Are These 3-Digit Stocks Worth Every Penny?

True penny stocks are a minefield, but small-cap copper beauties can be one way to easily double your money.

At the other end of the price spectrum, you'll find what I call "three-digit stocks." Though if they're anything like Berkshire Hathaway, they can trade in the four-, five-, and six-digit range, too.

While a penny stock might not be a good buy simply because it's cheap, a three-digit stock shouldn't scare you away just because it carries a hefty price tag. Let's check in with the Motley Fool CAPS community to see which triple-digit titans the investor-intelligence database thinks might have the best chance of success.

Here are a handful of these high-priced highfliers:

Source: Motley Fool CAPS and Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.

Highfalutin honeys
With a plethora of companies reporting better earnings this quarter, you might think the economy was pulling out of the recession, with continued improvement ahead. But last year was such a horrible period that comparisons are much easier to beat this time around. Because companies tightened their belts and cut costs, they are able to post better-than-expected earnings, without necessarily having to post better-than-average sales growth.

Saving on the expense lines is smart management in a recession, but it's just not a true recovery unless you're growing sales, too.

Then there are the companies like Amazon.com that posted better earnings and better revenues. Not only did the e-tailer's sales grow in the latest quarter, but with expenses under control, profits soared as well. So did the stock, jumping by 27% on Friday.

It almost makes you wistfully look back to the tech bubble days, when a price target from Henry Blodget could turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. On a split-adjusted basis, Amazon is trading at $700 a share, well above the infamous $400 price point Blodget set back in 1998. As he recently admitted, "it took about a decade longer than I would have hoped."

Amazon still has tough competition coming from the likes of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) in the online space, and Wal-Mart's (NYSE:WMT) bricks-and-mortar stores. The success it's achieved thus far is a measure of management's tenacity, and CAPS member MichiganBull thinks Wal-Mart might need to start looking over its shoulder.

Yet maybe the market was simply looking for someone -- anyone! -- to post decent earnings that weren't plastered with caveats. CAPS member jed71 thinks Amazon's stock reset was an overreaction to an admittedly good earnings report, albeit one that can't be sustained:

Oh come on. I mean really. This might win the stupid award for the day. And with all the political antics today, that is really saying something.

Amazon beats earnings estimates by $0.12 and that deserves a 26% one-day run up in price to its 52 week high of $119 per share? Give me a break.

So earnings came in at $0.45 rather than $0.32. Whoop-dee-doo. And revenue beat expectations by a crazy high 0.1%. They are in a highly competitive market that is getting more competitive by the second. Did anyone read earlier this week that Barnes and Noble has announced a new e-reader, the Nook? And apparently has many more bells and whistles than the Kindle!

Seriously, does anyone truly believe this company deserves a 78 P/E? I feel like I am having a bad flashback to 2000. If I have ever truly seen a stock that is overbought, thy name is AMZN.

Count to 10
These three-digit stocks might be on their way to even higher valuations. That's why it pays to start your own research in Motley Fool CAPS. Read a company's financial reports, scrutinize key data and charts, and examine the comments your fellow investors have made -- all from a stock's CAPS page.

Want help finding your own three-digit darlings? Join Fool co-founders David and Tom Gardner at Motley Fool Stock Advisor as they search the market for stocks enjoying not only a triple-digit price tag, but also the potential to double, triple, and even quadruple in value over time.

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