The soft drink, beverage and snack maker’s net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 was up 4% to $1.42 billion.  This came to $0.89 EPS, but the pre-item report of non-GAAP came in it $1.15 EPS.  Thomson Reuters was expecting a consensus of $1.13 EPS.  The company’s sales were up by more than 10% to $20.16 billion and that was also slightly above the consensus estimate of $19.89 billion in sales.

Where the story gets interesting the layoffs: 8,700, or about 3% of the company’s work force.  The job cuts are part of a cost-cutting strategy aimed to save $1.5 billion over the next three-years.  It also comes on top of what is said to be a higher push in marketing and advertising.

Cost pressure and a move toward healthier drinks have been a challenge.  Pepsi closed at $66.74 and the 52-week range is $58.50 to $71.89.  Shares are indicated down about 1% ahead of the opening bell.   Investors are currently leaning more toward Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO).

JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 33 points to 12,878.43 (0.26%), the NASDAQ rose more than 2 points (0.07%) to 2,904.08, and the S&P 500 rose 0.20% or nearly 3 points to 1,347.05.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) started as ‘underweight’ at Barclays; IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) started as ‘buy’ with a $230 target price at Sterne Agee (our coverage here); AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) cut to ‘sell’ at Brean Murray; and Zoltek Cos. Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT) cut to ‘underperform’ at Needham (our coverage here).

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) is up 2.67% at $64.88 after posting a new 52-week high of $65.79 earlier today; ArcelorMittal AS (NYSE: MT) is up 3.5% at $22.19; BP plc (NYSE: BP) is down -0.41% at $46.68; Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) is up 1% at $68.71 (our coverage here); Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) is down -2.6% at $51.99; and Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (NYSE: LPX) is down -6.5% at $8.31 (our coverage here).

Our preview of tomorrow’s earnings releases is here.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI) is up 21% at $2.71. The newspaper company reported stronger-than-expected earnings today on cost-cutting.

Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) is up 16.5% at $58.90 after posting a new 52-week high of $60.81 earlier today. The video rental company will join with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) to offer a streaming video service to compete with Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) and others. More coverage here and here.

Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE: SPF) is up 15.8% at $4.69 after posting a new 52-week high of $4.85 earlier today. The homebuilder posted good earnings today and reported that orders are up 8% in January.

Nevsun Resources Ltd. (AMEX: NSU) is down more than -30% at $4.43. The junior gold miner issued a preliminary 2012 outlook that included a sharp drop in production and in its reserves estimates.

BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BPAX) is down more than -18% at $0.86. The company is the target of a new lawsuit charging it with misrepresentation. We have more coverage of BioSante here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. San Francisco Federal Reserve president John Williams is giving a speech. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications report
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 1:00 p.m. – Treasury 10-year note auction

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Paul Ausick

For all of 2011 there was a 5% total case volume growth for the beverage giant, with Europe up 1% and China up 10%.  North America’s organic case volume was up only 1% in the period.  For the Year…  Full-year EPS of $3.69 and $3.84 EPS on an adjusted basis.  The 10% growth is said to be “both ahead of our long-term growth target.”

Coke is also launching a new Productivity and Reinvestment program that aims for annualized savings of $550 to $650 million by the end of 2015 as part of its 2020 Vision.

Shares closed at $68.03 on Monday and the 52-week range is $61.29 to $71.77; shares are up 1.3% at $68.90 so far in the pre-market with almost two hours until the market opens for trading.

JON C. OGG

We have compiled previews using Thomson Reuters consensus data and have added color on each if applicable.
 
Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) is going to be closely watched by the dividend investors because of that 13% implied dividend yield.  The mortgage REIT is expected to report $0.56 per share.

Bp Plc (NYSE: BP) has recovered handily from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.  This is an ADR so its earnings will be converted from U.K. Pounds… The estimate is $1.57 per share and the stock is up well over 50% from when its shares sold off so much in 2010.  Keep in mind that this was a $60 stock before the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) is not so hot after the Super Bowl and we are six weeks from the next mega-event in sports.  Estimates are $0.67 EPS and $210.25 million.  This one remains expensive at almost 22-times full 2012 earnings expectations and it is only about $2.00 shy of a 52-week and all-time high.

Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) is expected to report $0.53 EPS and $586.86 million in sales.  At $63.20, the 52-week trading range for the healthcare information technology and support company is $53.93 to $74.39.

Church & Dwight Co. (NYSE: CHD) is expected to report $0.51 EPS and $694.32 million.  At $45.50, the 52-week range is $33.83 to $47.00.  This consumer products company remains at a large valuation premium to its larger consumer products rivals and it also has a much lower dividend yield.

Read: The Eight Brands That Wasted the Most on the Super Bowl

Between 2002 and 2011, companies spent $2.5 billion on Super Bowl advertising, based on 24/7 Wall St.’s estimate. The top 10 spenders were responsible for more than one-third of that. And one company, Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch, spent almost $250 million over the past 10 years on Super Bowl ads, or a whopping one-tenth of all Super Bowl ad spending.

