Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) reported its third quarter numbers this morning, and managed to beat out analyst estimates, but shares are still selling off in early morning trading.

The reason why the market is punishing the stock is because its revenues were softer than analysts had been expecting to see. For the quarter, revenues came in at $8.04 billion, which was shy of the $8.11 billion that Wall Street was expecting to see from the company.

Shares of cruise ship operator Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) are soaring today after the company posted better than expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter.

As we noted Monday in our earnings preview, analysts had been expecting the company to show earnings of $1.18 per share for the quarter, but Carnival easily beat out those estimates with a reported $1.33 per share.

The market is radically overvalued based on current earnings. Historical norms say the S&P 500 should be at 850, not 1,065.

And the depressed economy will lead to depressed earnings next year, which means the market will be even more overvalued than it is at current levels.

This will be made clear with October earnings announcements.

Kroger (NYSE: KR) reported second-quarter earnings Tuesday and the results were disappointing to the Street and to options investors who may have bet the other way.

First, the bottom line up front. The grocery retailer earned 39 cents per share, down from 42 cents in the year-ago period and a nickel short of what analysts were expecting. Sales, meanwhile, dipped to $17.7 billion from $18.1 billion, also falling shy of Wall Street's consensus view.

Retailer BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) stepped into the earnings spotlight this morning, reporting second-quarter earnings of 64 cents per diluted share. A year ago, BJ reported net income of 61 cents per diluted share, including three cents per share from favorable state income tax audit settlements.

During the first half of 2009, BJ raked in $1.09 per diluted share compared to 90 cents per diluted share a year ago. Quarterly sales slipped slightly more than 5% to $2.5 billion on a year-over-year basis, but the bulk retailer did forecast full-year sales to increase 0.5% to 1.5%. On the forecast front, BJ now expects full-year earnings between $2.46 and $2.56, which is higher than the previously forecast $2.44 to $2.54.

China-based Suntech Power Holdings Co. (NYSE: STP) is one of China's top stocks. The country's largest solar panel maker recently took steps to increase its hold on the Chinese solar market when it reached an agreement with a unit of China Huadian Corp. to develop 500MW of solar projects in China.

The collaboration between Suntech and China Huadian New Energy Development Co. could include some of the 1.8 gigawatts of Chinese projects Suntech recently announced. According to the company, the projects resulting from those agreements could be installed between 2010 and 2012. This deal means a solid pipeline of earnings for the solar maker, and that could translate into solid earnings going forward.

On July 24, Northern California-based SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) stunned the Street with a red-hot earnings beat. For Q2, SunPower reported earnings of 24 cents per share, beating consensus by 10 cents. Revenues rose 39% year-over-year to $298 million versus the $263 million consensus. The company also issued upside guidance for fiscal year 2009, seeing EPS of $1.15 to $1.60, compared to the consensus of 96 cents.

In a really bullish sign for SunPower going forward, the company also reiterated its 2009 capex guidance of $250 million to $300 million.

Also reporting after the close on July 30 was Arizona-based First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR). Now these guys had a blowout quarter!

The company reported net income more than doubled in the second quarter, easily beating consensus Street estimates. In Q2, net income was $180.6 million, or $2.11 per share, compared with $69.7 million, or 85 cents per share, a year ago. The word on the Street was for earnings of just $1.65 per share.

After the closing bell on July 30, Massachusetts-based Evergreen Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: ESLR) reported second-quarter revenues of $63.8 million, compared to $55.8 million for the first quarter of 2009. The company's gross margin for the second quarter of 2009 was 1.9%, compared to 1.2% for the first quarter of 2009.

Unfortunately, these gross margins are way off the 34.7% we saw in the second quarter of 2008.

Before the opening bell on July 30, Northern California-based Akeena Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: AKNS) reported a 17% decline in second-quarter revenue year over year. However, like we've seen so often this earnings season, the company's cost-savings efforts resulted in a better-than-expected bottom-line earnings numbers.

Akeena reported a net loss of 9 cents per share in the quarter, a number well above the 11-cent loss expected by Wall Street.

Several high-profile solar companies recently reported earnings, and although these companies posted mixed results for the most recent quarter, there's no denying that Wall Street has been turning its face toward the sun and bidding up the shares of solar stocks.

So, what's the latest earnings front from stocks in the solar space, and why do the shares of some of the hottest solar stocks continue to shine? More importantly, should you own solar stocks right now, and if so, which ones should you make room for in your portfolio?

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) reported its fiscal third quarter earnings Thursday afternoon and, as expected, it was a tough quarter for the entertainment conglomerate.

We noted in our earnings preview that analysts were expecting to see lower profit, and that is exactly what Disney did this afternoon, reporting a 26% dip in quarterly profit.

The company matched analyst estimates by posting 51 cents per share for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30.

Shares of e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) are selling off sharply this afternoon after disappointing Wall Street with its second quarter numbers.

This afternoon's results shows the company posting a 10% drop in quarterly net profit, as the company was hit by an unfavorable foreign currency translation and legal expenses related to its recent $51 million Toys R Us settlement.

Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), the beverage giant with the world's most valuable brand according to BusinessWeek, reported earnings before the market opened today. Earnings per share for the second quarter of 2009 were $0.92 after items on $8.27 billion in revenue, compared to the $0.89 average EPS expected from analysts. The consensus revenue target was $8.66 billion, meaning that Coke missed on the top line even though global unit case volume increased 4%, driven by a 33% increase in India and a 14% increase in China. The company said they increased market share for the eighth consecutive quarter.

Shares fell slightly more than 1% in early trading, after rising yesterday.

This morning, oil firm Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) posted second-quarter earnings and a warning about North American natural gas markets. First things first, HAL reported second-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share (excluding a $12-million charge stemming from job cuts). While these results were far worse than the 55 cents per share the company earned a year ago, they still managed to top the consensus estimate by four cents per share. The situation was the same for quarterly revenue, which fell to $3.49 billion (from $4.49 billion a year ago) but still managed to outpace the Street's expectations - which called for $3.41 billion.