The market woke up on the bearish side of the bed last week, ringing up brutal losses early on.

Friday's gains weren't enough to offset the carnage created earlier in the week, with the S&P 500 shedding 1.7% of its value for the week.

It wasn't all bad news, though. There are plenty of stocks that performed considerably better than the market. Let's take a closer look at five of this past week's biggest scorchers.

Company

Feb. 25

Weekly Gain

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ATA (Nasdaq: ATAI)

$7.14

57%

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Duncan Energy Partners (NYSE: DEP)

$40.54

24%

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Brush Engineered Materials (NYSE: BW)

$42.03

18%

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SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD)

$10.53

18%

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NorthStar Realty Finance (NYSE: NRF)

$6.08

17%

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Source: Barron's.

Chinese computer-based educator ATA moved to the head of the class after a monstrous quarterly report. Revenue and adjusted earnings soared 78% and 269%, respectively. Stateside for-profit educators have come under fire over the past year, but the upside is clearly higher in the world's most populous nation.

Duncan Energy Partners spiked after receiving a buyout offer from Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD). The proposed all-stock deal originally valued Duncan at $42 a share, although that sum will fluctuate along with Enterprise's stock moves.

Brush Engineered Materials climbed higher after posting strong financial results and issuing upbeat guidance for the year ahead. The manufacturer of fine-tuned metal products saw its revenue nearly double in 2010 to $1.3 billion, fueled partly by timely acquisitions. A healthy profit of $2.25 a share reversed a recession-saddled deficit in 2009.

Shares of SandRidge Energy popped after posting a narrower deficit and raising its oil production guidance for the first time in six quarters. SandRidge also pocketed $200 million by selling some underutilized acreage in New Mexico.

NorthStar is a real estate investment trust specializing in commercial real estate debt, real estate securities, and net lease properties. Shares inched higher after it revealed that adjusted funds from operations in the fourth quarter nearly doubled to $0.48 a share.

It was a great week for these five stocks. Now let's see whether they're up for an encore.

Which of these five stocks do you think will continue to move higher? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.