Earnings season is well underway with two thirds of S&P 500 companies already having reported. It appears that fourth quarter numbers are even better than what most analysts had anticipated, with roughly three quarters of those reporting having exceeded analysts’ expectations.
However, even with estimate-beating numbers, the market has not cheered results like we saw during 2009’s historic rally. This is likely due to the continued stagnant sales in developed countries where consumers are still in a state of shock following the recession (and continued high unemployment). However, those companies that have a strong presence outside of the developed world, or aren’t exposed to the consumer market, are now in the best position to take advantage of the continued global recovery.
Take Coca Cola (KO), for example, which is part of our Growth Portfolio. Yesterday the company announced that its net income had risen 55 percent to $1.54 billion, or 66 cents a share, from $995 million a year earlier. We see signs of the recovery, not so much in the increased net income, but in improvements in its top-line sales. Coke’s net revenues were up 5.4 percent year-over-year to $7.51 billion.
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