Motorcycle heavyweight Harley-Davidson (HOG: sentiment, chart, options) was 1 of many companies stepping into the earnings fray today, reporting a 37% drop in third-quarter profit. The firm's results were adversely affected by the current economic climate, along with slowdowns in some overseas markets. HOG heaven reported third-quarter earnings of 71 cents per share on revenue of $1.42 million. The earnings results missed the consensus estimate by 8 cents per share, so why is HOG more than 1.5% higher in today's down market? Sales of $1.42 million topped the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion.

HOG has been making a bit of bearish noise this year, as it has slipped 48% since January. Despite today's advance, HOG continues to face overhead resistance at the 25 level. In addition, pessimism is running amok from analysts. Currently, 7 of the 11 analysts tracking HOG rate it a "hold" or worse. Yes, this configuration leaves the door open for upgrades, but HOG needs to stage a performance U-turn to make this sentiment unwind.