Every week, I take a look at a few companies that surpassed 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. Capital appreciation often follows.

Let's look at a few companies that humbled the prognosticators this past week.

We'll start with FedEx (NYSE: FDX). The speedy deliverer posted a profit of $0.76 a share, well ahead of both the $0.31 a share it rang up a year ago, and the $0.71 a share that Wall Street was targeting.

Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN) also checked in ahead of the pros, generating non-GAAP earnings of $0.26 a share in its latest quarter. That may be less than the $0.39 a share profit it rang up a year ago, but analysts would have been happy with a $0.21-a-share showing.

Focus Media runs several advertising networks in China, incorporating everything from digital poster frames in elevators to ad-spewing television monitors in public spaces. Advertising in China's booming economy may seem like a no-brainer, but rival advertising platform operators AirMedia (Nasdaq: AMCN) and VisionChina (Nasdaq: VISN) failed to best Wall Street guesstimates earlier this month.

Finally, Nike (NYSE: NKE) proved that it could "just do it" without Tiger Woods on the golf course. The athletic footwear and apparel giant earned $1.01 a share in its latest quarter, sprinting past the prognosticators at the $0.89-a-share mark.

Keep watching the companies that beat expectations. Over time, it will be a profitable 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.