These 5 Stocks Have Doubled Investors' Money in 2016

Image source: Getty Images.

The stock market performed well in 2016, with the S&P 500rising more than 11% throughout the year. Still, there were some holdings that far outpaced that performance. While there were many holdings that grew more than 100% in 2016, here are five interesting stocks have more than doubled investors' money last year.

P/E = price-to-earnings ratio. Data source: Yahoo! Finance.

Going from craft back to big brew

Consumers have spoken loud and clear in the past few years -- we're tired of boring big-label beer that mostly tastes the same. Instead, craft brewing -- made up of smaller-batch independent brews -- has grown quickly as drinkers look to find unique flavors and labels. That trend has helped Craft Brew Alliance grow in recent years.

Kona beer, a brand of Craft Brew Alliance. Image source: KonaBrewingCo.com.

However, that doesn't tell the story for CBA's 2016 surge, since the craft brewing industry slowed last year. Instead, the company inked an extended distribution deal through 2018 withAnheuser-Busch InBev, which now controls more than two-thirds of the U.S. beer market since its Miller merger. The deal should help more bottles of CBA-owned brands get onto more shelves both in the U.S. and internationally.

The company has signed other encouraging partnerships throughout the year, which has helped investors get excited about the stock. Those shares are expensive now at 282 times earnings, and the company reported a $0.02 loss for the first nine months of 2016 compared with a $0.05 gain for the same period a year ago. Still, these and other new partnerships could lead to more growth going forward.

The better play on mobile growth

Mobile network company Sprinthas risen an incredible 133% this year. However, that's largely because the stock had tumbled in the past 16 years from a high of $55 per share in 1999 to just $3 a share at the start of 2016. The market gave back a few dollars of that figure, which resulted in the impressive-looking 133% growth in 2016, but that's still far from where it was at its peak.

The company has deserved its share price moves, as it reported the highest number of postpaid phone net additions since 2007 in the most recent quarter.However, beware of this company that has had volatile share price swings like this in the past. The company has yet to produce an annual profit since 2006, and its debt is getting heavy.

A better mobile growth play could be Chinese social media giant Weibo. Described as the "Chinese Twitter," this company has had a huge impact within the growing Chinese Internet space. Weibo grew its user base an astounding 34% in the most recent quarter, year over year, to 297 million. This performance helped revenue and earnings to soar 42% and 120%, respectively.

There are currently an estimated 720 million internet users in China, which is only about half of the entire population of the country. What makes Weibo so attractive is that it's focused on mobile. Traditionally, many people would access the Internet on a personal computer and migrate to mobile. In China, many consumers opt for only internet-enabled mobile devices before ever owning a personal computer.

Riding the slope up

Intrawest Resorts is the operating company for variousmountain resorts and other real estate in North America, including famous resorts such as Steamboat Ski & Resort in the company's home state of Colorado. The company also operates an adventure segment that offers helicopter tours and commercial aviation leasing including for firefighting.In 2016, especially the second half of it, Intrawest has gained from analyst estimates for earnings that were consistently raised higher.

Image source: Intrawest Resorts.

For the company's fiscal first quarter for the period ended Sept. 30, it reported a loss of $44 million, but that was better than the loss of $47 million the prior year's Q1, and it's typical for the company to report a loss in Q1, which is outside its main winter ski season. For thefull year, however, analysts now expect earnings of $0.47 per share on average, and $0.84 per share for the following year. What makes Intrawest's huge growth in 2016 so interesting is that even after that the stock surged last year, it's still sitting at just 20 times earnings, compared with around 25 times on average for the S&P 500.

SodaStream fights back

Perhaps most interesting on this list is SodaStream, not just for the incredible 142% growth during the year, but also because the company seemed like such a shutout at the start of the year. The stock had fallen from a high of around $74 in mid-2013, down to around $14 as of May 2016. The stock started surging when the company rebranded itself from a home soda kit to a gourmet sparkling-water maker, to avoid becoming a victim of the fight against sugary soda drinks.

This rebrand helped sales to grow 13% in the most recent quarter, including 33% growth in sparkling-water maker starter kits. Earnings doubled analyst expectations for the quarter, coming in at $0.69 per share.So far in 2017, SodaStream shares have performed well, growing another 8% year to date. The stock is still down about 40% from its 2013 high and looks to have plenty of homes left to go after with its newly health-branded machines.

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Seth McNew has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Anheuser-Busch InBev NV. The Motley Fool owns shares of SodaStream. The Motley Fool recommends Weibo. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.