Welcome to the fifth year of my New Year's prognostications. Now that we're officially into 2018, it's time again for me to reveal three growth stocks that I expect to outperform the market in the coming years. As is often the case for growth-style investing, my previous lists have had some big winners and some big losers.

Image source: Getty Images. Finance and S&P Dow Jones Indices. Starting prices are as of the original publishing dates: 12/30/13, 1/1/15, 1/5/16, and 1/5/17. All total return figures include dividends. 311.35. Prices and returns are as of end-of-year 2017. Figures have been rounded. The volatility of this roller coaster of ups and downs might keep some investors up at night.

But over time, the math behind it tends to work out in our favor. Historically, only about 40% of the individual recommendations from our Motley Fool Rule Breakers service outperform the S&P 500 over the same time frame. But when taken collectively, the portfolio of picks has an average absolute return of 135%, which is double the 67% the market return over the same period.

Growth-style investing works best when you allow your biggest winners to run. They compound their returns over time and overcompensate for the losses from the laggards. But it also requires identifying the right companies at the right time and having a lot of patience. 1. Operational performance. When you invest, you're buying a stake in a business, so you want to find businesses that are performing very well. Develop a list of meaningful operational metrics that are relevant to the particular industry, and then look for companies that are killing it where it really counts.

That means putting less emphasis on the current P/E ratio, and more on metrics that evaluate business performance. 2. Smart and visionary management. Growth companies are still growing. That makes them much more sensitive to managerial decisions -- whether good or bad. Look for leaders who are committed to the long-term success of the company. I like CEOs who are either co-founders or who have a significant ownership stake -- preferably both.

3. Huge market potential. Small companies don't always do so well in price wars. Find industries large enough to support a new player. I look for the company's total annual revenue to be a very small slice of the overall industry. With all that said, it's now time to fire up the crystal ball once again.

1. Invitae (NYSE: NVTA) is bringing genomics into mainstream medicine. The company's cloud-based platform collects a patient's DNA and can screen more than 1,000 problematic genes to detect conditions such as hereditary cancer, neurological conditions, or cardiovascular disorders. Invitae's proactive health screens can be predictive of future conditions, which will play a crucial role in America goal of having a more effective and less costly healthcare system built on personalized medicine. Invitae has now collected more than 40,000 patient samples, which is 158% greater than the 15,500 it had a year ago.

The costs related to genomic sequencing are also falling rapidly, which has prompted several insurers to begin to embrace it. That means Invitae's costs are dropping while its addressable market is expanding, which is a great combination to see. 1 billion public company. He now wants Invitae to provide the necessary infrastructure for genomic diagnostic tests to go mainstream. 3 trillion U.S. healthcare market. Invitae's genomic platform could offer some great returns for investors. 2. Baozun (NASDAQ: BZUN) offers companies an opportunity to sell to the world's largest (and fast-growing) middle class.

Fondly referred to as the Shopify of China, Baozun handles the behind-the-scenes work for retailers to set up shop for e-commerce sales. That includes managing inventory, handling logistics, setting up online storefronts, and using artificial intelligence to optimize performance. 700 billion online each year. Also worth noting: Alibaba owns approximately 17% of Baozun's outstanding shares, while Softbank owns another 13%. Both of these massive companies are flush with resources and have a vested interest in seeing them succeed.

Baozun is shifting from a distribution to a service fee business model, which means it's prioritizing profits over top-line growth. It recently reported a 71% increase in gross merchandise volume and a 15% increase in customer count. As the company adjusts its business model, we should watch closely for growth in services revenue to significantly outpace that of its costs of goods sold and its operating expenses.