Why settle for ordinary quarterly reports?
Every week, we look at three companies that beat market expectations, since beating expectations is one of the biggest factors in a stock beating the market. 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 Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL). The enterprise software juggernaut -- with the acquisitive appetite to show for it -- posted a quarterly profit of $0.29 a share, before one-time items. That is well ahead of the $0.22 a share it earned a year ago on that basis, as well as the $0.27 a share profit that Wall Street was expecting.
Oracle shareholders are probably used to wins. The company has beaten analyst bottom-line guesstimates in six of the past seven quarters.
Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) is another topper. The smartphone pioneer posted an adjusted deficit of $0.12 a share, narrower than the $0.18 a share that Mr. Market was looking for.
Yes, Palm is far from perfect. It has been outdone on the smartphone front by companies like Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and BlackBerry parent Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM). However, Palm isn't going away after posting a 49% advance in year-over-year smartphone unit sales.
Finally, we have Carnival (NYSE: CCL) sailing past the pros. The leading cruise ship operator posted a profit of $1.63 a share after backing out a favorable insurance recovery. Analysts were perched on the $1.58 a share pier.
Carnival's performance is welcome news to rivals like Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL), as well as service providers like Steiner Leisure (Nasdaq: STNR), which runs most of Carnival's on-board spas.
So, keep watching the companies that beat 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.
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