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Oakland, California, might not be too pleased with the performance of the Raiders, but the (other) City by the Bay can take some pride in The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX), a hometown stock made good. Even those of you bracing for the worst-case economic scenario can take heart in the fact that Clorox has been around since 1913, and successfully weathered two World Wars and the Great Depression.

In addition to its eponymous bleach, Clorox produces a slew of other well-known consumer staples. You may recognize such brand names as Pine-Sol, Formula 409, Brita, Glad, Hidden Valley, and Burt's Bees -- one of the newest additions to the CLX family. The Burt's Bees buy indicates that Clorox isn't resting on its stable of staples; instead, the company is actively trying to stay relevant amid a shifting consumer climate.

The home-goods firm released its first-quarter earnings on October 31 and cruised past analysts' profit estimates by seven cents per share. Clorox trimmed its sales outlook due to the expected impact of declining foreign currencies, but Chairman and CEO Don Knauss showed no hint of vulnerability. "We will not give consumers a reason to choose another brand," Knauss vowed on a conference call.

Clorox (NYSE: CLX) greeted investors on Friday with a sparkling clean earnings report for the fiscal first quarter. According to the press release, sales rose 8% once the effect of the Burt's Bees acquisition was eliminated, and earnings per share came in at $0.91. Analysts were looking for $0.84 per share.

That's an awesome beat. For the most part, shareholders don't have much to complain about. Operational cash flow did decrease, but you can once again factor in Burt's Bees and its effect on working capital. I always like to see cash flow increase, but since this is the first quarter, and since Clorox is backed by a whole bunch of powerful brands, I can let it go for now. Going beyond the numbers, I think the big thing to think about when considering Clorox is that it is, like colleagues Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), and Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), a pretty strong name in supermarket aisles. Who hasn't purchased some of the company's bleach or trash bags at one time or another? I know I've been attracted to Clorox's brand equity.

On a forward-looking basis, Clorox can be looked upon as a long-term dividend play. Right now, the stock has a decent yield and is comfortably away from the 52-week low. Of course, we've been hearing a lot lately about how currency rates may start to give global companies a hard time. That's something to consider with Clorox. My feeling is that long-term thinkers shouldn't sweat it too much. One thing about the management here is they seem to be very willing to aggressively protect their brand equity against no-name brand competition and to figure out exactly what marketing messages will work with consumers. That's my top priority when it comes to consumer-products businesses and retail. I always ask myself the following question: Does management get that it's all about the branding/marketing? From what I've read, I think Clorox gets it.

No, I don't think the stock is simply going to rise from here. But I do think it could be one of the better defensive plays out there (assuming there still is such a thing as defensive play these days, that is).

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.