Hitting targets may be a great strategy for shooting galleries, but it's only an average one when it comes to corporate earnings. Remember, meeting the all-knowing analysts' targets is what is expected of a company. It's better for investors when these MBA-toting Nostradamus wannabes miss badly by forecasting a lower number than is delivered by the reporting company. When market mavens aim too low, it can be a great sign that the company is about to go on a tear of trouncing estimates in the future -- at least until the market catches up.

That said, let's take a closer look at a few of the companies that humbled the prognosticators this past week.

We'll start with LG Philips (NYSE:LPL). The joint venture between Korea's LG Electronics and the Dutch Philips NV consumer electronics conglomerate has taken the liquid crystal display world by storm. Second only to Samsung in moving LCD televisions, LG Philips overcame lower selling prices to post an 837% spike in profitability. That beat the Street, although investors weren't necessarily elated after the company warned of a weaker outlook for the current quarter.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) was another topper. The maker of the namesake oil lubricant, as well as several other household cleaning products, earned $0.45 a share, which was well above the $0.35 per-share consensus estimate. Nate Parmelee dug deeper into the numbers to find that the company scaled back on its marketing expenditures -- temporarily -- and it was the difference on that single line item that fueled the bulk of the flashy growth.

So let's leave WD-40 as a topper with an asterisk. It will have to prove that it has what it takes to blow away the market when its ad budget is running full-throttle, which will more than likely be during the current quarter.

SYNNEX (NYSE:SNX) is the third company we'll be taking a look at this week. As the country's third-largest corporate supplier of IT products -- behind Ingram Micro (NYSE:IM) and Tech Data (NASDAQ:TECD) -- the company earned $0.41 a share when Wall Street was pitching its tent at the $0.38 mark.

It wasn't all cheery deliveries, as net income from continuing operations dipped despite an 11% uptick in sales. However, as Stephen Simpson pointed out last week, a higher tax rate and financing expenses helped explain the discrepancy. So, yes, even if you're posting lower earnings, you can still blow the market away.

So keep watching the companies that lap expectations. Over time, it will be a rewarding experience for investors. That's the kind of surprise that market watchers relish in the Rule Breakers newsletter service. The strategy has paid off as the average Rule Breaker selection has trounced the S&P 500's market return. 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.

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