Every week, I take a look at a few companies that lapped their profit targets. Leaving Wall Street's pros with quizzical looks on their faces can be a good thing. It usually means that the companies have more in the tank than analysts figured and capital appreciation often follows.

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

We'll start with Celebrate Express (NASDAQ:BDAY). It was a surprise party for the online retailer of party supplies, posting a profit of $0.07 a share for its November quarter. That was better than the $0.05 a share that it had earned a year earlier and the $0.04 per share that analysts were expecting.

Sales rose, even though the company is in the process of writing down its Storybook Heirlooms business. Why? Well, because the company got aggressive in marketing costumes, and you just know how briskly those sell in the Halloween-happy month of October.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) was another topper. The agricultural biotech giant saw its quarterly profit sprout to $0.16 a share. The market was forecasting that the bottom line would dip to $0.10 a share after a $0.11-per share showing a year earlier. Strength in the company's corn seed business has me redefining the term "popcorn" to slap a snack-happy tag to the welcome report.

Then we have Topps (NASDAQ:TOPP). The trading card and candy maker was expected to earn just $0.06 a share and came in 50% higher at $0.09 a share. That's not too shabby for a company that simply broke even before discontinued operations a year earlier.

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 Fool has a disclosure policy.