Investors are always hunting for the next big stock -- the dream stock whose price increases several times over when the market finally discovers it. It's easy to look back and discover the 10 best stocks of the past decade. But I'm more interested in the tools that can help me evaluate tomorrow's greatest companies.

Motley Fool CAPS offers a variety of resources to aid Fools in finding tomorrow's leaders. Our 165,000-member community is full of investors helping each other beat the market.

We'll enlist CAPS to screen for high-growth companies, then get the story behind some of its more highly rated stocks. CAPS' nifty screener will help us find stocks with:

  • A market cap of at least $500 million.
  • A trailing three-year earnings-per-share growth rate of at least 15%.
  • A trailing three-year revenue growth rate of at least 15%.
  • A price-to-earnings ratio of less than 25.

Then we'll tap the collective intelligence of our CAPS members to see whether these companies present real opportunities -- or whether the numbers fail to tell the true story.

Opinions with the numbers
Below is a sample of stocks our screen returned.

Company

Revenue Growth Rate,
Past 3 Years

EPS Growth Rate,
Past 3 Years

CAPS Rating
(out of 5)

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG)

15.4%

19.9%

*****

Gafisa (NYSE: GFA)

58.1%

53.7%

****

GameStop (NYSE: GME)

15.5%

23.1%

***

Data and star rankings from CAPS as of June 18.

NRG Energy
Power generation company NRG Energy is expanding on multiple fronts, including a nuclear project in the works and some recent acquisitions marking a further push into renewable energy. After boosting its solar business last year with the acquisition of a project developed by First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) in Blythe, California, it recently bought a portfolio of projects from US Solar which will double its subsidiary NRG Solar's projects under development. It also recently completed a deal for a wind farm in Texas, which is the fourth site in its onshore wind portfolio. CAPS members are overwhelmingly won over by the future prospects of the company, with about 99% of the 662 CAPS members rating NRG Energy expecting it to outperform the broader market.

Gafisa
Even with the help of homebuyer tax credits, some U.S.-based homebuilders such as Hovnanian (NYSE: HOV) failed to increase sales in the first quarter. While tax incentives have ended in the U.S. with still no green shoots in sight, Brazil's government recently announced an extension of its entry level housing program, which Gafisa expects will continue to help its Tenda brand. The Brazilian homebuilder grew revenue by 67% and net income by 40% in the first quarter and expects the strong home sales environment will continue this year. More CAPS members see good opportunities ahead in Brazil, and 89% of the 341 CAPS members rating Gafisa see it beating the S&P.

GameStop
GameStop has dominated the used game space and put up big growth numbers in recent years, but some CAPS members question whether it can continue its pace in the new age of digital gaming. The company has had to contend with price competition from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) recently announced it would enter the used game space, potentially posing a threat to GameStop's market share. The company continues to invest in new stores and looks to capture some of the digital market by beginning to sell downloadable content in some of its stores. CAPS members are collectively on the fence, giving the company a three-star rating as 94% of the 3,270 members rating GameStop remain bullish.      

Let 165,000 members be the jury
The collective wisdom of a huge pool of investors can help give context to a page of numbers from a stock screen. But individual investors are still the best judges of what to do with their own money. Fools should always perform their own due diligence.

Happily, it's easy to chime in with your own opinion. If you agree that these companies present dream opportunities -- or see more of a nightmare instead -- simply scroll down and add your thoughts in the comments box.