Just caught up on something interesting about the stock market over the past couple years. The S&P 500 has been crushing it with about 60% gains, way above its usual 10% annual average. But here's what got my attention - there were actually three stocks that went absolutely insane, each hitting 1,000% or more in returns. Summit Therapeutics, Carvana, and Nvidia were the real standouts, and it's worth looking at what actually drove these moves.

Summit Therapeutics jumped like 1,600% after their cancer drug ivonescimab beat Keytruda in trials. That's huge because Keytruda has been printing money for Merck for years. The thing is, Summit has basically zero revenue right now, so investors are betting entirely on this drug becoming a massive hit. The trial happened in China though, which adds some uncertainty about whether US regulators will see it the same way. Risky play, honestly.

Carvana's story is pretty wild too - up 1,330% as people got excited about the used car market and improving interest rates. Their financials actually started looking better recently, which helped. But here's the catch: gross margins are under 20%, which doesn't leave much room for error. They had a $72 million operating loss last year. People forget that in 2022 this stock got absolutely demolished, down 98% in a single year. So while the comeback looks impressive on paper, the underlying business still feels fragile.

Now Nvidia is the one that actually makes sense to me. Up 906%, and the reasons are pretty straightforward - AI demand has been insane. Their CEO Jensen Huang literally said demand for the Blackwell chip is 'insane,' with over a year of backlog just to fulfill current orders. In their July quarter, sales hit $30 billion with 122% year-over-year growth. Data center revenue surged 154%. This is the kind of growth that actually justifies big gains.

So here's the real question: are these best short term stock to buy right now, or are they already priced for perfection? Nvidia's near $3.5 trillion valuation is massive, though the growth story is legitimate. Summit and Carvana both carry serious risk - one's a binary bet on a drug approval, the other has razor-thin margins and a history of violent swings. If you're looking for best short term stock to buy right now, you need to think carefully about what you're actually betting on. The AI narrative around Nvidia is strongest, but valuations matter. The other two have upside potential but require real conviction about their turnaround stories.

The broader lesson here is that 1,000% returns don't come without risk. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. I'd personally want to see more consistency from Carvana and more regulatory clarity on Summit before jumping in. But that's the kind of best short term stock to buy right now conversation that depends entirely on your risk tolerance and time horizon.