The past 12 months have been good to Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT). Not only did the stock gain 56% while the S&P 500 lost 11%, it also moved from a lowly two-star rating last summer on Motley Fool CAPS to its present five-star rating.

Why does this matter? By putting the power of more than 110,000 members in the CAPS community to work in our CAPS screener, you can find companies whose prospects appear to have improved. Copart showed up in a screen that looked for stocks with movement from one or two stars last year to five stars today and with more than 100 active picks.

Since we started CAPS in late 2006, we've found that five-star stocks as a group have outperformed the S&P 500 by a significant factor. Based on its current CAPS rating at least, the future looks just as bright for Copart.

Copart Facts

Industry

Auto salvage

Market Cap

$3.8 billion

CAPS members bullish on Copart also bullish on

NetGear (NASDAQ:NTGR)
Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB)

CAPS members bearish on Copart also bearish on

Cemex (NYSE:CX)
Graham (NYSE:GHM)
Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE)
First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR)

Source: Motley Fool CAPS.

What investors are saying
Last October, CAPS All-Star hey4ndr3w had this to say about Copart:

Copart strikes me as a great stock to own during a down market, which I believe is where we are headed. I agree with those who foresee a prolonged consumer credit crisis as a result of the subprime mortgage meltdown. People feel less rich when their primary asset-their home-loses value. They will be postponing new car purchases, which bodes well both for direct sales of salvage cars to consumers, and to parts remanufacturers.

Last week, mfbabyhands cited Copart's big moat as reason enough for further research:

[They] have carved out a nice niche for themselves. They are relatively recession-proof. They have a reasonable 'moat' and are unlikely to be unseated by upstart competitors. Financials are solid.

What do you think about Copart? Or any stock, for that matter? Join the 110,000-member CAPS community today and make your voice heard!