Growth stocks are the beauties of the stock world, plain and simple. They're exciting, they have good stories, and they can make you a lot of money.

But for all their gorgeousness, growth stocks are also the prima donnasof the market. They can be erratic, they don't always live up to their billing, and they tend to attract a shareholder base that's ready and willing to run at the first signs of slowdown. For those reasons, caution is certainly in order when you enter the world of growth investing.

Fortunately, The Motley Fool's CAPS servicebrings us the collective intelligence of more than 140,000 investors, making it a great resource for separating the Jessica Albasfrom the Jabba the Hutts. Each of the stocks competing for this week's top spot has a market cap of at least $100 million, and each grew its net profit per share by an average of 15% or more per year over the past three years. (You can run the screenfor yourself). Let's go ahead and meet our contestants.

Netflix
The doubling of earnings per share that Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) delivered between 2005 and 2008 is no joke. Nor is the near-50% jump over the past 12 months.

How did the company do this? Easy: It invented DVD rental through the mail. Despite the subsequent arrival of competitors such as Blockbuster , Netflix now claims 9.4 million of the estimated 12 million DVD-through-the-mail subscribers.

Not only has this nascent industry shown continued strong growth, but the new twist of offering movie rentals via the Internet could also help Netflix keep up a significant growth pace.

Buckle
Denim has been at the heart of many very successful retailers, including Gap (NYSE: GPS) and Levi Strauss. The same goes for Buckle (NYSE: BKE), where denim sales make up more than 40% of the company's revenue.

Buckle sells trendy clothing to the 15-to-27-year-old crowd through nearly 400 retail stores. More than 70% of the company's sales come from brand names such as Hurley, Fossil , and Ed Hardy.

Growth has picked up significantly for the company in recent years; the top line has shown some life, and margins have expanded significantly. Over the past year, Buckle's revenue has jumped more than 20%.

PotashCorp
It's hard notto show significant growth when you're a commodity producer, and the price of your commodity of choice goes through the roof.

Like major competitor Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), PotashCorp (NYSE: POT) sells crop nutrients -- including, not surprisingly, potash. And potash has been the big story for this Saskatchewan fertilizer producer. World demand for potash spiked as China stepped up its agricultural demands and ethanol became a hot topic. In response, potash prices skyrocketed.

For the quarter ended in June, PotashCorp actually saw its average selling price per ton of potash increase15%. That doesn't mean demand has kept up. Total potash sales for the quarter fell more than 80% from the prior year. Will demand return? Let's hope so -- PotashCorp's future growth depends on it.

Coach
I know what you're thinking. Strapped consumers and slow economic growth make it crazy even to think about a fancy-purse slinger like Coach (NYSE: COH). You might be surprised.

There's no doubt that the near-100% growth in Coach's revenue between 2005 and 2008 was interrupted by the recession. For the company's fiscal year 2009 -- which ended in June -- total sales crept up just 2%, and net income (excluding "unusual items") fell 16%. The strength in the top line, however, speaks to the power of Coach's brand.

With foreign countries including China representing a significant part of Coach's strategy, continued growth could be back in the bag in relatively short order.

Public Service Enterprise Group
The epitome of boring, PSEG (NYSE: PEG) is a utility company offering electric power and natural gas to customers in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. Boring or not, though, investors watched the company's net income jump nearly 80% between 2005 and 2008. Continued...