H&R Block did pretty well considering revenues declined almost 3%. Earnings from continuing operations were flat at $2.09 per diluted share. This was enough to beat estimates of $2.05 per share according to this source.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wachovia upgraded Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) to Outperform from Market Perform based on its high margin franchise, valuation, and brand acquisition opportunities, among other reasons.
• Canaccord upgraded Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) to Buy from Speculative Buy based on asset and management quality, size, and liquidity, and view as a potential hedge against inflation and U.S. dollar weakness.
• Cowen upgraded Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Outperform from Neutral. The firm expects Amazon to gain more of the consumer wallet as it focuses on lower prices and a superior shopping experience vs. online and offline competitors.
• Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Nomura.
• FedEx (NYSE: FDX) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

Back in 1999, former Intuit employees -- René Lacerte and Martin Gates -- saw an opportunity in building an affordable, web-based payroll system for small business. So, they started a company called PayCycle.

It was certainly prescient. In fact, this week PayCycle sold to Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) for $170 million.

Besides having a strong on-demand offering, PayCycle also has a large customer base, which comes to roughly 85,000 small businesses. No doubt, this will be a lucrative cross-sell opportunity for Intuit. At the same time, PayCycle will help deal with the intense competitive environment, which includes players like ADP (NYSE: N) and Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX).

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.

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

• Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Q1 earnings were cut almost in half and were lower than expected.
• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) earnings expectations for 2010 resulted in an analyst's upgrade.
• BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was downgraded following its Q4 earnings report.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) beat Q4 earnings expectations but slashed its quarterly dividend.
• Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) posted a smaller-than-expected Q4 loss but sales and gross margins fell.
• Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Q1 earnings and revenue fell and it offered guidance below estimates.
• Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) was upgraded on confidence ahead of the company's earnings report.
• Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) reported a bigger-than-expected drop in Q1 earnings.

With small businesses and consumers feeling the heat, the expectations for Intuit's (NASDAQ: INTU) second quarter results were certainly tempered. But the company was able to pull off a nice performance, with earnings of $85 million, or $0.26 per share. Revenues fell by 5.3% to $791 million.

Intuit is preparing for a protracted slowdown. On the earnings conference call, CEO Brad Smith said the current environment is the "new normal."

The fact is that Intuit has a diversified revenue base, so some of its units showed nice gains. There was a spike in revenues from the online TurboTax franchise. There was also strength in the payroll segment. Still, there was noticeable weakness in products like QuickBooks, Real Estate Solutions, and Quicken.

Among all the negative economic data that came out last week was a positive surprise: retail sales were higher in January. A fluke or a glimmer at the end of the tunnel? That may depend on whether we see any positive surprises arising from items on this week's economic calendar:

• Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference: Monday through Friday
• NY Empire Manufacturing Index (Feb. 2009): Tuesday, 8:30 AM
• NAHB Housing Market Index (Feb. 2009): Tuesday, 1:00 PM
• Fed's Bullard speaks before National Association of Business Economists: Tuesday, 1:00 PM
• Housing starts (Jan. 2009): Wednesday, 8:30 AM
• Fed's Pianalto speaks before Commercial Developers Power Breakfast: Wednesday, 9:00 AM
• Industrial production (Jan. 2009): Wednesday, 9:15 AM
• Fed's Bernanke speaks before National Press Club Luncheon: Wednesday, 12:30 PM

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.

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

• Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) swung to a Q3 loss as same-store sales fell, and it lowered its outlook.
• Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) forecast lower profits due to weaker glass sales but has a strong cash position.
• Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) swung to a Q3 loss as investors requested redemptions.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) profit beat estimates despite the decline in sales, and it reaffirmed its outlook.
• HJ Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) strong Q2 results topped expectations but didn't impress the market.
• Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) reported solid results and offered modest growth for the next quarter.
• Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD) Q3 profits and same-store sales fell and it lowered its guidance.
• Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) fell short of Q3 expectations and said it would reduce capital expenditures in 2009.
• Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) fell short of Q2 expectations and lowered its full-year guidance.
• PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) reaffirmed its previously announced full-year earnings guidance.
• Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) said Q3 earnings and revenue grew sharply, beating expectations.
• Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) posted weak Q3 numbers and discontinued its share buyback activity.
• Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was downgraded on the belief that consensus estimates may be too high.

Despite a slowing economy, Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) continues to eke out growth. In the latest quarter, revenues increased 8% to $481 million.

