3 Stocks That Blew the Market Away

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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 prognosticators over the past few trading days.

We can start with TIBCO Software (Nasdaq: TIBX  ) .

Things looked bleak for TIBCO last month, with digital data enablers plunging on concerns that tech spending would dry up in this iffy economy. Thankfully TIBCO held up better than some of its rivals, with revenue soaring 24% in its latest quarter -- fueled by a 29% spike in license revenue. The end result for TIBCO was a profit of $0.23 a share, just ahead of the $0.21 a share that the market was expecting.

No one should be surprised. TIBCO has now surpassed Wall Street estimates in each of the past 14 quarters.

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT  ) also earned a tip of the hat from its shareholders. Companies continue to turn to Red Hat's open-source solutions for their cost-effective enterprise software needs. Adjusted profitability climbed 53% to $0.29 a share, blowing past the $0.25 a share that the pros were targeting.

Finally, we have Cintas (Nasdaq: CTAS  ) . The corporate uniform giant continued to trend we saw two months ago when it posted marke! t-thumpi ng fiscal fourth quarter results. Cintas' quarterly net income of $0.52 a share left analyst estimates of $0.47 a share pressed like freshly washed uniforms being handed over by a Cintas driver.

The strong showing at Cintas is welcome news for corporate America, even though last week dealt investors a mixed message when it comes to another reliable pulse take -- office furniture. Herman Miller (Nasdaq: MLHR  ) blew estimates out of the water, but rival Steelcase (NYSE: SCS  ) fell just short.

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.

Either way, come back next Monday to learn about more stocks that blew the market away.

If you want to track these stocks to see if they come out ahead next quarter, add them to My Watchlist:

• Add Tibco?Software to My Watchlist.
• Add Steelcase to My Watchlist.
• Add Red?Hat to My Watchlist.

Tags: AA ,Best Stocks To Buy For 2012 ,Earnings ,GS ,Maybe the bar is set too darn high for current market conditions