Expectation of "profit" actually just means that you expect to make money from the investment, not that the money you make exceeds the money you invest. While

Expectation of "profit" actually just means that you expect to make money from the investment, not that the money you make exceeds the money you invest. While ongoing profit from the investment itself is nice it's not legally required. For example, stock in Uber is a regulated security, even though Uber has a history of losses and is not expected to be profitable in the near or distant future, if ever. Similarly, loss companies were once frequently sold to savvy investors needing losses to offset their taxable earnings from other sources, and those investments were similarly regulated securities even though there was clearly no expectation of profits.