Winning isn't enough these days.

More than a few tech darlings delivered better-than-expected results, only to get pounded.

Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) earned $0.15 a share, ahead of the $0.14 a share that was projected. Its stock got pounded for an 8% hit on Wednesday.

Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) delivered an impressive report. Wall Street was banking on a profit of $0.71 a share, and the digital entertainment speedster posted net income of $0.80 a share. Shareholders were treated to a 13% plunge on Thursday.

There's more to these stories, naturally. Yahoo! frightened investors by posting a marginal dip in revenue. Netflix suffered from high subscriber acquisition costs and the shrinkage of average revenue per subscriber.

There was also justice elsewhere. eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and China's leading search engine, Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), both rose after handily surpassing Wall Street profit estimates.

Sometimes it's more about how you turn than what you earn.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  • IMAX (Nasdaq: IMAX) is going from a movie house to a BRIC house. The company behind the mammoth-sized movie screens inked deals this week to expand its reach through China and Russia. The first Chinese film remastered for IMAX also opens in Chinese locations this weekend.
  • Potential buyers continue to drop out of the RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) sweepstakes, so crack that piggy bank. You may get the small-box consumer electronics retailer by default.
  • Finally, kudos to E*TRADE (Nasdaq: ETFC) for posting its first quarterly profit in three years. Talk about a "buy and hold" strategy!

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz