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 pros over the past few trading days.
We can start with Baidu
China's leading search engine saw its second-quarter profit soar 70% to $1.24 a share. Analysts were only expecting net income of $1.12 a share.
Now, it's true that Baidu benefited from the reversal of a tax provision that lowered the dot-com darling's effective tax rate to 7.9%. If Baidu would've faced the prior year's second quarter tax rate of 14.9% profitability would have been right at where the pros were perched. However, it's hard to deny that Baidu didn't have a strong quarter when pre-tax profits still rose by a sharp 56%.
Akamai
Finally, we have iRobot
Last week was a big one, though. Analysts were betting on quarterly earnings of $0.09 a share, but iRobot nearly tripled that sum with a profit of $0.26 a share.
Moving in the right direction
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. If that's not up your alley just yet, you can still check out a free special report detailing the next trillion-dollar revolution.
Either way, come back next week to learn about more stocks that blew the market away in the coming days.