AGIO -1.98% NVDA +0.97% JOBY -3.70% VKTX -5.96% NVTS +4.60% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
High-risk stocks do what they say on the tin. They offer investors high return potential, but investors always need to appreciate the risk. That said, constructing a diversified portfolio and spreading stock-specific risk around to try to hit a few big winners is a viable strategy. That includes stocks like electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) maker Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY), weight loss drug company Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX), Navitas Semiconductor (NASDAQ: NVTS), and Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AGIO).
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is undertaking a priority review of Agios's oral pyruvate kinase (PK) activator, mitapivat. It is set to respond to Agios's supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for mitapivat to treat sickle cell disease (SCD) by Nov. 1.
Missed AI's "Act 1"? Act 2 Could Be 14x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn't buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we're only at the end of "Act 1"—the R&D phase. "Act 2" is the global rollout. Continue »
Agios already had mitapivat approved to treat pyruvate kinase deficiency and adult thalassemia. An approval would expand Agios's total addressable market for a drug that's already established in the market for other indications. Given that the Wall Street consensus, according to Visible Alpha, is for mitapivat (SCD) to contribute about a third of total company revenue by 2030, it's clear that an approval will provide upside potential for the stock.
This company has transformed itself in recent years, from a power chip technology company focused on relatively low-margin, low-power solutions for consumer electronics (including mobile) toward higher-margin, higher-power chips for AI data centers, high-performance computing (HPC), and grid and energy infrastructure. This strategic shift includes partnering with Nvidia to develop power chips for the next-generation high-power 800-volt direct current (VDC) data center architecture, set to launch in 2027.
Nvidia, AI data centers, HPC, grid -- it reads like a list of buzzwords for what investors have fallen in love with this year. Still, there's a reason for that, and it comes down to the massive scale of investment underway to build out AI infrastructure. Management believes its serviceable addressable market (SAM) will grow to $3.5 billion in 2030, which should give Navitas plenty of opportunity to increase revenue from less than $50 million in 2026. Navitas has huge potential (as does its peer, ON Semiconductor), but it will take a few years before Navitas hits profitability, and investors need to be patient.
This eVTOL company has big ambitions. While peers like Archer Aviation are more focused on becoming original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and selling their eVTOLs to third parties, Joby's primary aim is to become a transportation-as-a-service (TaaS) company that manufactures, owns, and operates its own eVTOL as part of a vertically integrated business model.
While the lack of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification hit Joby and Archer in 2026, Joby continues to make progress by building FAA-compliant aircraft. Moreover, in a nod to the future of eVTOL services, Joby recently announced that it had flown an aircraft (a converted Cessna) using its autonomous technology.
It's an important development because if Joby's TaaS model is successful, the natural evolution will be to turn into an autonomous service to reduce costs and improve its commercial appeal. Joby is loss-making and burning cash, but if it can gain certification and start demonstrating the potential of its model, investors will waste no time pricing a long-term stream of profitable, recurring income from a company with its own transportation network.
Viking is a small player in an increasingly crowded and competitive market for obesity drugs. It doesn't have its lead drug, VK2735, approved or advanced to phase 3 clinical trials yet. That's the "bad" news out of the way.
The good news is that Viking doesn't need a large share of the weight loss treatment market to be successful. Moreover, it already has VK2735 in phase 3 trials in subcutaneous (injectable) form. It's produced data from a phase 2 trial suggesting it can produce a steeper velocity of weight loss than its most similar peer, Eli Lilly's blockbuster weight loss drug tirzepatide (Zepbound and Mounjaro). Viking is also set to begin phase 3 trials of the oral formulation of VK2735 as the company continues to develop the drug as part of a dual-formulation strategy.
To that end, Viking recently reported positive results from a maintenance trial involving an initial subcutaneous dose followed by a subcutaneous maintenance dose, and is now undertaking the second part (subcutaneous plus oral maintenance).
VK2735 probably won't be a blockbuster drug. Still, even a small share of the $80 billion in sales that analysts believe tirzepatide will generate in 2030 will be enough to send this $3.6 billion market-cap stock higher.
Before you buy stock in Agios Pharmaceuticals, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Agios Pharmaceuticals wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $380,795!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,390,634!*
Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 946% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 215% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 14, 2026.
Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Eli Lilly and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends ON Semiconductor and Viking Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
4 High-Risk Stocks Built for Big Returns was originally published by The Motley Fool
