For the past five years, Nvidia has been one of the market's most powerful engines. But according to The Motley Fool, three stocks have quietly outrun it over the past year, each posting gains of 300% or more.

The story's framing hinges on a detail that may surprise casual investors: Nvidia's own run has cooled. As reported by Yahoo Finance, the chipmaker's stock is up just around 26% over the past year — a solid return by most standards, but a far cry from the explosive growth that made it a household name during the artificial intelligence boom.

That 26% figure is the yardstick here. The Motley Fool's point is not that Nvidia has stumbled, but that its recent pace has slowed enough for a handful of smaller or faster-moving names to leap ahead by a wide margin. A 300% gain means a holding roughly quadrupled in value over twelve months, dwarfing Nvidia's return over the same stretch.

The available sources highlight the comparison itself rather than detailing the specific companies, so investors curious about the three names will need to consult the full Motley Fool report.

Why it matters: Nvidia has become shorthand for stock-market success, and the reminder that even a dominant company can be outpaced is a useful check on the assumption that the biggest name is always the best-performing one.