Growth stocks get the designation because they have the potential to generate life-changing gains for investors. Some even do so in a relatively short time frame. Finding proper growth stocks generally involves determining which companies can turn the above-average growth they might be seeing short-term into long-term earnings and stock price appreciation. If those companies will generate massive returns in a relatively short period, that's much less predictable.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), and Axsome Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AXSM) are some recent examples of companies that managed to generate outsized growth in a short timeframe, surprising the markets. All three stocks were 10-baggers over the past five years. Here's a look at what was behind their strong performances and some informed analysis on whether they're still good buys today.

It would have been difficult to predict Nvidia's trajectory five years ago. The boom in artificial intelligence (AI) this past year wasn't on anyone's radar. But it ended up being a big reason Nvidia was a hot stock to own over the past five years -- demand for AI chips has been through the roof.

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Source Fool.com