Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Aol Inc. (AOL) reported a better-than-expected Q4 profit and said its revenue also topped estimates.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (BKC) higher Q2 earnings topped analysts' estimates but same-store sales fell.
• Clorox Co. (CLX) higher Q2 earnings beat expectations and it lifted its full-year earnings guidance.
• Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) Q4 earnings more than doubled and beat Wall Street expectations, but shares fell.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) shares jumped after it forecast earnings above analysts' expectations, boosted by January sales.

This week brought earnings results from three pantry stocks -- Clorox Co. (CLX), Kellogg Co. (K) and Unilever (UL). While Clorox's strong second-quarter earnings beat the consensus estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, Kellogg's lower fourth-quarter earnings fell short of expectations, and Unilever's earnings fell as well.

Clorox said net income totaled $110 million, or 77 cents per share, up from $86 million, or 61 cents a share, a year earlier. That was a penny per share better than the Street view. Revenue climbed 5% to $1.28 billion. Results benefited from fears over the H1N1 flu, favorable foreign exchange rates and lower commodity costs. Clorox, whose brands include PineSol, Hidden Valley, Glad and Kingsford, also raised its outlook for full-year earnings to a range of $4.10 to $4.25 per share, which is in line with expectations.

Kellogg Co (K) is a U.S. "frugal consumer" era survivor, hence I'm obviously
reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on April 13, 2009, at a price of $40. If you bought K in April 2009, you're up about 35%.

Look for Kellogg's FY2010 revenue to increase a decent 4% to 6%, aided by tolerable commodity cost increases, modest pricing power, and strategic/prudent new product launches.

Analyst Upgrades

• ThinkEquity upgraded Intel (INTC) to buy from hold and has a $25 target on the stock. The firm believes guidance will prove conservative and strong execution, new product cycle, Win7 cycle and corporate PC-Server refresh will drive shares higher.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Holly Energy (HEP) to outperform from market perform after increasing its valuation ranges for small cap pipeline MLPs. The firm raised its valuation range for Holly to $43 to $45.
• SunTrust upgraded Watsco (WSO) to buy from neutral as it believes the carrier joint venture will serve as a long-term catalyst. The firm has a $67 price target on the stock. William Blair upgraded Watsco to outperform from market perform ahead of the company's Q4 results to reflect valuation and improving economic conditions.
• Staples (SPLS) and Office Max (OMX) were upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Kellogg (K) was raised to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Advanced Micro (AMD) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.

General Mills, Inc. (GIS), a food company that competes in the cereal aisles with Kellogg Company (K), performed well in the second quarter. The top line didn't budge too much, but the bottom line moved up 13% to $1.54 on an adjusted basis. Cash from operations really stood out. For the six-month period, over $980 million was generated from business activities. In the comparable frame, over $360 million was booked.

According to our earnings preview, the market was expecting $1.44 per share in net income. What drove the very positive results? I think you can definitely allocate a fair amount of praise to execution. But you can also credit brand power and a more favorable commodity environment as fiscal drivers.

Best Buy Inc. (BBY), which was a favorite on Black Friday, announced a partnership with Netflix (NFLX) and another one with Google (GOOG), as well as declared a quarterly dividend, during its fiscal third quarter. For the three months that ended in November, Best Buy is expected to report that earnings rose 18.6% from a year ago to $0.43 per share. Revenue is expected to total $11.9 billion, or 4.2% higher than a year ago. The full-year forecast is for a profit of $2.95 per share (+2.4%) on $48.6 billion (+7.8%) in sales. This Richfield, Minn.-based company has topped earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters, by as much as 21 cents per share.

Best Buy's long-term EPS growth forecast of 12.5% is better than that of Walmart (WMT). Best Buy's earnings multiple is 14x. Analysts, on average, recommend buying BBY and have for more than 90 days; two analysts recently raised their earnings estimates. The mean price target is $44.77. Shares have risen 11.5% in the past three months and recently reached a new 52-week high of $44.50.

Leggo my Eggo. No, seriously! There's a shortage on the familiar brand of frozen waffles, spurred by problems at Kellogg (K) bakeries in Atlanta and Rossville, Tennessee. The former plant saw flooding last month and had to halt production, while the Tennessee location needs extensive repairs, which has shut down several lines for the time being.

There will be a shortage of the baked good through 2010, according to reports from the cereal giant. Other Eggo-branded products, such as syrup, pancakes, and other breakfast items, will be impacted as well.

