Investing $1,000 in a stock won’t change your life overnight, but that same position can compound over time. Some growth stocks more than double in a single year, while others consistently beat the S&P 500 over long stretches.
Two fintech stocks managed to beat the famed benchmark over the past year, but both are currently in the middle of prolonged corrections. However, strong fundamentals suggest these corrections are nothing but short-term dips that savvy investors see as attractive investment opportunities.
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Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD) was one of the most successful stocks of 2025, with shares tripling during that year. Rising transaction-based revenue was a major catalyst, and that trend continued in the third quarter. Overall revenue doubled year over year, with transaction-based revenue up by 129% year over year. Red-hot demand for cryptocurrencies propelled Robinhood’s financials and capped a strong quarter.
Net interest revenue and Robinhood Gold memberships continued to climb as the company reached 26.8 million funded customers. While Robinhood has enough catalysts to deliver long-term gains for shareholders, prediction markets are the new opportunity, and it’s gaining momentum quickly.
Prediction markets aren’t entirely new to Robinhood. The brokerage firm introduced this segment in March 2025, where investors could trade contracts on Federal Reserve interest rate decisions and March Madness. It’s very similar to betting, but since users trade contracts with each other instead of going to a sportsbook, Robinhood gets to escape the legal complexities associated with gambling.
Legally, Robinhood’s prediction market is treated as event-based derivatives platform, and the introduction of professional and college football contracts in August has been a game changer. Total revenue for this segment more than doubled sequentially in Q3, and the company generated more revenue from prediction markets in October than in all of Q3. That type of growth adds another major opportunity for Robinhood investors, and the remaining parts of the business are still delivering exceptional gains.
Sezzle (NASDAQ: SEZL) is an emerging leader in the buy now, pay later industry. It allows customers to split purchases into 4 interest-free installment payments. The company makes most of its money from high transaction fees that businesses pay in exchange for higher sales volume.
