Image Source: Getty Images.
Long-term investors don't necessarily set out to find stocks that will double in a year, but it's certainly nice when that happens. Additionally, many stocks that have performed extremely well could have even more room to grow in the years ahead. Here are 10 stocks that have doubled in the past year, listed in order from highest market capitalization to lowest, and why each one has been doing so well.
Data centers have been a big reason why NVIDIA's revenue has surged. Image Source: Getty Images.
1. NVIDIA (up 166% in last 12 months)
Not only have shares of graphics chip company NVIDIA (NVDA +2.33%) risen by 166% over the past year, but they're up by roughly 600% over the past two years. As my colleague Leo Sun recently wrote, there are a few reasons for that incredible stock performance, including a new line of budget-friendly GPUs, the use of the company's high-end GPUs by companies like Facebook and IBM in their data centers, and components that offer better power efficiency than those sold by its competitors.
Ferrari's new 812 Superfast, which already has a long wait list. Image Source: Ferrari.
2. Ferrari (136%)
Supercar manufacturer Ferrari (RACE +1.16%) has been a publicly traded company for less than two years, but the stock has performed extremely well since its IPO. The reason it has more than doubled in the past 12 month is simple: Ferrari is making lots of money. Over that period, the automaker's profits grew by 30%, and thanks to its pricing power as a luxury brand, it operates at an incredible profit margin for the industry. And it still has growth potential, Ferrari's management thinks it can sell 10,000 vehicles annually within the next few years without diminishing its cachet, which would be a 19% increase from 2017's expected total.
Image Source: Getty Images. (Note: Image does not necessarily depict a STMicroelectronics product.)
3. STMicroelectronics (118%)
Shares of electronics component manufacturer STMicroelectronics (STM +9.62%) have more than doubled over the past year, mainly on the increased expectations for the virtual reality and augmented reality industries. The company provides chips to the automotive, security, and consumer electronics industries, and it should be a big beneficiary of the rapid innovation taking place in all of those markets.
Image Source: Getty Images. (Note: Image does not necessarily depict an Arista Networks product)
4. Arista Networks (122%)
Like most of the other stocks on this list, the share price rise of networking hardware manufacturer Arista Networks (ANET 1.50%) has been fueled by strong revenue growth. Over the past year, its revenue grew by almost 51%, and service revenue grew even faster. In addition, Arista has introduced some promising new products and, recently issued better-than-expected guidance for the current quarter.
Image Source: Getty Images.
5. Shopify (146%)
Shopify (SHOP 4.37%) has a simple mission. It aims to be the only platform small- and medium-sized businesses will need to run their business as efficiently as possible. The company offers payment-processing solutions and facilitates e-commerce, and like several other companies on this list, it has been a major beneficiary of the ongoing internet revolution. Its merchant and subscription solutions revenue rose by 86% and 64%, respectively, over the past year.
Image Source: Getty Images.
6. Take Two Interactive Software (123%)
The video game industry has been quite strong lately, and shareholders of Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO +0.45%) have been among the beneficiaries. The company recently reported 34% year-over-year revenue growth, in part due to strong sales of its Grand Theft Auto series, and significantly boosted its expectations for the rest of the year.
Image Source: Square.
7. Square (108%)
Payment processing company Square (SQ 3.25%) has been growing tremendously. Its core business grew by 32% over the past year, and has made significant progress at winning larger businesses over to its platform. It's also adding new revenue streams. One particularly promising space it is entering is business lending: That unit, Square Capital, has been growing at a breathtaking pace, and has barely scratched the surface of its addressable market.
Image Source: Getty Images.
8. Stamps.com (121%)
Stamps.com (STMP +0.00%) provides online postage and shipping solutions, and has been a major beneficiary of e-commerce growth. The company's net income grew by an impressive 117% year-over-year, and the online sales trends that propelled it are showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, e-commerce sales during the second quarter of 2017 only made up 8.2% of total retail sales, so it's fair to say that Stamps.com has much more potential for growth.
Image Source: Getty Images.
9. Weight Watchers International (331%)
The best-performing stock on this list by a wide margin, the share price of Weight Watchers International (WTW +0.00%) has more than quadrupled over the past year. The main drivers of that strong stock performance were the company's blowout fourth-quarter 2016 earnings, followed by the company's appointment of new CEO Mindy Grossman in April, and a couple more fantastic earnings reports in the months since. Looking forward, Weight Watchers believes that there is significant room to grow by enhancing its digital platform and improving the value of its meetings for its members.
Image Source: iRobot.
10. iRobot (129%)
Robotics company iRobot (IRBT +0.00%) has performed well on soaring sales of its flagship Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner and several other products. Through a partnership with Amazon Web Services, iRobot plans to build an "ecosystem of connected robots" that will take smart home technology to the next level.
