For some investors, index funds and long-term strategies that deliver high-single-digits annually are simply not interesting. For them, investing is about high-risk, high-reward stocks that either deliver quickly or crash and burn.
While it’s easy to paint these kinds of traders with a broad brush, their motivations can be very different. For some it is indeed a desire for quick wins and thrilling day trading. But for others, it’s part of a broader strategy to supplement the “singles and doubles” of boring exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds in a retirement account with the chance for some “home runs” in a responsible and diversified way. And then there are other older and sometimes desperate investors facing the unfortunate reality of not having enough money — or enough time — to provide for retirement as they once hoped.
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All investing is personal and based on an individual’s unique risk profile and financial situation. The following stocks are definitely high-risk, but they also have the potential for outsized rewards if things go their way. That means they could be a good fit in specific portfolios — presuming you understand the trade-offs before taking a stake.
| Stock | Sector | Market Value |
| AST SpaceMobile Inc. (ticker: ASTS) | Technology | $18.3 billion |
| Erie Indemnity Co. (ERIE) | Financial | $18.9 billion |
| Joby Aviation Inc. (JOBY) | Industrials | $13.8 billion |
| NuScale Power Corp. (SMR) | Industrials | $5.8 billion |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) | Technology | $351 billion |
| Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT) | Technology | $2.6 billion |
| Strategy Inc. (MSTR) | Technology | $119 billion |
AST SpaceMobile Inc. (ASTS)
Market value: $18.3 billion Sector: Technology
AST SpaceMobile designs and develops proprietary satellites designed to provide direct-to-cellular broadband service to standard smartphones from space. These BlueBird spacecraft are creating a low Earth orbit network that should allow for lower latency and faster data speeds compared to satellites in higher orbits — and in some unserved regions, provide some of the only reliable high-speed connections for customers. Clearly, such an enterprise has value (if it works), but it is also a heck of a lot more costly than erecting traditional cellphone towers. ASTS remains unprofitable as it builds and launches satellites, and currently has only five of the devices up in space. However, investors are banking that this is only the beginning and have driven up shares of this stock almost 400% in the past 12 months.
Erie Indemnity Co. (ERIE)
Market value: $18 billion Sector: Financial
This mid-sized financial firm offers auto, home and life insurance. Erie Indemnity saw its shares soften up with the rest of the market this spring, but they were also hit by news of a cyberattack and a poor Q1 earnings report that accelerated declines. ERIE is down about 15% year to date, but the company recently announced it has resumed normal operations. Generally speaking, insurance companies are among the most stable stocks out there thanks to recurring revenue from premiums. And as of right now, unaltered targets are still projecting strong revenue and earnings growth. Note that the recent news may continue to result in business disruptions or, at the very least, weak investor sentiment for a bit longer.
Joby Aviation Inc. (JOBY)
Market value: $13.8 billion Sector: Industrials
A volatile but potentially disruptive stock, Joby Aviation is a startup banking on a big and dynamic idea — all-electric aircraft, which can take off and land vertically and operate as taxis or short-distance aerial delivery vehicles. Ordering a flying Uber from your smartphone is quite a compelling idea to next-gen investors, so while JOBY has not yet moved into the “commercialization” stage (meaning it has almost no revenue and deep losses as it scales up) it remains popular in anticipation of future success. The positive news is that JOBY has limited approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration and has relationships with some big-time players, including Toyota Motor Corp. (TM). But there’s obviously a lot of work that needs to be done here. JOBY’s 155% run in the past 12 months has already priced in some significant future growth.
[READ: 7 of the Best Growth Funds to Buy and Hold]
NuScale Power Corp. (SMR)
Market value: $5.8 billion Sector: Industrials
NuScale is a world leader in small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) technology. For those unfamiliar, SMR devices are nuclear reactors that can be assembled with standardized parts to allow for compact, simplified design. With a need for the world to move away from fossil fuels coupled with rapidly growing power needs of data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) hardware, SMR technology is the right power solution at the right time for many organizations. NuScale stock is up about 300% in the past 12 months thanks to the promise of its SMR technology, and while the company isn’t yet profitable it is anticipating roughly 230% revenue growth through the end of fiscal year 2026. NuScale is a great example of a stock that has a great idea and an impressive outlook — but also momentum that indicates there’s not much room for error in the form of a company misstep.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR)
Market value: $351 billion Sector: Technology
No list of high-risk, high-reward stocks would be complete without Palantir. The cult-like stock has doubled year to date in 2025, and is up more than 400% in the past 12 months. There’s good reason for that, as the data analytics and AI platform is plotting 30% revenue growth this year and another 30% in 2026 thanks to long-term growth prospects. What’s more, as a long-term partner of the intelligence community and the Defense Department, there is hope for a more durable revenue stream than chasing AI in commercial applications. But with forward price-to-earnings and price-to-sales ratios of more than 100 to 1, future success has already been priced in. While PLTR may keep running, history shows that many red-hot growth stocks like this can crash hard not because the growth stops but simply because they can’t meet Wall Street’s lofty expectations. While Palantir has been a great story so far, there’s no guarantee it will live up to the hype.
Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT)
Market value: $2.6 billion Sector: Technology
As the name implies, QUBT is a hardware firm that provides quantum computing machines to commercial and government players. Its chips and photonics gear is on the cutting edge of technology, and is designed to allow for complex computing tasks to be completed at the speed of light. Of course, the firm is just a startup with less than $1 million in total revenue and deep losses as it looks to develop this next-gen technology. Quantum Computing does have partnerships with heavyweights like NASA, Johns Hopkins University and Los Alamos National Laboratory to prove it has tremendous scientific potential. It also has a jaw-dropping 3,000% return in the past 12 months thanks to hype around its long-term potential.
Strategy Inc. (MSTR)
Market value: $119 billion Sector: Technology
Strategy — previously known as MicroStrategy — was a basic enterprise technology services firm before it dove headfirst into Bitcoin in 2020. At the time, its decision to rely on crypto as the currency in its corporate treasury made huge waves and caused great skepticism, but considering Bitcoin is up more than five times since then it seems like a pretty shrewd move. Nowadays the company remains a proxy for Bitcoin prices, but much like gold miners can be a more volatile and indirect way to play the precious metal, there’s a similar phenomenon on this secondary Bitcoin stock. Consider MSTR is up about 140% in the past 12 months while Bitcoin is up “only” 75% or so. This lack of a 1-to-1 correlation makes MSTR an even riskier proposition than the admittedly volatile cryptocurrency — because if crypto markets roll over, then Strategy could deliver outsized losses, too.
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7 High-Risk, High-Reward Stocks to Buy originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 07/22/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
