Meet earnings and everyone is content. Come out comfortably ahead and watch the market walk away more than satisfied. That's all you really need to know about earnings season. Companies that outperform once are in the ideal position to do so again.

Let's take a look at a few of these beaters that humbled the prognosticators this past week.

We'll start with THQ (NASDAQ:THQI). The day after video game giant and Stock Advisor pick Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) trounced bottom-line estimates, smaller publisher THQ followed suit. It's been a welcome surprise in an industry that most figured would be toast until the new PS3 and Wii systems grow and build their audiences.

Many of THQ's titles are licensed fare for younger gamers based on hit animated flicks like Cars and shows like SpongeBob SquarePants, so it was easy to assume that the company wouldn't slide into the same kind of funk as more grown-up software houses. But few thought the company was good for $0.25 a share when Wall Street was only expecting a $0.03-per-share showing.

Burger King (NYSE:BKC) was another. A Whopper topper, you might say. The world's second-largest burger chain, behind McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), finally let shareholders have it their way by earning $0.30 a share for its latest quarter. That was more than the $0.25 a share the company had earned a year ago and the $0.26 per share analysts were banking on. Despite the company's struggles and its rather uninspiring IPO earlier this year, Burger King has served up 11 straight quarters with higher global comps.

Then we have SINA (NASDAQ:SINA), the Stock Advisor recommendation that is striking it rich in China with its online and wireless offerings. The company earned $0.19 a share, or $0.25 a share before stock-based compensation. The market was settling for $0.18 a share.

China is clearly a region that is performing better than the market is giving it credit for, as both Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) and Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) have also come in comfortably ahead of Wall Street targets in recent days.

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.

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