The market’s felt like a roller coaster at times this year but is finishing 2010 in a nice uptrend. Wall Street traders seem to be preoccupied with exogenous events such as budget machinations, QE2 and home foreclosures as well as sovereign debt issues, the euro crisis and tensions with North-South Korea.

But while Wall Street professionals myopically focus on seemingly exotic concerns, we think they’re missing the big picture. In fact, we think Wall Street has failed to notice the fact that recent quarterly corporate earnings have been stellar this season. Out of the hundreds of companies that have already reported earnings, about 70% of them have beat analysts’ expectations. Ultimately, strong earnings are what drive equity prices higher, and that’s something all traders should keep firmly in mind. 

So, in the spirit of keeping your focus on earnings, here are five companies that have blown through estimates during the most-recent quarter — and will likely continue posting strong earnings throughout 2011.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is perhaps the greatest corporate success story of the past decade. The company’s expert management, cult-like product following and incredible profit performance make it a true earnings stalwart. In the third quarter, the company reported its most profitable quarter ever, with sales of $20.34 billion and net profit of $4.31 billion. On top of the big earnings beat, Apple also introduced its latest must-have product, the iPad tablet computer, which will likely help drive even bigger earnings in 2011.

Ford (NYSE: F) is one of the only car companies making money while not facing massive recall issues. Ford has posted its sixth consecutive quarterly profit with a net income of $1.7 billion or 43 cents per share, up from $997 million or 29 cents per share a year ago. That figure marks the largest third-quarter earnings for the company since 1990. Excluding Volvo revenue from 2009, revenue grew by $1.7 billion. Excluding special items, the company reported earnings per share of 48 cents, a figure which easily blew past the consensus estimate for earnings of just 36 cents. With all of the problems facing Japanese automakers Toyota and Honda right now, we suspect Ford’s earnings will continue firing on all cylinders in 2011.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the big fish in the Internet search pond, and the company continues performing swimmingly. Last month Google reported its strongest revenue growth in a year, with quarterly revenue coming in at a stellar $7.29 billion, up 23% from a year earlier. Earnings came in at $2.17 billion, up a whopping 32% from the $1.64 billion one year ago.  Google continues to defy expectations as it moves beyond search and Internet advertising into smartphones, TV and alternative energy. Google is still sitting on a ton of cash, which is estimated at $33 billion, and will deploy it to continue its earnings growth. Google has proven over the years that it’s an earnings juggernaut, and its latest quarterly performance confirms the company is right on track to continue searching out big profits in 2011.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is one tech stock that really blew away earnings in its most recent quarter. The semiconductor chip maker had one of its most profitable quarters ever, enjoying a big bump from a better-than-expected rebound in computer sales. The company said third-quarter profits jumped nearly 10-fold over last year, while revenues increased by 18%. Intel also posted very strong gross profit margin figures. For the quarter, Intel reported net income of $3.0 billion, or 52 cents per share with a 66% gross margin. Revenue rose to $11.1 billion from $10.8 billion. Analysts had expected the chip maker to earn just 47 cents per share on revenue of $10.8 billion. If PC sales continue to hold up and continued benefits from new cloud computing solutions being implemented, then Intel will likely keep processing big earnings beats.

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) is one of the most recognizable and most successful, consumer brands in the history of corporate America. And judging by its most recent quarterly earnings report, consumers are certainly gulping down the caffeine. In its latest quarter, Starbucks beat analysts’ expectations with better-than-expected quarterly earnings of 37 cents per share or $2.84 billion compared to 24 cents per share of $2.42 billion one year ago. The all-important same-store sales number — a good gauge of customer demand at stores open at least a year — rose an impressive 4%. The consensus estimate here was for same-store sales growth of just 1.5%. As the economy continues to recover, look for consumers to spend more money on personal luxuries like a robust cup of gourmet brew — and that means robust profits for Starbucks.

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