5 of Last Week's Biggest Winners

What's better than momentum? Mo' momentum. Let's take a closer look at five of this past week's biggest scorchers.

Source: Barron's.

Let's start with Famous Dave's of America. The barbecue restaurant chain served up a profit of $0.25 a share, blowing away analysts who were targeting only $0.15 a share in earnings for the quarter. Things aren't perfect. Comps for the holiday quarter were negative at the 194-unit chain, and it warmed of soft sales earlier this year. However, Famous Dave's has still come through with three consecutive quarters of beating Wall Street profit targets by double digits.

iRobot moved higher after receiving a juicy accolade for its intellectual capital. The Patent Board released a list of of the electronics and instruments industry's top patent portfolios, and iRobot ranked fifth overall. It fared even better under the "Science Strength" and "Industry Impact" categories.

Ellie Mae hit a "home" run after the mortgage software solutions provider posted mixed quarterly results. Revenue came in just ahead of expectations, but the same can't be said for the current quarter. However, Ellie Mae still sees a healthy showing for all of 2014.

Arena Pharmaceuticals moved higher after securing new outlets for Belviq. CVS will make the treatment for chronic weight management available to its customers. Marketing authorization for Belviq in Brazil was also filed.

NVIDIA shares got brighter after the video-chip leader posted blowout financial results. The company hit a 52-week high after seeing revenue inch higher on the success of its flagship GPU business. Profitability dipped, but NVIDIA's net income of $0.24 a share was far better than the $0.18 Wall Street was forecasting.

Keep the good vibes coming
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Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Ellie Mae, iRobot, and Nvidia. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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