Estimates are just that -- estimates. Wall Street can't always be right. The pros miss. They're human. However, if they underestimate a company's earnings power by a fair amount, that's just the kind of signal you need for digging deeper into that particular stock.

Let's take a look at a few of the beaters that humbled the prognosticators this past week.

We'll start with Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE). The stock first turned my head five years ago, when it was one of the initial recommendations in my annual "10 Stocks Under $10" list. The health- and beauty-products specialist has aged nicely into the double digits over the years.

Its latest report showed the company earning $0.35 a share. Analysts were expecting the company to be dolled up to the tune of just $0.28 a share. Strength in the company's housewares division and the popularity of Helen's own Oxo brand helped make the pretty pros look ugly.

Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW) was another topper. The footwear maker, which has nothing to do with the World Wide Web or with X-Men's Wolverine, earned $0.46 a share in its latest quarter, two pennies better than Wall Street's forecast. This wasn't really much of a surprise. As I pointed out last week, Wolverine has gone on to meet or beat estimates for 24 consecutive quarters. The streak now stretches to 25 satisfying reports.

Then we have Marriott (NYSE:MAR). The hospitality juggernaut may have seen its net profits dip 5% to hit $0.33 a share, but that was still a lot better than the $0.30 a share that the hotelier was supposed to produce. The company wasn't exactly upbeat about its near-term outlook, and that's something investors tend to weigh heavily in assessing the future of business and holiday leisure travel.

So keep watching the companies that lap expectations. Over time, it will be a rewarding experience for investors as the market rewards the overachievers. That's the kind of surprise we look for in the Rule Breakers newsletter service. Want in? Check out a 30-day trial subscription.

Either way, come back next Monday to learn about more stocks that blew the market away.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is a fan of toppers. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Foo l has a disclosure policy.