The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has propelled some businesses to new heights. Just look at Nvidia. The top chipmaker's shares have soared 219% in just the last 12 months.

But investors don't need to restrict their focus to the tech sector to find monster stocks. Celsius Holdings (CELH 2.12%) is just one example as the beverage company's shares skyrocketed over 4,000% in the past five years. It'd be a challenge to find a better-performing stock, including the just mentioned AI market darling, Nvidia.

With shares 20% off their peak price, should you invest $100 in Celsius today?

What's not to like?

By mixing essential vitamins and minerals with natural ingredients and no sugar, Celsius management markets its products as functional energy drinks. The beverages even claim to supercharge calorie burning and fat loss. Product formats range from ready-to-drink cans to powder sticks.

Whatever your view is on energy drinks and their proclaimed health benefits, Celsius has caught on with consumers in a remarkable way. Its revenue of $385 million in Q3 2023 was up over tenfold from just three years prior. That rapid ascent is hard to believe.

Management's ability to successfully market and brand its beverages has helped. However, we can't forget about the role distribution has played. PepsiCo took an equity stake in the business in 2022, and the soft drink and snacks behemoth provides domestic and international distribution for Celsius.

There's also the e-commerce route. According to CEO John Fieldly, Celsius is now the top-selling energy drink on Amazon. During Q4 2022, it was in second place behind Monster, so it's very encouraging to see the continued progress.

You usually see ongoing losses with a business that is growing as rapidly as this one. But Celsius bucks that trend and is starting to see some scale benefits. The company reported net income of $84 million in Q3 2023, up from a $182 million loss in the year-ago period. As Celsius gets larger, it has gained operating leverage over its fixed costs, leading to improved profitability.

The Wall Street analyst consensus calls for earnings per share to rise 87% annually between 2023 and 2025. Industry leader Monster, which generated trailing-12-month revenue of $6.9 billion, posted a stellar net profit margin of 24% in Q3 2023. If Celsius gets even close to that level, it could certainly continue carrying the stock price higher.

There are red flags though

Growth investors looking to score huge returns might take that $100 and buy Celsius stock without hesitation. But I do have my concerns, and they're issues all long-term investors should be thinking about.

First, I struggle to see the sustainable economic moat protecting Celsius from ongoing competition and the threat of new entrants in the industry. Of course, you can argue the brand has established itself in the energy drink category, and consumer awareness should only rise thanks to the PepsiCo partnership.

But this is still an industry with few barriers to entry. Anyone with enough capital can start their own beverage business, and there's no doubt Celsius will continue to face stiff competition in the future, both from existing rivals and new brands consumers haven't heard of yet.

Add to that the steep premium investors must pay for Celsius stock -- shares trade at a price-to-sales ratio of more than 11 -- and there's little margin of safety. There are sky-high expectations built into the stock price at these levels.

For those reasons, I'm passing on the stock for now.