How profitable is to invest in ICO? It all seems like gambling, because it depends on what kind of team developers they have, it is as similar to trading you could well profit from but you can also lose money, and for this already exist exchange office and can be accessed at any moment
It is a risky investment but far from gambling... You can research a lot of things about this coin (team behind it, structure of ICO, their goals, where will you be able to buy that coins, what are they going to be used for...and many more). So if you know what to look for and how things will influence on price you can know the future of coin pretty good.
If you see ICO and don't do any research at all and invest in it - then it can be considered as gambling, yes.
