Every week, I look at a few companies that exceeded their profit targets. If a company has left Wall Street's pros with quizzical expressions, that usually means that the company has more in the tank than the analysts had figured -- and capital appreciation often follows. So let's see who humbled the prognosticators this past week.
We can start with Fluor (NYSE: FLR). The industrial builder saw its first-quarter profits soar 51% to $1.12 a share, comfortably ahead of the $0.93 that it earned a year ago. It did take a pair of big cancellations off its backlog list -- a $2.1 billion refinery in Kuwait and a $580 million hydrocracker construction deal with Valero (NYSE: VLO) -- and it lowered its guidance slightly for the entire year. However, Fluor still scored $5.5 billion in new project awards during the quarter, so it's clearly not smarting for business.
Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFMI) is another topper. The organic grocer earned $0.24 a share before asset impairment charges. Yes, that's less than the $0.29 a share it rang up a year ago, but Wall Street was expecting just $0.18 on the bottom line.
Whole Foods isn't as recession-resistant as conventional supermarket operators are. Folks are counting their pennies, and budget-conscious shoppers are shunning the upscale grocery experience. And sure enough, comps fell at Whole Foods. Classy premium outfits such as Whole Foods, Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), and Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) (NYSE: CMG-B) have all seen traffic decline at the individual store level.
Finally, we have Helen of Troy (Nasdaq: HELE) looking pretty. The maker of beauty-care products gave its followers an extreme makeover, by earning $0.36 a share on a non-GAAP basis. Mr. Market was looking for net income of just $0.14. The company was one of the original entries in my "10 Stocks Under $10" eight years ago. Shares have gone on to double since then.
So keep watching the companies that surpass expectations. Over time, doing so 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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