Growth stocks can be "exciting" to own, both because of the increasing scale of their businesses and because their stock prices can be volatile. But if you can stick it out with a company that's growing, you can see huge returns as an investor.
Right now, Intuitive Surgical (ISRG 0.45%), Dutch Bros (BROS +1.80%), and Rivian (RIVN 0.74%) are growth stocks you might want to buy and hold for the long term. Here's the risk/reward considerations you need to think about with each one.
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1. Intuitive Surgical is well established
As a business, Intuitive Surgical is the least risky investment opportunity on this list. That's because it has a well-established healthcare business selling surgical robots. Its da Vinci system was one of the first surgical robots and has a material installed base of machines, with 10,763 in use at the end of the third quarter of 2025. That was up 13% year over year, which shows that the company is still growing rapidly.
NASDAQ: ISRG
Key Data Points
The real story here, however, is that only about 25% of its revenue comes from selling robots. The rest is derived from instruments, accessories, and services, which is are annuity-like income streams for the company. That recurring income is the reason to buy Intuitive Surgical, noting that it grows along with each new da Vinci system that is installed.
To be fair, Intuitive Surgical is an expensive stock, but its price-to-earnings ratio of around 71x is actually slightly below its five-year average P/E. Ongoing growth could make this medical device maker worth the price of admission if you think in decades and not days.
2. Dutch Bros is breaking new ground
Restaurant chain Dutch Bros has the second most established business on the list, with 1,043 locations at the end of the second quarter of 2025. That number was up 14% year over year as the company continues to aggressively open new units. Revenue, meanwhile, increased 28% from the prior year. Notably, this still young coffeehouse is profitable, which is a very good sign for the future.
NYSE: BROS
Key Data Points
The future, meanwhile, could be huge. Competitor Starbucks (SBUX +0.54%) has more than 40,000 locations around the world. Even if Dutch Bros only gets to a fraction of that size, it still has years of growth ahead of it.
That said, it is a young company and is only recently profitable, so valuation is hard to pin down. Its price-to-sales ratio, though, is nearly twice that of Starbucks, so it isn't cheap. However, if it can keep growing, it could easily grow into that valuation. Just make sure you can handle a higher-risk investment, since growth never traverses a steady path.
3. Rivian is a very high-risk/high-reward play
Electric vehicle maker Rivian is the riskiest opportunity on this list. The story can be summarized pretty simply. Tesla (TSLA +3.03%) essentially created the electric vehicle (EV) market, blazing a pretty clear path for competitors to follow. Rivian is attempting to follow that path and, if it succeeds, it could be a highly valuable business.
The steps achieved so far are the introduction of a high-end EV (the R1 truck), scaling up production, and fine-tuning production to enhance profitability. The next big step is bringing out a mass-market vehicle, which should happen next year (the R2 truck).
NASDAQ: RIVN
Key Data Points
But building a manufacturing business is an expensive affair and Rivian is still bleeding red ink on its income statement. That's not likely to change anytime soon and investors are taking a show-me attitude, with the stock off by around 90% from its high water mark.
Still, Rivian has plenty of cash and key partnerships with major companies like Amazon and Volkswagen to help it keep going. If you believe Rivian can get the R2 to market and that it will be received well by consumers, Rivian could be on the verge of becoming an important auto business. But there is still a lot to get done, so only the most aggressive investors should buy and hold this stock.
Big opportunities come with big risks
Intuitive Surgical, Dutch Bros, and Rivian are not the types of stocks that conservative investors will find attractive. You need to be an aggressive growth investor and, even then, you need to have a strong stomach because the growth stories here are likely to play out over a decade or longer in each case. But if you are willing to take on some risk, each one is worth a deep dive right now.
