Yesterday, Nordstrom $JWN quietly beat expectations and raised its full-year guidance sending the stock up 9% after the report. This came as a surprise to many investors following the awful reports from Target $TGT and Walmart $WMT. Let's dig in and see if the financials could’ve helped us see this move coming.

$JWN has been cut in half from its previous 52wk highs but is holding up surprisingly better than other retailers like $ANF, $GPS, and $URBN. Maybe some investors saw this move coming.

Heading into earnings, $JWN Nordstrom had the highest revenue growth and the third-highest valuation multiple. Perhaps, investors could’ve argued the stock was undervalued leading up to its report.

Unlike the other retailers on this list, Nordstrom $JWN has seen its margins rise in recent quarters. This focus on profitability could’ve been an early sign of an earnings beat.

Lastly, we can’t forget about the new metric we just added, free cash flow! When looking at the smaller retailers, Nordstrom $JWN delivered the second-highest amount of free cash flow per dollar of market cap. Although it is easy to look at the data in hindsight, trends can be a helpful part of the research process.