As the year comes to a close, many investors wound up with respectable showings. However, your portfolio probably received a real boost if you owned some of the top performers of 2005. Let's take a look at five stocks that panned out perfectly for investors.
Hansen Natural (NASDAQ:HANS) -- Up 350%
You wouldn't expect a beverage company to be one of Wall Street's most thirst-quenching investments, but that's exactly what Hansen was. The alternative-beverage upstart behind the popular Monster Energy Drink has seen its earnings take off, and the stock price has gone along for the ride. Quarterly reports have been the ideal brew for thirsty shareholders. In November, the company posted a 249% spurt in quarterly profits as the top line doubled.
Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) -- Up 250%
It was a great year for publicly traded exchanges. Sector consolidation helped fuel the fire as Nasdaq gobbled up Instinet and the New York Stock Exchange joined forces with Rule Breakers recommended Archipelago (NYSE:AX). When love is in the air, capital appreciation is never too far away.
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) -- Up 199%
Robots in the operating room? Believe it. Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci robotic arms have been assisting surgeons with precise procedures, and it seems as if those same robotic arms have been picking the pockets of Wall Street to pad the wallets of its euphoric investors. The Rule Breakers selection saw its shares roughly triple in 2005, as more hospitals hit Intuitive up with new orders and established operators began to use the da Vinci system more often.
aQuantive (NASDAQ:AQNT) -- Up 181%
I profiled aQuantive's spectacular rise earlier this month, and the company's heady gains in 2005 seem so obvious in retrospect. As a provider of a suite of interactive marketing services, aQuantive has been a huge beneficiary of companies flocking to the Internet and earmarking larger chunks of their marketing budgets to online advertising. The stock isn't exactly cheap at the moment -- trading at 43 times next year's income estimates -- but you've got a classic company that made the right acquisitions when its sector was out of favor. As a result, it's now righteously positioned to take advantage of the dot-com revival.
SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) -- Up 158%
Flash memory seems like a no-brainer these days. Everything from the pocket-sized flash drives to the Apple nano iPod is powered by flash memory. SanDisk is the market leader on that front. The sector hasn't rewarded all of its players, though. Spansion (NASDAQ:SPSN) went public recently, but it did so in a year in which its sales were taking a 40% dive. SanDisk hasn't been like that at all. Both the top and bottom lines have been brisk climbers in 2005. The stock had little choice but to follow suit.
What do all five companies have in common? Well, they are clearly growth stocks. That's the kind of investing that Rule Breakers subscribers fancy. Ultimate growth stock investing isn't for everyone, but it's a good way to latch on to the big winners of 2006 before everyone else buys in. If that's your bag, kick the newsletter service's tires for free with a 30-day trial subscription.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz thinks that firecrackers should be launched 365 days a year. In your portfolio. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
