Who says you can't play and win against bigger, better-funded competitors? NetGear (Nasdaq: NTGR) just did. Last night, the company destroyed first-quarter estimates and in the process shamed peer Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO).

We'll get into the details of NetGear's Q1 results momentarily. First, here's a closer look at the business from a Foolish perspective:

Metric

NetGear

Operations

Makes routers and other networking gear for connecting home consumer electronics to each other and the Internet.

CAPS stars (out of 5)

****

Total ratings

2,384

Percent bulls

96.8%

Percent bears

3.2%

Bullish pitches

333 out of 346

Highest-rated peers

Digi International, Spirent Communications, Network Engines

Data current as of April 29.

Revenue grew 32% year-over-year to $278.8 million, while adjusted profits soared 35% to $0.65 a share. Wall Street wasn't even close, having predicted $256.5 million and $0.52, respectively. NetGear seems to be hitting Cisco's Linksys group where it hurts.

For all the hype over Android and Motorola Mobility's (NYSE: MMI) mediocre-selling Xoom tablet, it now appears that NetGear was the big winner of this year's Consumer Electronics Show. The networker showed off 20 new products in January.

In February, management raised guidance on the belief its double-barrel blast of geekery would attract a flood of new buyers. Now it turns out they were lowballing. Much more of this and analysts will be forced to raise their projections for 20% annual earnings growth over the next five years.

Do you agree? Disagree? Use the comments box below to tell us what you think about NetGear's report, approach, and competitive differentiation. You can also rate NetGear in Motley Fool CAPS.

The Motley Fool recently introduced a free My Watchlist feature that allows users to stay ahead of the curve and receive up-to-date news on companies like NetGear, or any of its peers or competitors. To get up-to-date news and analysis, add these companies to your watchlist today: