3 Stocks That Blew the Market Away

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 Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE  ) . The publishing software juggernaut -- behind products even non-dweebs know all about, like Photoshop, Acrobat Reader, and Flash -- posted a profit of $0.37 a share in its fiscal second quarter. Analysts were perched at the $0.35-per-share mark.

Trouncing targets is nothing new for Adobe. The company has clocked in ahead of the Wall Street pack in 21 of the past 22 quarters. It did provide disappointing guidance for the current quarter, but everyone knows Adobe likes to lowball its prospects.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS  ) was another topper. The investment banker earned $4.93 per share in its latest quarter, well ahead of the $4.79 a share the pros were looking for. Yes, investment bankers have been fixtures in this weekly roll call of back pats, but it's not all gold, man. Get it? "Gold-man"? Well, the point I was trying to make is that Goldman Sachs came up big on the same day on which rival Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC  ) came up short.

Then we have Jamba Juice (Nasdaq: JMBA  ) posting a narrower deficit. Wall Street was looking for a $0.09-per-share quarterly loss, but the smoothie blending giant bled raspberry red to the tune of just $0.05 a share for the period.

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, save for Jamba Juice. 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.