24/7 Wall St. ranked total spending for all of the companies that advertised during the Super Bowl in the past decade. An analysis of the top spenders reflects how bad this investment can be. While some, such as Hyundai and Toyota have improved market share over that time, most have not. Based on total ad spending, product failures, change in market share, share price and sales, we identified the eight brands that wasted the most on the Super Bowl, including mega brands such as Coke, Budweiser, GM and Ford.

Based on 24/7 Wall St.’s analysis of Super Bowl ad spending, the top spenders fall into four major categories: automotive, film, food, including snacks and fast food, and beverages. Four of the top 10 Super Bowl advertisers are auto companies. Another four of the 10 are food and beverage manufacturers. Three movie studios are in the top 25.

Because Super Bowl ads are used by a small number of industries, many companies in those industries are forced to advertise just to keep up. Most of the top 10 spenders are perennial also-rans. Yum! Brands, owner of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, spent $67 million over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, McDonald’s, the indisputable market leader, spent less than half that amount and is not a top 10 spender. Similarly, E*Trade, well-known for the talking baby campaign, spent more than any other online brokerage firm, yet remains fourth in the industry.

Also Read: AMR – Saving Corporate America one Bankruptcy at a Time

24/7 Wall St. tabulated all of the commercials from the past 10 Super Bowls, as archived by Adland, the “world’s largest archive of Super Bowl commercials.” Using that data, 24/7 calculated the number of commercials each company bought, as well as their length, including any available pregame, postgame and prime advertising commercials. To estimate the total amount each company spent on Super Bowl advertising in the past decade, we used the average costs of a 30-second commercial spot each year and the total number of minutes of advertising time recorded by Adland.

These are the eight brands that wasted the most on the Super Bowl.

Read the Ten Cheap Products Making American Companies Billions

All of the companies that make the most money from selling inexpensive items have exceptionally strong brands. They are highly recognizable and held in high regard. Coca-Cola, which makes billions of dollars off its trademark drink Coke, is the most valuable brand in the world, according to brand valuation company Interbrand. According to Brand Z, McDonald’s, producer of the world’s favorite french fries, is the most valuable brand. Other brands, such as Cheerios, Campbell’s, and Starbucks, are also instantly recognizable.

These products have such strong brands partly because their parent companies spend huge sums of money on advertising. In 2011, Procter & Gamble, maker of Gillette razors, spent $9.3 billion on ads for all products — 11.3% of its total sales. This amount increases substantially each year, reflecting the lengths companies must go to preserve market share. Ian Cook, chief executive of Colgate-Palmolive, recently promised “increased advertising support behind many new and existing Colgate products” in 2012 to protect its global standing. The company said it had increased advertising spending in the fourth quarter to $428 million, up 5% from one year ago.

Additionally, these brands benefit from having been around for years and having existed in the public conscious a very long time. Products such as Coke, Colgate toothpaste, and Dole bananas have been around since the 19th century. Campbell’s soup and Cheerios have been household staples since the middle of the 20th century. Consumers have grown to trust the brands and expect a certain level of quality.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 500 largest companies by sales to identify the ones that focus on inexpensive consumer goods and low-priced food products. We then looked at the most inexpensive products sold for less than $5 and hold the highest market share. These are the cheapest products making American companies billions.

Google’s brand value increased by 27%, the third largest gain among the top 100 brands. The second largest gain was posted by Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), which jumped 32% and moved up from 36th on the list to 26th.

The biggest loser was Nokia, which fell -15% and from 8th to 14th in the league table. Another smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics, moved up from 2 places, from 19th, on the strength of a 20% jump in brand value.

Toyota, ranked 11th, is the top automaker, barely ahead of Mercedes-Benz, with BMW in third. Among US carmakers only Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) made the top 100 with its ‘Ford’ brand, at 50th place behind Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC) and Volkswagen.

Three brands made the list for the first time: Nissan, John Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), and HTC Corp.

The Interbrand study ranks the top ten brands by dollar value in this order:

1. Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) – $71.86 billion
2. IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) – $69.91 billion
3. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) – $59.09 billion
4. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) – $55.32 billion
5. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) – $42.81 billion
6. McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) – $35.59 billion
7. Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) – $35.22 billion
8. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) – $33.5 billion
9. Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) – $29.02 billion
10. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) – $28.48 billion

Paul Ausick

RBS cuts 3,500 investment bank jobs. (Reuters)

RealtyTrac reports that foreclosures reached a four-year low in 2011. (Reuters)

International Monetary Fund senior executive Lipton sees no hard landing in China. (Reuters)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) will delay it web TV plans. (Reuters)

The FCC may ask TV broadcasters to return unused spectrum so it can be auctioned to wireless carriers. (Reuters)

LG’s handset numbers rise in Q4 and the company says it will continue to invest in its wireless division. (Reuters)

Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) faces trouble with pension money it owes in the UK. (Reuters)

Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) will buy Morgan Keegan. (Reuters)

An oversupply of natural gas pushes prices to historic lows. (WSJ)

Carlyle’s three founders earned more than $400 million last year. (WSJ)

More senior bankers leave Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). (WSJ)

