It can be a dangerous thing to chase last year's winners and expecting a repeat performance of the same magnitude will nearly always be a painful mistake.
While it's a warning worth heeding, a strongly performing company may often continue to perform well over a few years (or hopefully much longer) as it may be in a growth "sweet spot".
Here are three stocks which have produced massive share price gains for their shareholders this year, amongst companies which are constituents of the S&P/ASX 300 (Index: ^AXKO) (ASX: XKO). Importantly, the business operations of all three look set to continue to perform strongly in 2015.
Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX)
The cancer-treatment specialist is set to be crowned the best performer amongst the S&P/ASX 300 in 2014 with the share price currently up 121%. The group's main product continues to grow quickly, however the market is also pricing in expectations of successful results from clinical trials which would massively expand Sirtex's treatable universe.
Infomedia Limited (ASX: IFM)
This relatively unknown software company specialises in providing car part catalogues and maintenance programs to car mechanic workshops. As a niche provider, Infomedia continues to grow subscriber numbers; this helped send profits 22% higher for FY 2014 and the share price 93% higher so far this calendar year.
Vocus Communications Limited (ASX: VOC)
Until recently Vocus has received far less attention from the investment community than many of its peers in this hot growth sector. Having bulked up over 2014 thanks to a 64% rise in its share price, the telecommunications provider – with a focus on fibre – now boasts a market capitalisation of $600 million. Recent developments which have seen Vocus approach fellow telco player Amcom Telecommunications Limited (ASX: AMM) about a merger have also helped cast the company into the spotlight of more investors.
2015 looking bright
The great appeal about the above three companies is that they all have further opportunities to expand, which should sustain earnings growth in future periods. While the enormous share price gains of 2014 shouldn't be extrapolated into future years, their underlying earnings growth still looks very healthy indeed.
