The heavy emphasis on cost-cutting at major U.S. corporations isn't sparing research and development (R&D) spending.

A total of 121 companies in the S&P 500 have reported their R&D spending for the first quarter. And 33 of them cut that spending from a year earlier—by 9 percent on average, according to a USA Today analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ.

The R&D cutters include Merck, which slashed its spending by 18.2 percent; Clorox at 17.6 percent; and Texas Instruments at 12.6 percent.

Editor's Note: Secret Wall Street Calendar Uses Strange ‘Crash Alert System,’ Gets 18.79% Annual Returns

To be sure, only 12 of the companies that reduced R&D spending in the first quarter also did so for the full year in both 2012 and 2013, according to USA Today. Many of those companies, including business service provider Xerox and office supply company Pitney Bowes are in the midst of restructurings.

The 12 companies' stock prices haven't suffered. They rose 25 percent in the last year, compared to 15 percent for the S&P 500, USA Today reports.

In addition, the 121 companies that revealed R&D spending in the first quarter on average
showed a 12 percent increase. That represents an acceleration from the 9.6 percent gain in 2013.

Meanwhile, a group of about 50 organizations including the American Association of the Advancement of Science and the Aerospace Industries Association gave testimony to Congress complaining about inadequate R&D spending.

"Over the past decade, while R&D expenditures as a share of GDP remained nearly flat in the United States, they increased by nearly 50 percent in South Korea and nearly 90 percent in China," the groups wrote.

"Today, the major Asian economies collectively perform a larger share of global R&D than the United States."

Editor's Note: Secret Wall Street Calendar Uses Strange ‘Crash Alert System,’ Gets 18.79% Annual Returns

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