The Coca-Cola Company (KO) Refreshes the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) as These Two Stocks Bubble Up

The rout turned to a rally yesterday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) surged 157 points, marking its second-best day of the year. Beverage maker The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) drove the bubbly bounce after reporting earnings that beat analyst expectations, which drove its own stock more than 5% higher.

While both the top and bottom lines on The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s financials were below last year’s effort, the above-the-fold numbers were weakened by currency fluctuations and two fewer days of sales in the quarter, while the numbers down below, when adjusted for non-recurring items, actually matched the year-ago results. More important to Wall Street, they came in ahead of predictions.

With plans to develop a more franchise-based relationship with its bottlers, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is looking to reduce direct control over the business but improve margins in the process. That’s a plan PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) is pursuing itself after having purchased its biggest bottler ,and it’s now reorganizing the business. Investors think The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO)’s realignment is a pause that refreshes, and pushed its stock higher.

Reach out and touch someone
Continuing to explode higher has been touch technology specialist UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL), which soared more than 16% yesterday after signing on with Eastman Kodak in a manufacturing and supply agreement (and you thought Kodak’s bankruptcy meant it was dead and buried).

The two companies will open a new manufacturing facility in Kodak’s Rochester business park to produce touchscreen sensors based on Uni-Pixel’s UniBoss technology for the touch module market, which is expected to hit $32 billion in the next five years, more than double its current size.

Last month it struck a deal with Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) to produce its UniBoss film that is compatible with the chip maker’s chips, and earlier this month it confirmed it had received a $5 million payment from a PC company for its technology. That it is just an initial payment in what is scheduled to be a series of payments bodes well for continued growth and has been behind its meteoric rise. UniPixel Inc (NASDAQ:UNXL)’s stock is up more than 172% in 2013, but is 600% higher over the last 12 months.