Technology stocks broadly have left investors in a spot of bother this year after a sell-off triggered by rising Treasury yields and concerns of overvaluation. However, some tech companies are still performing handsomely for investors because of their terrific growth. Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) have defied the tech sector sell-off, and are well outpacing the market so far this year. However, the same can't be said about graphics chip specialist NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) which has lost its footing after what was a promising start to 2021. ^NDXT data by YCharts But investors shouldn't worry much about NVIDIA's recent slide; the GPU maker can quickly get back to its high-flying ways on the back of its fast-growing top and bottom lines. Similarly, Applied Materials and Micron Technology are sitting on solid catalysts and are clocking high growth rates. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising to see all three of these tech stocks end 2021 with big gains, which is why investors who don't own these stocks already should consider adding them to their portfolios. 1. Applied Materials Semiconductor demand is outpacing supply, creating a nice tailwind for Applied Materials, which supplies semiconductor fabrication equipment to the likes of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. TSMC is the largest semiconductor foundry across the globe, and it expects to incur capital expenditures of $25 billion to $28 billion in 2021, which would be a massive jump of 52% over last year. That's great news for Applied Materials as TSMC is one of its key customers, and it's just a part of the trend it's counting on. Applied Materials estimates that spending on front-end semiconductor equipment could jump from an estimated $60 billion in 2020 to $70 billion in 2021, and eventually rise to $100 billion by 2025. Image source: Getty Images Not surprisingly, Applied Materials believes that it will grow in 2021 at a faster pace than the broader market. The company's revenue shot up 24% year over year in its fiscal first quarter, which ended Jan. 31, while adjusted earnings shot up 42%. And its guidance calls for an acceleration in revenue and earnings growth this quarter. Analysts expect Applied Materials to deliver nearly 26% revenue growth in 2021 along with a 43% spike in earnings, but don't be surprised to see even better results given the favorable end-market conditions. Yet despite all that, Applied Materials stock trades at an affordable multiple of under 20 times forward earnings. 2. Micron Technology Micron Technology's prospects have surged in 2021 as rising demand for memory chips has met tight supply, leading to spikes in the prices of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash chips. These factors enabled Micron to raise its full-year outlook substantially earlier this month. The good news for Micron shareholders is that there seems to be a growing consensus on Wall Street about trend lines in memory prices. Several analysts have already indicated that memory prices are moving north thanks to favorable demand-supply dynamics, and other memory manufacturers are also displaying similar sentiments. SK Hynix, for instance, estimates that demand for memory chips may keep outstripping supply for the full year. Swiss bank UBS recently joined the fray when it forecast that NAND flash pricing will head higher in 2021, a notable contrast to its earlier predictions. The bank now expects contract NAND prices to rise 5% sequentially in the second quarter as compared to its earlier expectation of a 7% decline, followed by a 10% sequential increase in the third quarter and 2% in the final quarter. DRAM prices, on the other hand, are expected to clock double-digit-percentage growth throughout the year, and UBS expects that uptrend to continue well into the second half of 2022. A strong memory pricing environment has historically been a tailwind for Micron Technology, so don't be surprised to see the stock deliver more gains as the year progresses. And, just like Applied Materials, Micron isn't too expensive as it trades at less than 20 times forward earnings, especially considering that it is expected to deliver 23% and 26% revenue growth over the next two fiscal years, respectively, along with rapid growth in earnings. This gives investors who haven't bought the stock yet a chance to go long and take advantage of the potential upside that Micron looks set to offer. 3. NVIDIA NVIDIA stock has tumbled recently, though the company is setting the sales and earnings charts on fire. NVDA data by YCharts The chipmaker crushed Wall Street's expectations last quarter as graphics card demand from the gaming and the data center markets remained exceptionally strong. Its revenue shot up 61% year over year to $5 billion while adjusted net income soared 67% to $1.96 billion. NVIDIA expects to turn up the heat this quarter, as revenue is forecast to jump by 71% to $5.3 billion as compared to the prior-year period. That's not surprising, as NVIDIA is dominating in the markets it operates in. For instance, the company's share of the video gaming GPU (graphics processing unit) market shot up to 82% in the fourth quarter -- a jump of 9 percentage points over the prior-year period -- thanks to huge demand for the latest RTX 30 series graphics cards. The good news for NVIDIA is that it is at the beginning of a massive GPU upgrade cycle. The company pointed out on the last earnings conference call that "only around 15% of GeForce gamers own an RTX class GPU," which means that they will need to upgrade to experience new features such as ray-tracing, which is becoming a staple of new games. This should pave the way for further growth in NVIDIA's video gaming business, which accounted for nearly half of its sales last quarter, when it delivered 67% year-over-year revenue growth. Meanwhile, the data center business is another huge growth driver for NVIDIA -- revenue from this segment nearly doubled last quarter. Just like gaming, this business seems set for long-term growth thanks to NVIDIA's strong customer base and its moves into new verticals. NVIDIA is expected to clock more than 30% revenue growth this year thanks to such tailwinds. However, its superior performance has led to its stock being priced at a greater valuation than Micron or Applied Materials. It trades at nearly 39 times forward earnings. But that premium seems justified as NVIDIA has multiyear catalysts in the gaming and data center business that could power it forward, and make it an excellent growth stock to own for the long run. 10 stocks we like better than NVIDIAWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and NVIDIA wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2021 Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends NVIDIA and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool recommends Applied Materials. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source