Investing in hot growth stocks can produce life-changing gains, even over relatively short time frames. Those potential profits are what make taking on greater levels of risk in the market a worthwhile endeavor. Still, you don’t want to overdo the risk by putting too much of your portfolio into a single asset. So, for example, rather than investing $10,000 into one growth stock, you might consider putting $2,000 into five different companies. True, that type of diversification will reduce your exposure to your biggest winners, but it also cushions your portfolio from the impact of any underperformers.

Even a $2,000 investment can prove to be seriously rewarding when you’re talking about growth stocks. Three excellent examples are Rigetti Computing (RGTI 1.92%), Rocket Lab (RKLB +1.37%), and Robinhood Markets (HOOD +4.07%). If you invested $2,000 into each of these stocks on Halloween last year, the combined value of those positions would now (as of Oct. 17) be around $91,000. Here’s how much a $2,000 investment in each of those stocks made just under a year ago would be worth today, and why they have rallied so much.

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Rigetti Computing: $66,000

Investing in Rigetti Computing a year ago would have required a willingness to take on considerable risk. The business was not profitable then, and it still isn’t. Investors have mainly bid the shares up based on the expectation that it will be a leading quantum computing company in the future. It could take more than a decade before there are any clear winners in the quantum computing market, but in the meantime, Rigetti has been among the hottest stocks to own in 2025.

Since last Halloween, the tech stock has soared 3,200%, and a $2,000 investment would now be worth around $66,000. That phenomenal return would have been next to impossible to predict back then. This again highlights the risks and opportunities of investing in these small growth stocks: It can be difficult to predict which direction they might go.

Rigetti Computing

Today’s Change

(-1.92%) $-0.76

Current Price

$38.84

As well as Rigetti has done in the past year, however, it could make for a scary stock to be holding today, just because its valuation has gotten so rich. The business only generates around $2 million in sales per quarter. With its current market cap of $14 billion, that gives it a bloated price-to-sales ratio in excess of 1,100.

There’s a lot of downside risk to this stock, as the company still has a long way to go in proving that it’s the real deal. While Rigetti looks unstoppable today, back in 2023 when quantum computing wasn’t so hot, it was a much different story. In May 2023, Rigetti’s stock would plummet to a low of just 38 cents — falling by 95% over a one-year period.

This is a highly volatile and speculative stock, and if you’ve made a good profit on Rigetti, you may want to consider selling at least some of your shares.

Rocket Lab: $13,000

Another hot growth stock to own over the past year has been Rocket Lab. Although its 540% gain since last Halloween looks modest in comparison to Rigetti’s, that would have still resulted in a $2,000 investment growing to a value of just under $13,000 today.

This aerospace company is also struggling with profitability, but it’s generating far more revenue than Rigetti. Over the past four quarters, Rocket Lab has brought in $504.3 million in sales, although it incurred a net loss of $231.3 million in that period. It has a long way to go to reach breakeven, but investors are hoping that its Neutron rocket, which is larger than the Electron rocket it has been using thus far, could open up more lucrative and profitable opportunities for the business.

Rocket Lab

Today’s Change

(1.37%) $0.87

Current Price

$64.44

If the Neutron rocket has a successful initial launch later this year, this already hot stock could rise even higher. Rocket Lab is still a risky investment, but it may get to profitability a lot sooner than Rigetti.

Robinhood: $12,000

If you invested $2,000 into Robinhood at the end of October last year, your investment would now be worth a little less than $12,000, as it has risen by around 485%.

Robinhood’s trading platform has evolved over the years, and now serves as a hub for people who want to buy and sell stocks or cryptocurrencies. The company has also expanded into “prediction markets,” and a few months ago announced that it was launching prediction markets for the NFL and college football that will differ from standard sports betting.

Robinhood Markets

Today’s Change

(4.07%) $5.46

Current Price

$139.79

Of these three companies, Robinhood is the only one that is profitable, and its margins aren’t minimal, either. Over the past four quarters, the company has reported $1.8 billion in earnings on revenues of $3.6 billion. It trades at a price-to-earnings multiple of 74, which is undoubtedly high, but with its business expanding rapidly and with its brand remaining popular with retail investors, that premium may be justifiable.