Samsung's stock slide despite exceptional earnings is a reminder that, in richly valued markets, meeting expectations is no longer enough, says Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya. Increasingly, it seems companies will have to beat the whispered numbers--the unofficial targets that circulate among investors and traders ahead of results. In Samsung's case, they were higher than what analysts penciled in. With its stock surging severalfold over the past year, a 19-fold profit rise just wasn't enough. "That is one of the classic characteristics of late-stage bull markets, when expectations begin to outrun fundamentals," Ozkardeskaya says, citing periods like the dot-com bubble. When valuations become stretched, investors stop asking whether earnings are good and ask whether they are good enough to justify the price already paid. (fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com)