Warren Buffett made billions buying undervalued companies before market sentiment swung back in their favor. Legendary sandalwood bandit and handlebar-mustache-wearer extraordinaire Veerappan made his personal fortune by staying one step ahead of the law. And our Motley Fool Hidden Gems newsletter is currently beating the market by 16 points with its recommendations of small-cap companies that hadn't yet registered on Wall Street's radar -- like Ctrip.com (NASDAQ:CTRP), up an average of 112% over its several picks.

With that example in mind, I used our new CAPS screening tool to find some stocks poised for big gains -- before Wall Street catches on.

These companies have:

  • Trailing-three-year EPS growth of at least 10%.
  • Market capitalizations of at least $200 million and no more than $10 billion.
  • Four- or five-star ratings in CAPS, the highest, up from one to three stars at the beginning of 2008.

Remember, in the first 20 months since the launch of CAPS in late 2006, five-star stocks like Rofin Sinar (NASDAQ:RSTI) outperformed all other categories, climbing at an average annual rate of 12%.

Here are some of the companies I found:

Company

Share Price

Sector

Trailing-3-Year EPS Growth

CAPS Rating

Bare Escentuals (NASDAQ:BARE)

$13.90

Consumer Goods

65.8%

****

Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS)

$17.93

Services

30.2%

*****

NutriSystem (NASDAQ:NTRI)

$14.80

Services

93.5%

****

Skechers USA (NYSE:SKX)

$13.70

Consumer Goods

22%

****

Under Armour (NYSE:UA)

$27.90

Consumer Goods

35.6%

****

Data from Motley Fool CAPS as of Oct. 13.

Remember a screen serves as a first step to finding great investments, which you should follow with your own due diligence. Come and join us on Motley Fool CAPS to dig into these companies further. Our 115,000-person-strong (and counting) CAPS community can help you stay a step ahead.

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