3 Stocks That Blew the Market Away

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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 over the past few trading days.

We can start with China Medical Technologies (Nasdaq: CMED). The Beijing-based maker of in-vitro diagnostics gear earned a profit of $0.53 a share in its latest quarter, ahead of both the $0.40 it earned a year ago and the $0.44 that Wall Street was expecting.

Before you assume that peddling medical equipment in a booming economy like China's is a slam dunk, keep in mind that Chindex (Nasdaq: CHDX) shocked investors by posting a quarterly loss on the same day as China Medical reported its earnings. Then again, Chindex appears to be the exception, since Mindray Medical (NYSE: MR) also blew past analyst profit targets last month.

Pall (NYSE: PLL) is another topper. The life sciences and industrial specialist saw its fiscal third-quarter net income rise 26% to $0.54 a share. Mr. Market had been perched at the $0.50-a-share mark.

Finally, death-care giant Stewart Enterprises (Nasdaq: STEI) showed signs of life. The funeral parlor and cemetery operator -- trailing only Service Corp. (NYSE: SCI) in its industry -- earned $0.15 a share, ahead of both the $0.13 a share that investors were looking for and the $0.12 a share it generated a year ago.

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

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