"firm beat" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It can be used to describe a steady rhythm, such as a heart beat or a drummer's beat. You could use it in a sentence like this: "The drummer kept a firm beat throughout the entire song."
The investment firm beat Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian automaker, in a competition for the stake.
The brokerage firm beat estimates, helped by interest revenue and higher fees for managing assets.
In the end, the firm beat out other leading private equity firms, after owners interviewed an executive from another Israeli company in Permira's portfolio.
In November Salesforce.com, the largest SaaS firm, beat analysts' expectations, reporting sharply growing revenues and profits.And open-source software has long since moved beyond Linux.
The firm beat the filing of the federal lawsuit by a day and trumpeted its claims with a news release and teleconference.
Tom Wiscombe Architecture, the relatively young firm beat out much larger competitors such as Zaha Hadid Architects and Gensler, with its West Hollywood Belltower proposal.
HTC was recently declared the top smartphone seller in the United States for the third quarter by Canalys, a research firm, beating out competitors like Apple, Samsung and LG.
Exxon Mobil, the biggest of them all, banked $11.7 billion, the highest-ever quarterly profit reported by an American firm, beating its own record.
And the results were strong, with each firm beating both revenue and profit expectations set by Wall Street.
It would also be the largest foreign takeover of a British firm, beating some of the more recent deals which include: O2 bought by Spain's Telefonica for £18bn in 2005.
Private water firms beat the public sector on all counts.What's gone wrong?
