But companies are no longer beating expectations the way they have since the beginning of 2003.

On average, over the last six years, companies have beaten estimates by nearly three percentage points.

They developed this technology secretly, in hopes that other companies would not see their efforts and beat them to the patent.

"If companies really beat the earnings numbers and the stocks don't take off, then there is something else going on," he said.

In the third quarter, the fund's companies beat expectations by 10 percent, on average.

Each day the company beats these standards, money is put in a bonus pool for all employees.

Under his leadership, his company beat back four attacks on their position.

The automotive industry itself knows that we need to think quickly, otherwise companies outside Europe will beat us to it.

This may be why the percentage of companies meeting or beating the estimate by a penny has also declined recently.

But so are those in the media who report breathlessly when companies beat estimates by a penny or two.