Pepsi earnings: Does it again

For the fifth straight quarter, PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) reported estimate-beating earnings with outstanding second quarter numbers. Analysts had been looking for the company to show earnings of $0.89 per share, but the company surprised to the upside with $0.94 a share thanks to a 13% jump in quarterly profits.

A good part of this past quarter's success can be attributed to a great boost in its international business, which showed an impressive 18% increase in profits. Other factors that helped push earnings higher were a lower tax rate and strong sales by its Frito-Lay snacks.

In addition to putting up a strong second quarter, the company also announced that it now sees higher full year numbers than it had previously expected. It raised its full year forecast from $3.30 per share to $3.35 a share. This wasn't that surprising as I mentioned yesterday in my earnings preview that Bryan Spillane from Banc of America Securities told his clients he was expecting to see the company show improving growth in the second half of the year.

So far in the pre-market, shares of Pepsi have actually traded down slightly, but we will get a better idea of what Wall Street thinks once the stock opens and trades in this mornings real session. The company is going to be hosting its quarterly earnings call at 11 AM EDT and I will be liveblogging the call in its entirety, so be sure to check back for full, up to the minute coverage on today's call.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer