H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ), a food company that shares space at the supermarket with products from Kraft Foods, Inc. (NYSE: KFT), ConAgra (NYSE: CAG), and Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), issued first-quarter data on Thursday. Even though the effect of currency translations continues to put a cloud over the top-line performance, management did end up beating earnings expectations.

Net sales came in flat, and net income was 67 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 5 cents less, according to Earnings.com. Shareholders should be happy about that. When I covered Heinz's last quarter, I noted that expectations were essentially beat by a penny.

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX), a famous supermarket brand similar to companies such as Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), reported Q4 earnings today. Excluding certain factors, Clorox increased its per-share profit by 18% to $1.35.

The dollar continues to wreak havoc on companies with international exposure (there's a whole lot of them, of course). Including currency translations, Clorox's top line was flat. Without the effect (and excluding the impact of a private-label business that the company exited), sales increased 3%. The company utilized price increases to help offset the tough times. Unfortunately, volume decreased 2% during the quarter.

Kellogg (NYSE: K), the famous cereal concern that competes with General Mills (NYSE: GIS), distributed a box of Q2 earnings to the market yesterday. Were they as nutritious as one of the company's breakfast foods?

Everything turned out all right for shareholders. Sales weren't so hot: the top line decreased 3% on dollar pressures. Earnings per share saved the day, coming in at 92 cents, good for a 12% increase. The income amount also beat expectations by a very significant margin. Analysts wanted to see at least 83 cents for per-share profit, according to Earnings.com.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), whose colleagues at the supermarket include companies like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Clorox (NYSE: CLX), did all right in the second quarter. Sales were inhibited by currency rates: they dropped by well over 5%. The bottom line, on the other hand, fared a lot better. The company made $1.07 per share compared to 92 cents per share in the year-ago period. However, the previous year's quarter had 6 cents of charges to take into account, so the adjusted earnings in 2008 actually comes out to 98 cents. This makes the growth rate a modest 9%. The market was expecting $1.05 per share according to Earnings.com, so management beat by two pennies.

I was surprised a little by how the stock sold off on Thursday after the earnings report. Shares of Colgate-Palmolive closed down over 5% on very active volume.

"Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has vast holdings, but its strategy is simple: Support a deep pipeline of new drugs and medical devices with an aggressive acquisition strategy and cost controls," notes blue chip investor Richard Moroney.

In his Dow Theory Forecasts, he adds, "And despite the recession, J&J has kept its financial footing, remaining one of the few companies with the top credit rating of AAA." Here's his long term outlook.

"This year the U.S. pharmaceutical market is expected to contract for the first time in 50 years as fewer people visit doctors or start new therapies for chronic conditions.

"Beyond 2009, an economic recovery should reinvigorate J&J, though it is too early to determine whether health-care reform will help or harm the company.

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) announced Q2 earnings on Thursday. Shareholders of the confection company should definitely appreciate the growth reported. Net sales increased almost 6%. On an adjusted basis, earnings per share went up a whopping 48% to 43 cents.

According to Earnings.com, analysts were expecting only 35 cents per share. Hershey's management went the extra distance on this one. Not only was the magnitude of the beat impressive, but as Reuters points out, Hershey raised its guidance for the full fiscal year, something that is obviously a positive signal to the marketplace.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), a consumer-products company that counts Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) as colleagues, announced Q2 results on Thursday. The performance wasn't spectacular, but management successfully defended the bottom line from the recession by instituting pricing strategies that leveraged the brand equity of the company's portfolio.

The bottom line fell, of course, but probably not as far as it would have if there weren't any pricing mechanisms in place. Earnings per share came in at 97 cents. This was six cents lower than last year's adjusted Q2 income. Revenues were challenged by dollar fluctuations, dropping well over 5%. However, here's the silver lining: organic sales increased almost 3%, even with volumes on the decline.

Consumer-products concern WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC) had something of a rough third quarter. According to the press release, which was issued on Wednesday after the bell, sales were down over 16%. The company made 41 cents per diluted share. This was 8 cents less than the previous year's Q3 performance.