The good news is that the company has a diversified array of revenue streams – such as with tax preparation, payroll and small business software – that have strong market positions and customer loyalty.

Unfortunately, it looks like the U.S. economy is getting worse – and that means some more weakness for Intuit. Going into the next quarter, the guidance is for revenue growth of 3% to 5%.

Essentially, there are three main drags. First, there has been a fall in merchant transaction volume, which is probably a result of the deterioration of consumer spending. Next, the number of new QuickBooks users has fallen -- perhaps a key reason is that people have a difficulty getting credit to start up businesses. Finally, there are slowdowns in segments like real estate and Quicken.

Analyst upgrades:

• Calyon upgraded major network carriers based on falling oil prices and capacity cuts. The analyst is positive over the next 12 months but cautious short-term given the uncertain economy, and volatile markets and oil prices. AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR) and Delta Air (NYSE: DAL) were upgraded to Add from Neutral and UAL Corp (NASDAQ: UAUA) was raised to Neutral from Reduce.
• Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY) was upgraded at Citigroup to Buy from Hold.
• Boardwalk Pipeline (NYSE: BWP) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Cowen lifted Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) to Outperform from Neutral.
• JP Morgan upgraded Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) to Neutral from Underweight following the better-than-expected Q3 report.
• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Integra LifeSciences (NASDAQ: IART) to Outperform from Perform on valuation, the company's minimal exposure to economic conditions, and expectations for margin improvement and a rebound in organic growth.

• Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) and AerCap Holdings (NYSE: AER) were downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
• UBS downgraded Embarq (NYSE: EQ) to Neutral from Buy following the CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL) merger announcement.

On its face, the fiscal fourth quarter was lackluster for Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU). There was a net loss of $61.9 million, or $0.19 per share. Revenues were up 10.5% to $478.2 million.

But, then again, this is a seasonly slow quarter. Plus, the guidance made up for things. That is, Intuit sees next quarter's revenues at $480 million to $492 million, with a net loss of $0.11 to $0.14 per share.

Actually, Intuit is in the midst of a major transition – from shrink-wrap software to on-demand offerings. In fact, the company is pushing aggressively into free products (which are monetized by add-ons and premium upgrades). For example, Intuit plans to launch FinanceWorks, which is a powerful web-based financial planning platform. The goal is to migrate users to services like bill payment and online banking.

Intuit is also getting traction with its recent acquisitions, such as with ECHO and Homestead. In fact, with Homestead, there's a big opportunity to cross-sell websites to Intuit's four million QuickBooks user base.

For the long haul, Intuit wants to invest more resources into two main categories: global and healthcare. Actually, the company is looking to Asia for growth opportunities.

And, so far in today's trading, Intuit's shares are up 4.7% to $31.46.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Rival home improvement chains Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Not surprisingly, given the ongoing housing slump, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial on average expect both companies to post earnings lower than in the same period a year ago. For Home Depot, that's 61 cents per share, down 20.8%, and for Lowe's, 56 cents per share, down 16.4%. Meanwhile, cabinet maker American Woodmark Corp. (NASDAQ: AMWD), for whom Home Depot and Lowe's are major distributors, is also expected to report lower earnings: 11 cents per share, down 67.6%.

The presidential campaigns have prompted much discussion of energy policy and alternative energy sources. Some solar-energy-related concerns are scheduled to report this week, and expectations seem to be high. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is expected to report 81 cents per share earnings, up 67.9%; ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) is expected to post earnings of 32 cents per share, up 62.5%; and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (NYSE: STP) is expected to have earnings of 32 cents per share, up 21.9%. Even China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CSUN) is expected to have swung to a profit of 3 cents per share, from a per-share loss of 14 cents a year ago.

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.

I recently attended the Warrillow Conference, which focuses on how to sell to the small business market. And, yes, it's a big opportunity -- with more than 27 million small businesses in the U.S. Some of the big players in the space include MasterCard (NYSE: MA), FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) and so on.

Well, one of the panels at Warrillow had a group of small business owners -- and they talked about what works when trying to sell to them.

Let's take a look:

Wearing many hats: The small business owner does just about everything. In other words, time is a precious commodity. So, when pitching, make sure things are clear and concise. What are the main benefits? The costs?

More importantly, small business owners want something that is plug-and-play and doesn't require a big learning curve.

The assistant: Many small business owners have one. And, an assistant is often a gatekeeper.

In other words, it's actually a good idea to make your pitch to the assistant -- since he or she will likely relay the information to the owner.