Two companies devoted to consumer products released earnings this week. One makes items used for cleaning, the other makes goods that you can actually eat.

We'll start with the cleaning-item concern. The Clorox Company (CLX), manufacturer of the iconic laundry bleach, issued results for its fiscal second quarter earlier today. At the time of this writing, shares were higher by 2.4% to a quote of $65.26. Volume was strong. The 52-week low for the stock is $59.07 and the 52-week high is $69. The one-year chart is, well ... not that great.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB), a consumer products company that counts Procter & Gamble (PG) as a colleague, is a very interesting stock for two reasons. First, it's not too far away from its 52-week high. Second, it's trading with an extremely nice dividend yield attached. Those two elements can't help but make an investor take notice.

In fact, speaking about the dividend yield, according to the company's Q4 earnings results, management has increased the quarterly payout by 6% to 70 cents per share. Excellent news. Based on Tuesday's closing price of $65.61, a quote that found the stock up by 2.6% on significant volume, the yield on the shares is now roughly 4.3%.

Procter & Gamble (PG) isn't in the green. At the time of this writing, shares of the consumer concern were flat. They were off by a mere nine pennies to $60.31. Perhaps they'll end up in the green by the end of the day, who knows, but one thing's for sure: if you own shares of this one, you're having one heck of a boring Monday.

And you might be bored by something else. According to TheFly, guidance for the full fiscal year hasn't been changed. Management continues to expect the bottom line to come in somewhere between $3.91 per share and $4.01 per share.

The markets are up today, but that doesn't seem to be helping The Clorox Company (CLX). At the time of this writing, shares were fighting the good fight between red-and-green status: they were down 0.2% right after being slightly higher by the same amount during the moments it took me to complete this sentence.

It's the earnings game, folks; Wall Street was cool to the numbers. According to MarketWatch, net income of $1.16 per share was eight pennies ahead of estimates. That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) issued its fourth-quarter report earlier today. Sales increased over 3%, but organic net revenues were flat. Restructuring initiatives helped to drive a very significant jump in operating income, as well as a nice expansion of the operating margin. Net income from continuing businesses came in at 48 cents per share. Not only did this represent robust growth, but it beat estimates by three pennies, according to our earnings preview.

Management promoted an awesome fact in the release: free cash flow was up over 30% for the full fiscal year. Changes in working capital aided the increase. I like it.

Tupperware (TUP) issued Q4 numbers after the bell on Monday. Sales were higher by 10% once benefits from currency exchange were eliminated. Adjusted earnings per share increased 16% to $1.22. According to Earnings.com, net income came in 18 cents better than the average estimate.

Bravo! Tupperware, which counts Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) and Avon Products (AVP) as colleagues, is also doing well with cash flow. In fact, you'll notice from the release that management is increasing its stock buyback by $200 million.

WD-40 (WDFC), whose related stocks include Church & Dwight (CHD) and Clorox (CLX), did a good job of courting earnings growth through efficiency. According to yesterday's post-market release, the consumer products concern saw its bottom line jump 22% to 56 cents per diluted share. According to Earnings.com, that was five pennies better than the expectations of Wall Street's smart guys.

Unfortunately, sales growth was not in the cards. The top line experienced a decrease of 7%. Furthermore, according to Reuters, revenues came in softer than projections. It would have been really nice to see at least a little increase in sales, or perhaps an in-line performance, to go along with the improved bottom line. Wasn't meant to be.

Del Monte (DLM) had a fine second quarter. Net sales went up by over 6%. Earnings per share more than doubled to 31 cents. Analysts were expecting only 21 cents of per-share profit, according to Earnings.com.

Management seems to be striking a proper balance between pricing strategies and the need for volume growth. That's a tough thing to do, and it can't always be done, but Del Monte is obviously utilizing its brand equity to full advantage. Smart marketing campaigns have helped to highlight the company's trademarks and communicate product value.

Clorox (NYSE: CLX), a consumer-products business that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) as related stocks, may have seen a sales drop of 1% in its fiscal first quarter, but that didn't stop it from posting a nice bottom-line growth rate. Clorox made $1.11 per share in Q1, and that represents a 23% increase. What a way to start a new corporate year!

According to Reuters, expectations were for 95 cents per share. That's a wonderful beat. Plus, sales volume went up 1%. Helping to drive things along was a healthy gross margin, as well as the dreaded H1N1 virus. Clorox has done well over the years associating its brand with sanitizing effectiveness, so when a pandemic rears its ugly head, the trademark is prepared to leverage such reputation to drive value.

Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) had a difficult third quarter. Currency translations helped to drive a 4% decrease in net revenue. Excluding that effect, sales were up 7%. Net income decreased a big 31% to 36 cents per share.

However, according to Reuters, adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share beat analyst projections by two pennies. Such news didn't seem to matter to the market. At the time of this writing, Avon was down 1.9% on significant volume.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB), a consumer products entity whose colleagues include Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), is up today on third-quarter results. At the time of this writing, my screen was showing shares of Kimberly-Clark higher by a little under 6%.

According to the corporate press release, sales declined 1.7%. Not a great start, but Kimberly-Clark highlighted a better metric: organic sales increased 3%, helped along by price increases. Luckily, sales volume didn't fare too badly; they were essentially flat.

Del Monte Foods (NYSE: DLM), a supermarket brand whose colleagues include ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) and Kraft (NYSE: KFT), was way up in afternoon trading. When a stock like Del Monte gains 9% on great volume, you know something big must have happened. Well, it was the company's fiscal Q1 results that made investors want to buy today. After checking over the news, I can honestly say that I see the market's point.

Sales increased 12% during the quarter, and earnings from continuing operations calculated out to 30 cents per share, a huge improvement over the loss observed in the comparable period. According to Earnings.com, Wall Street was only looking for a measly four pennies for the bottom line.