CIT (NYSE: CIT) will no longer finance loans to Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) suppliers. (WSJ)

Emerging market nations step up their activity as they sell more bonds. (WSJ)

The Environmental Protection Agency releases a list of plants that emit the most greenhouse gases. (WSJ)

Food prices in India fall. (WSJ)

The Fed Beige Book says holiday sales helped the economy at the end of last year. (WSJ)

President Obama to propose tax cuts for companies that bring jobs back from overseas. (WSJ)

Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal say Europe is the greatest threat to U.S. expansion. (WSJ)

Daniel Alegre, Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) chief in Asia, says the company will press for more market share in China. (WSJ)

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) finds an unapproved fungicide in orange juice products. (WSJ)

Hotels establish a booking site to compete with Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN). (WSJ)

Industry researchers Gartner and IDC say PC shipments fell in the past quarter. (WSJ)

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) says its fourth-quarter results were weak. (WSJ)

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) may make a bid for the LA Dodgers. (WSJ)

Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) will cut 1,000 jobs. (WSJ)

Coors Light passes Bud as the number two beer in the U.S. (WSJ)

Ford (NYSE: F) will introduce new models to try to salvage Lincoln. (WSJ)

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission tightens rules for swaps activity. (WSJ)

The eurozone will be challenged again as members refinance billions of dollars of debt early this year. (NYT)

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to announce programs to extend the mortgage payments of the unemployed. (NYT)

EU oil refiners cut ties with Iran. (FT)

China’s consumer inflation falls to 4.1%. (FT)

The head of Fiat says car makers must merge. (FT)

A move to safety cuts Treasury yields below 2%. (FT)

German December inflation slowed. (Bloomberg)

Delhaize Group, which owns Food Lion, will cut 5,000 jobs around the world. (Bloomberg)

Italy and Spain to offer 17 billion euro in debt sales. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Read The Most Popular American Companies In China

China’s population in 1960 was 667 million, more than double that of the United States in 2010. China now has 1.34 billion residents. The increase would not matter much to companies if the population was still largely rural and poor, as it was half a century ago. But, in fact, the manufacturing industry that has become the engine of China’s GDP growth also has rapidly built a huge middle class, one made up primarily of factory workers. And this middle class continues to grow. The United Nations Population Division and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) predict that China will have 1.4 billion middle-class consumers by 2030, compared to a forecast of 365 million in the U.S. The stakes for American companies in China are rising.

The most important consumer target markets for companies in China largely mirror those in the U.S. American companies find themselves competing with foreign multinationals for these sales.

Retailers, led by American companies like Walmart (NYSE: WMT), have begun to open thousands of locations across China. Much of the competition for the retail market there comes from corporations based outside America, particularly France’s Carrefour. The situation in the athletic gear market is similar. Nike (NYSE: NKE) has a strong sales base in China, but so does Germany’s Adidas. Li Ning, a Chinese company, is the second largest market share in terms of sales. General Motors (NYSE: GM) is the leader in the Chinese light truck and car market. Volkswagen sells nearly as many vehicles as GM. Several large local car companies are owned and operated, in part, by Chinese government-controlled entities.

American companies that need strong sales in China to maintain their positions as global leaders will face challenges unique to the People’s Republic. The level of piracy of Western goods is remarkably high. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) estimates that four-fifths of Windows OS software in China is pirated. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone knockoffs are widely available there as well. American corporations will have to fight the problem, but accept that it cannot be entirely conquered, or, in some cases, even significantly reduced. Even manufacturers like Boeing (NYSE: BA) and GM have to contend with the fact that their Chinese partners may “borrow” some of their expertise and patent-protected knowledge.

24/7 Wall St. has identified the American companies that have done the best job of tapping into this growing market. We reviewed America’s most iconic brands that are top sellers in the U.S. and abroad and reflect a cross-section of the economy. We then selected 10 companies with the largest market share in China by industry and product category to identify the most popular American brands with the most to gain — and the most to lose.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) offered a surprise dividend hike that we would have expected perhaps next year, but it came anyhow. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was one we have been calling on for a higher dividend down the pipe and it jumped in far sooner than expected. Those that hiked their dividends exactly as we expected are the Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) with a much higher jump than the market was expecting, followed by AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).

Those from whichwe are still looking for dividend hikes after the first of the year and just beyond the first quarter of 2012: Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), 3M Company (NYSE: MMM), and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

For those investors who love dividends, we would focus also in 2012 on some of the key ETFs, like the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (NYSE: DVY), Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSE: VIG), PowerShares Dividend Achievers (NYSE: PFM) and the iShares High Dividend Equity (NYSE: HDV) ETF products.

We have broken out some summaries of each DJIA component from which we still expect to see dividend hikes from soon.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) has recently kept is low dividend static, and we would look for a 2012 announcement of a higher payout. It could boost the payout, but it needs its restructuring a bit further in the rear-view mirror to avoid bad PR. Look for Cisco to boost its payout in 2012 for its March or July payment. Even with its silly share buybacks, Cisco’s payout ratio is only about 14% of its expected 2012 earnings and the company has a mountain of cash.