devices. In fact, the market for smartphones is $100 billion and growing at more than 20% per year.

OK, so how can you use a smartphone to help your business? Actually, one idea is to turn it into a point-of-sale system, which is actually fairly straightforward and affordable.

Even though there are signs of improvement, the U.S. economy still remains sluggish. No doubt, this has been particularly tough for small business owners.

So to help things along, Congress has passed another stimulus bill: The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act.

Late last month, H&R Block (HRB) dropped a bomb on investors. The company slashed its outlook because of the slow start of the tax season. As a result, H&R Block's stock price fell 13%.

So Monday, the company reported its official fiscal third-quarter results. Profits came to $50.6 million, or $0.15 per share, up from $47.4 million, or $0.14 per share in the same period a year ago.

Not long ago, marketing was fairly simple for local businesses. You would place an ad in the Yellow Pages. There may even be an occasional mailer and sponsorship.

But of course, things have gotten more complicated lately as customers increasingly use the Internet. Unless you are a marketing expert, you'll probably have trouble handling things like dealing with the hundreds of local search engines and directories, the need to write strong copy, bidding effectively on key search terms and even putting together compelling videos.

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

• Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) second quarter EPS guidance fell short of analysts' estimates, sending shares lower.
• CBS Corp. (CBS) higher Q4 earnings were in line with analysts' expectations but free cash flow declined.
• Deere & Co. (DE) posted higher Q1 earnings that easily topped expectations, sending shares sharply higher.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) received a downgrade from an analyst that foresees contracting earnings, returns and margins.
• Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) better-than-expected Q1 results were accompanied by a better-than-expected outlook.