(MONEY Magazine) – Forecasters were surprised when third-quarter economic growth came in at a weak 1.6%. But so far, at least, corporate profits aren't suffering.

The most recent earnings for the S&P 500 are up more than 12% from a year ago. And a surprising number of companies are reporting profits that exceeded Wall Street's expectations, according to Zacks Investment Research.

Among Sivy 70 stocks, standouts include Texas Instruments, with a 25% gain in earnings per share. The stock is cheap, and the chipmaker's long-term prospects are stellar (see page 112).

Another winner was Burlington Northern, with earnings up 22%. Business at the leading railroad was strong across the board. Revenue from coal hauling, in particular, rose 20%. Burlington is a major transporter of low-sulfur coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

In October, five of the Sivy 70 rose more than 10%; none dropped that much. The winners: Comcast, IBM, Johnson Con-trols, Limited Brands and Merrill Lynch.

Read editor-at-large Michael Sivy online every Tuesday at cnnmoney.com/sivy.

E-mail him at msivy@moneymail.com.