10 stocks that almost always beat earnings

This earnings season was expected to be a downer, but it's turning into anything but.

In the past few weeks, more than 70 percent of the companies reporting first-quarter results have topped Wall Street estimates.

And investors have been rewarded accordingly with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rising to new records.

So the "earnings beat" trade is alive and well. Here's how to play it next.