Investing
13 Analyst Stock Picks Under $10 With Massive Upside Targets
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Stocks went out on a positive note again this past week, will within striking distance of all-time highs. The Nasdaq even managed to hold above 5,000 again, closing above the old resistance level for 10 of the past 13 sessions. With Wall Street analysts and strategists calling for even more upside from stocks after a six-year bull market, investors are looking for value or companies that have been undiscovered or overlooked by the rest of the pack.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each day to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. While many of the analyst calls cover stocks to buy, the weekend review of all analyst calls leaves many stocks under $10 in which analysts are calling for massive upside to their price targets.
Investors and traders alike need to keep in mind that low-priced and small-cap stocks almost always come with more implied risks than well-established Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 stocks. To prove the risks are great, many of the stocks under $10 have analyst targets calling for 50% or even 100% upside — and many of these companies may have all-or-none scenarios playing out. Analyst calls in Dow stocks project upside of just 10% or 20%. The higher the risk, the higher the potential reward. Again: potential.
Keep in mind that many analyst calls simply do not live up to expectations, or often the bullish side of the bull-bear case suddenly evaporates into thin air. If readers need a further reminder about the risks in small-cap and low-priced stocks: many companies in this category just fade into stagnation, some get delisted, and many even implode.
Investors should note that only four members of the S&P 500, less than 1% of the companies, have a share price that is less than $10. Of those four, only one now has a price under $9.
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These are this week’s 12 analyst stock picks trading under $10 with massive upside to the respective price targets, and one runner-up.
Cinedigm Corp. (NASDAQ: CIDM) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie late in the week. The film distribution management company was given a $2.50 price target, with would represent nearly 200% upside if the firm is proven correct here. Keep in mind that this market cap is a mere $78 million, it recently has had a small capital raise via convertible senior notes that could greatly increase the share count, and its 52-week range is $0.77 to $3.05.
DURECT Corp. (NASDAQ: DRRX) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $3 at Cantor Fitzgerald. This was versus a $1.97 prior close, which would have meant 50% upside, but at the late-Friday price of $2.20 the implied upside for new lookers was 36%, if Cantor Fitzgerald turns out to be right. This call cited solid results and multiple catalysts ahead.
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Office Depot Inc. (NASDAQ: ODP) is now more likely to get its acquisition by Staples approved, assuming that Jefferies is accurate. The office supplies retailer was raised to Buy from Hold on Thursday at Jefferies, with an $11.50 price target. That compares to a $9.15 prior close, but shares went out at $9.32 on Friday’s closing bell. Staples was also raised to Buy from Hold with a $20 price target in the call.
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) has now released earnings, and Merrill Lynch gave the first post-earnings call by reiterating its Buy rating and its $5.00 price objective. This compared to a $3.95 close before, and shares were at $3.92 late on Friday. Merrill Lynch analysts talked up Sirius XM’s fast growth, and several other issues: more than 70% contribution margin, a sizable capital return capacity, high EBITDA/FCF conversion, rising new car penetration, large used car market potential, and the connected car and Telematics opportunities.
Immunomedics Inc. (NASDAQ: IMMU) was given another big upside call this week, with Wells Fargo seeing this biotech potentially doubling. Wells Fargo reiterated an Outperform rating, but the valuation range of $7.00 to $7.50 would be exactly a double-your-money prediction from Friday’s $3.85 closing price, if the firm is proven right. This call was based on a sum-of-parts valuation, price/sales and price/earnings methods applied to 2023 expected revenues of $315 million and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.02 discounted at 12% to 18%. We covered this Wells Fargo call in more detail on Friday, and its gain was almost 7% on that day. Immunomedics has a 52-week range of $3.04 to $5.48. If you want to know if other past calls have been made, Wells Fargo was giving the same target earlier this year when the stock was at $4.71. The consensus price target here is $7.00
Egalet Corp. (NASDAQ: EGLT) was reiterated as Buy at Canaccord Genuity, but what stood out was the $25 price target versus a $9.98 close. The firm thinks that positive intranasal abuse data for its abuse deterrent morphine in the second quarter should move shares higher. Shares closed up 5.5% at $9.66 on Friday, still leaving implied upside of over 150% if this super-aggressive call works out. Keep in mind that the $167 million market cap comes with a history of volatility as the 52-week range is $3.81 to $17.03.
Limelight Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: LLNW) was raised to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley on Friday. The call was after a loss was reported that was narrower than expected. What stood out in the upgrade was that price target was raised to $6.50 from $4.00. The prior close was $3.70, but the stock was up 9% at $4.05 late on Friday and that still left an implied upside of about 60% from the post-report share price.
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Marathon Patent Group Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) was started as Buy with a $12 price target at Roth Capital on Friday. This is a small $80 million company, and volume is generally under 100,000 shares. Marathon is thin in analyst coverage as well, but Northland Securities started coverage with an Outperform rating back in March.
Oclaro Inc. (NASDAQ: OCLR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Needham this past Monday. What stood out here was the news $3.00 price target. The prior close was $1.87, and the closing price was $1.92 on Friday. All in all, this implies upside of more than 50% for the maker of optical components for the communications, industrial and laser markets. The consensus target price is closer to $2.50, and investors should keep in mind that this $210 million market cap stock reports earnings on Tuesday, May 5 — so event-risk exists on top of small-cap stock risk here.
Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN) will feel more like a runner-up here because the stock closed at $10.26 on Friday. The mortgage servicer showed a 43% slide in profits, but shares rallied. Sterne Agee CRT raised its rating to Buy from Neutral with a $12 price target on Friday. This was technically against a prior closing price of $8.47, but the stock opened at $9.64. Trading volume was almost three times normal.
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PCTEL Inc. (NASDAQ: PCTI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley on Thursday. The existing $11 price target was against a $7.65 prior closing bell price, but shares went out at $7.90 late on Friday, leaving implied upside of 39% if the firm is correct. This has a mere $144 million market cap, and it has traded at less than $10 category for most of the past 10 years.
ServiceSource International Inc. (NASDAQ: SREV) was raised to Market Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities on Tuesday. What stood out here was that it was given a $7 price target, and that would be more than 100% upside from the prior $3.37 closing price. Friday’s closing price of $3.62 left implied upside of 93%, if JMP was correct, but the consensus price target is lower at $5.63.
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SteadyMed Ltd. (NASDAQ: STDY) was again given an Outperform rating and a fair value range of $14 to $15 in the call at Wells Fargo. The firm’s valuation implies more than 50% upside from the $9.58 price late on Friday. Wells Fargo’s new call included a correction to its prior call, but the firm is mostly assuming Trevyent’s approval in pulmonary arterial hypertension with a large potential market opportunity. Other analyst initiations were even more aggressive than this call in their prior post-IPO coverage.
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