Consumer spending had its largest fall this year, thanks to the end of the "Cash for Clunkers" program. And, incomes were flat. No change to the money coming in and a drop in the cash going out translates to an impediment to economic recovery.

In September, consumer spending fell 0.5%, the first decline in five months and the worst in nine. Wages and salaries dropped 0.2%, effectively offsetting the 0.2% up-tick in August. The economy did grow in the third quarter of 2009, hinting that the worst recession in 70 years may be coming to a close, but the tough September suggests we still have some work in front of us.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) reported strong Q3 results, declared a dividend, and offered guidance for Q4.
• Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) Q3 earnings slumped and revenue was hurt by currency translations.
• BP (NYSE: BP) shares leaped higher after it reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
• Daimler AG (NYSE: DAI) reported that it returned to profitability in Q3 but warned of decreasing revenue.
• General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) Q3 earnings beat expectations and it lifted its earnings outlook.
• Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) posted strong Q3 earnings and expects full-year earnings ahead of forecasts.

Analyst upgrades:

• Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was upgraded to Buy at Citigroup. The firm views the recent sell-off in home building stocks as a buying opportunity and thinks Toll Brothers offers the best risk/reward in its coverage universe. Citi keeps a $23 price target on the stock.
• Kellogg (NYSE: K) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup following the Q3 results, as it believes the company's reduced spending and share buyback will serve as catalysts. The firm raised its price target on shares to $63 from $50.
• Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) and Telus (NYSE: TU) were upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital, which said the CRTC unexpectedly denied Globalive's wireless application. The analyst said Globalive was potentially the biggest of new wireless competitors and the decision removes a big threat to the group. Rogers price target was raised to $40 from $33; Telus to $44 from $36.
• Stanley (NYSE: SXE) was upgraded at Wells Fargo to Outperform from Market Perform after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its FY10 guidance.
• Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) was upgraded at Bernstein to Outperform from Market Perform. The analyst believes Texas Instruments' core business earnings power is underappreciated and valuation is attractive. Target raised to $30 from $28.

Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) didn't need a hearty breakfast to get its stock going today (although I'm sure it had one anyway). All it needed was a reasonably healthy earnings report. Judging by how the stock is performing, I think the company got one.

For the third quarter, Kellogg saw flat sales growth. However, take out currency effects and acquisitions, and you've got a 3% expansion rate on the top line. Well, that isn't so robust, either, but let's head to the bottom line. Earnings per share came in at 94 cents, representative of a 6% increase. Not so bad, and according to Mark Fightmaster's preview, that was a dime better than what analysts wanted to see.

Before the market opens on Thursday, October 29, cereal producer Kellogg (NYSE: K) will release its third-quarter earnings. Analysts expect the company to earn 84 cents per share in the quarter, with revenue of $3.28 billion.

In the second quarter, Kellogg saw its profit increase 13%, which gave the cereal thriller reason to up its full-year forecast. Before the second-quarter report, Kellogg expected high single-digit-percentage growth for 2009; however, this was upped to 8% to 10% following the strong second quarter. In addition, Kellogg believes it will save $1 billion annually by the end of fiscal 2011. This money will then be reinvested into advertising, which could lead to more money for the company.

Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), a familiar name at the supermarket, reported Q4 earnings on Friday. The top line wasn't so hot as sales declined 11%. There were a few factors to consider with that decline, including currency translation and the issue of there being an extra week in the previous year's comparable quarter. I'm pretty satisfied with the context management provided for the challenged revenue. Also, sales essentially matched expectations, according to our earnings preview, which isn't so bad. The bottom line, however, deserves more than a passing grade. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations increased 15% to 30 cents, beating estimates by four pennies.

I like it. Furthermore, I enjoyed that adjusted per-share profit for the full fiscal year also beat forecasts. And you should take a look at the adjusted gross margin for both the quarter and the 12-month period. Campbell's management was able to expand the metric, a feat indicative of efficiencies and pricing strategies, according to the press release.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) reported strong Q2 earnings thought revenue fell but beat analysts' estimates.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) beat Q2 earnings estimates but revenue suffered from currency effects.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) reported a drop in Q2 revenue and a net loss on restructuring charges.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) posted a deeper-than-expected Q2 net loss as sales plunged.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported its lowest quarterly profit in years, well short of expectations.

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.