3 Stocks That Blew the Market Away

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.

Content-delivery networkLimelight Networks (Nasdaq: LLNW  ) posted a loss of $0.03 a share. Few may applaud red ink, but it's a smaller deficit than the $0.05 a share shortcoming that analysts were targeting. Limelight's results follow mixed reports from its rivals, with Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM  ) narrowly beating estimates and Level 3 (Nasdaq: LVLT  ) coming up just short.

Communications-equipment maker JDS Uniphase (Nasdaq: JDSU  ) also connected with the market beaters. JDS Uniphase's adjusted profitability more than doubled to $0.22 a share, ahead of the $0.20 a share that the pros were banking on.

Fast-growing travel portal priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN  ) was also able to name its own price after another blowout report. Priceline's net income of $2.66 landed well in front of both the $1.70 a share it earned last year and the $2.46 a share that Wall Street figured it would post on the bottom line this time around.

Priceline's strong showing may not come as a surprise. It routinely bests the market's profit targets. However, Priceline's performance did come a week after rival Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE  ) narrowly missed Wall Street estimates.

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.