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 with stunned expressions 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 JDSU (Nasdaq: JDSU). The optical networking gear giant that once crashed and burned as JDS Uniphase is riding high again. Analysts were expecting JDSU's net income to quadruple to $0.16 a share. That's ambitious, but the reality was even better. Earnings popping fivefold to $0.20 a share.

MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is also charging higher. The credit card marketer earned $3.94 a share in its latest quarter, well ahead of both the $3.44 a share it delivered a year earlier and the $3.54 a share that the pros were targeting.

Despite the concerns over the plastic-swiping habits of penny-pinching consumers, MasterCard, Visa (NYSE: V), American Express (NYSE: AXP), and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) have all landed well ahead of the market's profit projections in their latest quarters.

Finally, we have Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) reporting its earnings the way it takes its coffee -- black. The barista baron earned $0.37 a share in its fiscal fourth quarter. Wall Street's decaffeinated watchers were settling for a profit of $0.32 a share. Strong comps and operating performance helped the bean counters find more beans worth counting.

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.