Every week, I take a look at a few companies that lapped their profit targets. 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 this past week.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) was squeaky clean on Thursday, earning $0.52 per share in its fiscal second quarter. That was 24% better than the $0.43 a share it had earned a year ago. It was also comfortably ahead of the $0.46 per share in profits that Wall Street was counting on.

That comes as welcome news to investors of the consumer-products maker behind Lava hand cleaner, 2000 Flushes toilet freshener, and the eponymous WD-40 multipurpose lubricant. The company had actually come up short on the bottom line over the two most recent quarters, after trouncing targets in each of the five previous periods.

Retail Ventures (NYSE:RVI) was another topper. The company behind Value City discount department stores, off-price apparel specialist Filene's Basement, and majority stakeholder in DSW (NYSE:DSW) rang up big over the holidays. Retail Ventures earned $0.62 per share before charges in its latest quarter, more than twice the $0.30 a share that analysts had been expecting. Strength at the DSW footwear superstores helped turn the tide radically in the company's favor. 

Then we have Best Buy (NYSE:BBY). The consumer electronics giant was able to buck the sluggish trend at rivals Circuit City (NYSE:CC) and Tweeter (NASDAQ:TWTR), earning $1.55 per share for the seasonally potent fiscal fourth quarter. The pros were perched at the $1.52 per-share mark. These may be dicey times in consumer electronics, but the Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation isn't doing too badly if it can grow sales and earnings by just over 20% over the holidays.

So, keep watching the companies that lap 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 Motley Fool 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.

Best Buy is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation. See if you can be a topper, too, with a money-back offer on a 30-day subscription.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is a fan of toppers. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.