Don't settle for ordinary quarterly reports.
I take a look at three companies that beat market expectations every week, since I believe that it's the biggest factor in a stock beating the market. Leaving Wall Street's pros stupefied can be a good thing. It usually means that the companies have more in the tank than analysts figured. Capital appreciation typically follows.
Let's take a look at a few companies that humbled the prognosticators over the past few trading days.
We can start with lululemon athletica (Nasdaq: LULU ) , which earned $0.30 a share when analysts were only banking on a profit of $0.24 a share.
The retailer specializes in high-end athletic apparel for women, and the chain's 31% spike in same-store sales proves that you can still move luxury goods in the iffy economic climate. There's a reason why pricey denim sellers True Religion (Nasdaq: TRLG ) and Joe's Jeans (Nasdaq: JOEZ ) posted double-digit revenue growth this past quarter. If a trend is hot enough, it defies the math of discretionary income.
Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN ) is also ahead of the pros. The telco networking specialist posted an adjusted quarterly loss of $0.09 a share. This may be roughly double the red ink that Ciena sported a year earlier, but Wall Street was targeting a deficit of $0.33 a share, making this loss a relative victory.
Finally, Shuffle Master (NYSE: SHFL ) investors like the hand they're being dealt. The maker of automatic cash shufflers and other casino equipment earned $0.13 a share on an adjusted basis, ahead of both the $0.10 a share it posted a year ago, and the $0.12 a share that analysts were expecting.
The gaming industry took its lumps during the recession, but casino operator Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS ) has hit fresh 52-week highs in recent weeks, while Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN ) has come within a penny of doing so.
It's important to keep watching the companies that surpass expectations. Over time, it will be a lucrative experience for investors, as the market rewards the overachievers. That's the kind of surprise that 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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