Every week, I take a look at a few companies that have lapped their profit targets. Leaving Wall Street's pros with quizzical looks 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.

We can start with Bob Evans (NASDAQ:BOBE). The company put the sunshine in its Sunshine Skillet breakfast platter by earning $0.43 a share before a favorable tax gain in its fiscal second-quarter report last week. Analysts were caught sleeping at the $0.39-per-share mark. Despite concerns that restaurateurs will bear the brunt of a tightening economy, Bob Evans has now posted positive comps in each of the past five quarters.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) is another topper. The South American consumer-auction site operator posted earnings of $0.07 a share in its first quarter as a public company. Wall Street was expecting a profit of just $0.06 a share. That performance may not seem like much of a wallop, but the company's report came just days after South Korea's Gmarket (NASDAQ:GMKT) fell short of the market's targets.

MercadoLibre's strengths in Argentina and Brazil are impressive on both the auction front and its online financial payment platform. eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) can't be too jealous, since it owns a piece of the company.

Finally, we have SINA (NASDAQ:SINA). China's new media giant generated a profit of $0.32 a share on an adjusted basis during the third quarter. The pros were looking for net income of just $0.28 per share on that basis. It's been a mixed quarter for China's leading growth stocks, so it's comforting to see one of the last of the country's bellwethers chime in nicely.

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 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.