The bulk of second-quarter earnings season is now in the books and it was far better than Wall Street had hoped. More than 70% of the companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results thus far have beaten analysts' average expectations, according to Thomson Reuters, well above the typical "beat rate" of more than 60%.

The fact that most of those positive earnings surprises came from cost cutting (read: layoffs) makes it harder for investors to determine whether the better-than-expected bottom-line numbers are sustainable. Indeed, just slightly more than a quarter of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported year-over-year revenue growth, according to Yardeni Research. (And let's not forget that aggregate second-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 are still down nearly 30% from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters.)

But perhaps more important than bottom-line results are the details revealed by reading between the lines of company guidance. After all, the latest earnings reports tell us about business conditions as they were between April and June, but what investors are really looking for are clues about how these businesses are faring now or three months from now -- and, of course, any signs that we're on the road to a broader economic recovery.

Painting a picture of the future based on earnings guidance is bound to disappoint investors, however. Given that chief executives have seen their share prices soar from the early March lows, there's little or no incentive to stick their necks out with optimistic guidance for upcoming quarters, says Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial, a Boston-based financial-services firm.

"CEOs have already seen big moves in their share prices so they are hesitant to raise the bar and risk disappointing the market later. They want to keep expectations as low as possible," says Kleintop.

That well-placed caution also serves to put any glimmer of good news in extra-sharp relief. After all, any silver linings coming out of second-quarter earnings season just might mean that we're farther along the path to recovery than any management team or investor dare hope.

SmartMoney.com culled through the second-quarter earnings reports to find bright spots that go beyond the myriad "beats." Here, then, are eight companies that showed some real signs of life: