Top Performers for Fri: Accuray, lululemon athletica and Cirrus Logic

Even though the unemployment rate dipped to 9%, many people considered today's jobs report to be rather disappointing. Nevertheless, the market was able to push through and finish a solid week in positive territory. The Dow gained 0.25% on Friday and the S&P was up 0.29%.

Here's a few Zacks #1 Rank companies that made the Top Performers List today.

One week ago today, Accuray (ARAY - Analyst Report) announced a pretty good fiscal second quarter report, in which the radiosurgery systems maker returned to profitability after a year-ago loss. Earnings estimates moved sharply higher in response over the past week, which has culminated with ARAY becoming a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company on Friday.

Shares gained 8.72% as volume reached 1.12 million shares, compared to the daily average of around 635,000.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal year ending June 2011 is now 9 cents per share, which is up 125% in the past week from 4 cents. In that time, two of 4 total estimates were revised higher. The past month has seen an advance of 350%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal year ending June 2012 is 20 cents, or about 122% better than the previous fiscal year. The outlook has also increased 11.1% in 7 days and 33.3% in 30 days.

ARAY's big product is the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, which not only sounds really cool but also helped the company report a solid quarter. Accuray announced earnings per share of 7 cents, reversing a year-ago loss of 2 cents and topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 450%. Revenues dipped 5% but still beat our expectations. For more on the quarter, read: Accuray Turns to Black, Backs View.

On a longer-term basis, we are keeping ARAY as "Neutral" for now. We liked the quarter and the demand for the CyberKnife system, but are a bit wary about the heavy competition and reimbursement uncertainties surrounding the company products.

ARAY is part of the medical instruments industry. There is only 1 other name from the space on today's Zacks #1 Rank List: Masimo Corp. (MASI - Analyst Report).

lululemon athletica (LULU - Snapshot Report) jumped 6.87% on Friday to finish out the week as one of the top-performing Zacks #1 Rank companies. Volume was at about 4.27 million shares, compared to the daily average of nearly 1.8 million.

If people buy basketball shoes for everyday life without ever stepping on a court, well why not yoga-inspired athletic apparel? That's what LULU is into, and they've been doing a pretty good job lately.

Sparked by stronger-than-expected revenues, this Canadian company raised its fiscal fourth quarter EPS outlook last month to between 55 cents and 57 cents per share, compared to its previous guidance of 46 cents to 48 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate at the time was 49 cents per share, but it has since advanced by 16.3% to 57 cents. Learn more about this revised guidance here: Lululemon Ups Outlook.

This came after a strong fiscal third-quarter performance, which included a positive EPS surprise of 44% and year-over-year revenue growth of 56%. In fact, it comes after a string of solid quarterly surprises, as the chart below shows:

Earnings estimates have the sharp upward bias that you expect with Zacks #1 Rank stocks. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal year ended January 2011 is $1.49, which is up nearly 5% in 30 days as 16 of 18 total estimates were revised upward. Over the past 2 months, the guidance has advanced 21%.

For the fiscal year ending January 2012, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85 per share has gained 5.7% in a month on 15 upward revisions. The past 2 months has seen an advance of 25%. Furthermore, analysts are currently expecting year-over-year profit growth of more than 24%.

lululemon athletica is one of three companies from the retail –apparel/shoe industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List. The other 2 names are Ascena Retail Group, Inc. (ASNA - Snapshot Report) and Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. (KCP - Snapshot Report).

Despite stiff competition from household names like Nike, we have a longer-term recommendation of "Outperform" on LULU. We believe its better inventory management and e-commerce business will enhance the top- and bottom lines moving forward.

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (CRUS - Snapshot Report) also made its presence known on the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List with an advance of a little more than 5%. Volume eclipsed 7 million shares, compared to the daily average of around 4.15 million.

Last week, this leader in high-precision analog and digital signal processing components announced fiscal third-quarter earnings per share of 32 cents, almost doubling the previous year's 17 cents while exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by nearly 6.7%.

Revenue jumped 47% in the quarter to $95.6 million, as revenue for portable audio products topped expectations. Looking forward, CRUS believes it will continuing growing revenue at a faster rate than the semiconductor industry as a whole.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this fiscal year, ending March 2011, is $1.21 per share, up 4.3% in the past month as all 4 estimates for the period were revised higher.

As for the fiscal year ending March 2012, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46 suggests year-over-year profit growth of 21%. This outlook is up 6.6% in the past month, again on unanimous agreement of 4 total estimates, and has also been enhanced by 2.8% in the past week.

Cirrus Logic is 1 of 4 companies from the electronic components – semiconductors industry on today's Zacks #1 Rank List. The other 3 names are Amtech Systems, Inc. (ASYS - Snapshot Report), Cabot Microelectronics Corp. (CCMP - Snapshot Report) and Spreadtrum Communications (SPRD - Snapshot Report).

Read the full analyst report on KCP

Read the full analyst report on ASNA

Read the full analyst report on CRUS

Read the full analyst report on ASYS

Read the full analyst report on ARAY

Read the full analyst report on CCMP

Read the full analyst report on SPRD

Read the full analyst report on LULU

Read the full analyst report on MASI