Forget NVIDIA Corporation: These 4 Stocks Doubled Last Year

Shares of NVIDIA (NVDA +3.75%) have tripled over the last 52 weeks, driven by the one-two punch of a successful Pascal launch and brand-new business opportunities in markets like automotive computing.

That's great news for longtime NVIDIA owners but not very useful for new investors. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and it's often better to settle for more modest growth for a longer time.

On that note, I'd like to show you a handful of stocks that have doubled over the last year -- and appear to have plenty of rocket fuel left in their tanks today. Read on to see why I'm shining a high-growth spotlight on STMicroelectronics (STM +1.44%), TTM Technologies (TTMI 2.23%), Momo (MOMO +3.21%), and Meritor (MTOR +0.00%).

Image source: Getty Images.

By the numbers

Data taken from Finviz on July 6, 2017.

The data above shows, in stark black and white, that NVIDIA shares are trading at an extremely rich valuation right now while many other high-growth stocks offer a balance between strong performance and modest market prices. The growth-adjusted PEG ratio weighs future earnings growth estimates against the plain old P/E ratio to give a rough estimate of the stock price's fairness. Values between 1.0 and 2.0 are seen as a measure of fair valuation, with larger figures pointing to overvaluation and smaller ones leading the way toward bargain-basement discounts.

Ticker by ticker

China-based social network operator Momo is perhaps the best example of this, offering both faster share price gains than NVIDIA and a milder price tag. This combination of high growth and low P/E ratios should satisfy both growth junkies and value hounds. If online dating has a future in China, it would make sense to see an early leader in that space making the most of its first-mover advantage -- and Momo is known as the Chinese version of Tinder.

Semiconductor maker STMicro has found its sea legs again after a rough patch. Three years of shrinking sales have bounced back to modest growth again, and both EBITDA profits and free cash flows are skyrocketing. Like Momo, STMicro's stock is selling at eminently reasonable prices today. This is a turnaround story in progress, built on the company's strong portfolio of products for the Internet of Things and automotive computing. Yep, those are secular market trends with lasting value -- and a good place to start a sustainable growth trajectory.

Image source: Getty Images.

Industrial and military vehicle parts maker Meritor takes the PEG discounts to a whole new level and seems poised to triple on short notice. Despite falling annual sales, analysts expect Meritor's earnings to grow by at least 10% a year for the next half-decade. Importantly, the company is putting together a portfolio of drivetrains for electric trucks. Ready to exploit the upcoming electric vehicle megatrend, Meritor may very well exceed Wall Street's long-term growth projections, making the current rock-bottom P/E ratio look even sillier in hindsight. As the trucking industry evolves, Meritor stands ready to follow suit -- and investors don't appear to expect that kind of staying power.

Finally, shares of printed circuit board builder TTM Technologies are trading at less than 10 times trailing earnings but the company is tapping into high-growth opportunities such as flagship smartphones and -- you guessed it! -- automotive computing. In the car-based computing market, TTM can supply circuit boards for the data-crunching units themselves but also for the plethora of digital environment sensors that will be necessary for Level 4 and Level 5 self-driving cars. The true long-term value of this stock looks stupendous, and yet shares are trading in the bargain bin.

All of these stocks have more than doubled over the last year, and all four look ready to crush both the market's and NVIDIA's returns starting today.