It may seem hard to believe, but some stocks are expected to rise by 50%, 100%, or even more over the next year. Our own DJIA peak price target is up 11.3% at 14,590, and that is a far cry from gains of 50% and 100%. 24/7 Wall St. has screened through many Wall St. research reports issued in the days from right before Christmas until now. As it turns out, the past two weeks have many big analyst calls seeking for gains of 50% to 100% (or even more) in some select stocks. Some of these companies have a black eye, or they have recently been in the news, and many of them are not exactly household names.

24/7 Wall St. has identified 12 stocks with massive upside according to the analysts that follow them. Will they all rise 50% or 100%? That seems highly unlikely. Still, this list is one for speculative investors willing to invest in very speculative companies. It is no surprise that biotech is represented, and only one of these 12 companies has a market value above $1 billion. In many cases the market caps are tiny.

You probably will notice that none of these research calls are from Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and other bulge-bracket firms. There is also a reason you do not see names like IBM, 3M, GE and other great companies that are expected to rise by 50%, 100% or more. The large research and brokerage firms tend to follow larger companies, and they tend to be far more conservative in their price targets.

The key upside of 50% to 100% (and more) calls were made in the following companies: Amarin Corp. (NASDAQ: AMRN), Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO), Coronado Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: CNDO), EMCORE Corp. (NASDAQ: EMKR), EnteroMedics Inc. (NASDAQ: ETRM), Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS), Galena Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: GALE), MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: MX), Osage Exploration and Development Inc. (OTC: OEDV), Renewable Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ: REGI), SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) and Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SGYP).

Again, these calls of 50% to 100% upside are all from existing Wall St. analysts or independent research analysts. We have provided a brief note regarding the research reports, what the implied upside is, and added color and background data on each in the following summaries.

Amarin Corp. (NASDAQ: AMRN) was reiterated as Buy with a $17 target, based on a positive view of Vascepa’s commercial partnership potential. The call came from Canaccord Genuity, but it did say that it is acknowledging increased commercial risk while it expects business development talks to intensify and Vascepa to receive five-year exclusivity. The sum of the parts analysis for $17 per share is up more than 100% from the $8.38 share price. The 52-week range is $6.13 to $15.96, and the market cap here is $1.26 billion.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) may be well off its highs, but Canaccord Genuity sees this one going higher. Much higher. With shares at $21.30 now, the firm lowered its price target to $47 from $51 per share with the announced sale of the subsidiary comprising the U.K. North Sea Huntington field for about $116 million in net after-repayment proceeds. This price target represents more than 100% upside from the current price of $21.30 per share. Its 52-week range is $19.04 to $31.62, and its market cap is about $850 million. Even the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is about 50% higher at $32.72. Note that Canaccord had the highest price target before lowering its price.

Coronado Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: CNDO) is not exactly a household name. With a market value of $125 million, this cancer-drug developer has been a weak stock. Wedbush started coverage back on December 20 with a Outperform rating and a $13 price target. That compares to $5.14 now, against a 52-week range of $4.00 to $10.00. Shares were only at $4.79 at the closing price before that call was made.

EMCORE Corp. (NASDAQ: EMKR) was at $4.40 before Roth Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating. What was very impressive is that the $8 price target implies upside of roughly 82%. The 52-week range for this micro-cap semiconductor player is $3.45 to $5.99, and on a split-adjusted basis the last time that this was above that $8 price was in July of 2011. EMCORE has a market cap of only $125 million.

EnteroMedics Inc. (NASDAQ: ETRM) may be close to a double ahead. At $2.68 now, the $111 million development stage medical device company was started with a Buy rating by Roth Capital, and with a $5.00 price target. The stock’s 52-week range is $1.73 to $4.40. That is still almost a double from now, but that was more than 100% higher than the $2.39 price the day before the call.

Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: EXAS) may have some very good news ahead. Roth Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $16 price target back on December 20. While shares are now around $11.10, they were lower at $10.23 at the close before the call. This represented 56% upside for the molecular diagnostics company that is worth some $700 million today. Its 52-week range is $7.95 to $12.30, and it may be worth noting that this was less than $1.00 during the peak selling panic at the end of 2008.

Galena Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ: GALE) had two solid days this week. On the last trading day of 2011 (just on Monday), this was initiated with an Overweight rating by Piper Jaffray and a price target of $2.50. After closing at $1.50 the prior day, this is a call for gains of more than 66%. At $1.69 after a 6% gain on Thursday, the 62-week range is $0.43 to $3.54, and the market cap is a mere $114 million.

MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: MX) is a $583 million analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products maker that is now close a to year high. At $16.24, its 52-week range is $7.35 to $16.44. Back on December 21, it was picked up in new coverage with a Strong Buy rating and a $24 price target objective by Needham & Company. While that represents almost 50% upside from current prices, the prior share price of $13.29 implied upside of just more than 80% to the call. Other analysts remain positive too, but that $24 price is the street-high call.

Osage Exploration and Development Inc. (OTC: OEDV) is one company we are entirely not familiar with, but Barrington Research said in December that the stock could more than double. The firm issued a Outperform rating and a $2.00 price target. Shares were at $0.91 at the time and were at $0.93 this week. Volume here is tiny, and the day of this call it traded only about 36,000 shares. The market value here is only $45 million for this tiny independent energy company.

Renewable Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ: REGI) may be worth only $210 million today, but that is about to be higher if Canaccord Genuity is correct. This week the firm raised its price target to $9 from $6.50. Shares were at $6.39 before the upgrade, implying gains of 40%. While we have been using 50% to 100% upside in most calls, the 52-week range here is $4.28 to $10.65.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) had a monster gain on Thursday after an upgrade and on news that Warren Buffett was taking down a deal with the company. Lazard raised the rating to Buy and gave it an $11 price target. While shares were up more than 40% on Thursday to $8.79 in late-afternoon trading, the $11 target represented almost 80% gains in the shares, as the price at the prior closing bell was $6.13. Its 52-week range is $3.71 to $9.54.

Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SGYP) was reiterated with a Buy rating at Canaccord Genuity this week. The firm raised its price target from $7 to $10 on increased probability of success for plecanatide as a clear unmet need in chronic constipation. The 6.03 price now represents about 65% implied upside from now, but this was at $4.95 (a call for the stock to double) at the close before the pop higher due to a better proof of concept.

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