Every week, I take a look at a few companies that lapped 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 and capital appreciation often follows.

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

We'll start with Stride Rite (NYSE:SRR). Analysts were used to the footwear specialist posting small fourth-quarter deficits -- it is the company's seasonally soft period. However, the pros figured that the company would be able to shoehorn a small profit of $0.02 a share this time around. What did Stride Rite do? It wound up doubling that profitability, earning $0.04 a share for the quarter.

Genentech (NYSE:DNA) was another topper. The biotech bellwether earned $0.61 a share in its latest quarter. Wall Street was only banking on a $0.56 per share showing. Yes, despite the speculative aura of biotech, there are several companies like Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) that have been profitable for years.

Then we have Alcoa (NYSE:AA). The aluminum giant is one of Philip Durrel's Pigs of the Dow for 2007, and it's off to a good start in proving the theory that out-of-favor stocks have a good chance of bouncing back the following year. Last week the company posted fiscal fourth-quarter results that found net income soaring to $0.74 a share from continuing operations after a $0.35 per share showing a year earlier. The market was only looking for profits of $0.65 a share. The world's still hungry for aluminum and maybe now investors can start believing the old "we can't wait for tomorrow, Alcoa can't wait" jingle.

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 the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.