It was, however, 3 cents better than what the analysts were looking for, according to Earnings.com. Gross margin, it should also be noted, improved significantly. Driving this positive element of the story were efficiencies in the supply chain, price increases, and the drop in the price of oil.

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX), a company whose compatriots at the supermarket include Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL), gave and received some good news this week. First, let's mention the giving. Management saw fit to increase the dividend that it pays to shareholders. The quarterly payout went up 9% to $0.50 per share.

Now, for the receiving. According to an earlier item on BloggingStocks, Oppenheimer thinks the stock is worthy of an outperform rating. A price target of $70 has been set. Which is impressive, since the price of Clorox as of this writing is $56.32 per share.

Shares of Del Monte (NYSE: DLM) are up over 9% in early afternoon trading. And the volume is doing gangbusters business. The market is responding to the company's fourth-quarter results. The numbers did tell an overall fun story.

To begin with, revenues saw a big jump of 20%. As many news items have pointed out, price increases helped out. It should also be pointed out that the company's press release indicated that an extra week skewed things a bit. That's okay, though, it was still a good top-line performance. Earnings per share from continuing divisions came in at $0.35, which meant that Del Monte grew the bottom line by 75% (a couple elements affecting the perception of this profit expansion was a better tax situation linked to a positive change in California tax code and a $0.04 per-share transformation expense recorded in Q4 2008). Analysts said the company might earn $0.26 per share. That's a pleasant difference, isn't it?

I'm always looking for a catalyst that is going to take Disney (NYSE: DIS) to the next level. The stock hasn't been a great performer over time. Just today, the Mouse issued a press release detailing its latest merchandising plans.

Merchandising falls under the consumer products division. Now, one would expect that this segment would always be rocking considering the brand equity inherent in all of Disney's intellectual properties. Well, let's remind ourselves of how the segment did during the last earnings report. In the second quarter, operating income for consumer products dipped 24%. For the six-month period, operating income was down by 13%. Double-digit declines: nobody likes them. Management commentary about the division specifically stated that lower royalty revenue from merchandise helped to drive the performance. As can be seen, Disney needs some good ideas and strategies to return this segment to growth.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) might not have the best growth rates going these days, but truth be told, I thought the company's Q3 report was acceptable given everything that is going on.

Yes, sales declined by 8%, driven by currency effects. Organic sales, however, increased 1%. Earnings per share increased 2% to 84 cents. This beat Wall Street forecasts by four pennies according to this source.

"Health-care stocks have been volatile of late, as the prospects for significant healthcare reform are impacting the group," notes Chuck Carlson.

In The DRIP Investor, he explains, "Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has not been immune to the weakness. And while these shares could remain under pressure in the short run, the company's prospects are significantly brighter than the typical health-care stock."

"First, Johnson & Johnson's diversified business portfolio, which includes pharmaceuticals, medical technology, and consumer products, should help to smooth out results and cushion declines in any one area.

Energizer (NYSE: ENR), the famous battery company that competes with Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), reported Q2 earnings earlier today. According to this source, the results beat expectations on an adjusted basis. Energizer earned $1.12 per share. Analysts thought the business would do three pennies less.

Revenues, however, didn't fare so well. They fell 7%. Not only did the economy affect sales, but the dreaded currency-translation phantom that has been haunting the top lines of all businesses that are exposed to international transactions made its dreaded appearance on Energizer's earnings report. A conservative stance on the part of retailers and their inventory levels was also mentioned as a negative driver for sales in the release.

WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC), whose consumer-product colleagues include Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Clorox (NYSE: CLX), issued its second-quarter report on Wednesday after the market closed. The numbers were a bit rusty (yes, the bad pun was on purpose!).

First, we have a big net-sales drop of over 20%. Then, we have a 50% decline in net income, with earnings coming in at 25 cents per share. And finally, we see that the 25-cent per-share number missed estimates by two pennies according to this source. Management blamed the bad results in part on the weak global economy and on currency translations.