Nine Stocks That Could Double in 2014

The bull market run in 2013 was so strong that many analysts and investors are concerned that the gains in late 2013 robbed the gains from 2014. In fact, the S&P 500 and DJIA hitting new highs in 2014 was crawling a wall of worry. Still, there’s always a bull market somewhere.

With that in mind, 24/7 Wall St. identified nine potentially undervalued or underappreciated stocks that could provide investors with handsome returns in 2014. Some of the stocks we’ve featured could even double in value if they live up to their full potential. That being said, the list is now only seven stocks as the outlook changed for two of the companies. As always, investors beware. None of these companies would pass the suitability for a widows and orphans investing strategy, and it’s even possible that some of these could flop.

Another risk when looking at stocks with the potential to double is that they are almost never your blue chip companies. Most of the companies we selected are either in turnaround or are underappreciated by investors. In order to prevent unlimited risks, investors can use put and call option to hedge their investments on all of these comapnies.

The list of stocks that could potentially double in price in 2014 includes a mixed bag of companies. We selected a struggling chip maker, a coal leader, a rocket engine player, an oil and gas player, a gold and silver miner, a biotech company, and an alternative energy engine maker. There’s also a company involved in home automation and another in wireless hauling equipment and solutions.

Update June 17, 2014: Halcon Resources Corp. (NYSE: HK) became the first of the picks to actually double.

These are the nine – now five – stocks that could double in 2014. Three are formally off, with one having doubled.

1. AMD (Removed From List)
> Market Cap: $2.5 billion
> Share Price: $3.48
> 52-Week Range: $2.26 to $4.65
> Forward P/E: 25
> Stock Options: Yes

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is still turning around. The chipmaker has a long history of not living up to investors’ expectations. Shares headed south after AMD issued soft quarterly revenue guidance, and as concerns over the future of the PC market continue to linger. But it’s AMD’s graphics operations that may be the driving force here. The company’s recently introduced new ARM server chips could further build on its video game segment. AMD won both the PS4 and Xbox One graphics and processor designs.

AMD shares are trading around $3.50. AMD has a relatively young team that could help push the company in the right direction. Also, it has spun off its lagging GlobalFoundries chip manufacturing business — and it is moving away from simply being Intel’s rival.

It is even conceivable an outfit like Qualcomm could decide to tap its war chest and acquire AMD.

The highest official analyst price target on AMD is $5.50, although Wells Fargo opined last year that the stock could go as high as $7 within a year. Analysts are calling for an 8% sales growth to about $5.7 billion in 2014, but any gains in any of its new ventures could allow for serious upside as well.

AMD Update July 20: At $3.83, after a massive earnings drop, we have conceded that the change in sentiment on its turnaround has likely all but destroyed AMD’s chance of doubling in 2014. At least it is up almost 10% from the inclusion price in February, but that is far from a double even if it was up well over 30% from inclusion to the pre-earnings peak.

AMD Update June 14: Two different analysts have upside price target of $5 now.

AMD Update on April 17: Impressive Earnings Makes AMD Remain a Candidate for Doubling – Share Price $3.69 close, $3.85 after report

AMD Update on March 8: AMD media appearance makes big boost – Share Price $3.95

AMD Update on February 20: AMD Can Still Double After Capital Raise – Share Price $3.71

2. Arch Coal (Removed From List)
> Market Cap: $870 million
> Share Price: $4.10
> 52-Week Range: $3.47 to $7.47
> Forward P/E: Negative
> Stock Options: Yes

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) is in the currently reviled coal sector. With President Barack Obama Administration’s more stringent environmental regulations, the industry, and with it the company, are facing several serious challenges.

Still, with soaring demand for heating fuel as a result of this winter’s brutal cold weather, some utilities may be allowed to use coal as a backup energy source — despite EPA regulations. Arch supplies coal to utility companies for power generation and metallurgical coal used in steelmaking.

Most energy plants in the U.S. are indeed migrating away from coal. But experts say coal will remain an important part of the world’s power sector for decades to come.

Arch recently lowered its production levels.The company’s lowered revenue expectations follow two years of declining sales. But if that decline turns out to be less than expected, value investors may pile into the stock, despite almost certain losses from operations. Arch was a $10 stock back in early 2012, and it traded as high as about $35 back in 2011.

Arch Coal Update July 21: After having risen to just over $5 (from an inclusion price of $4.10), the scenario that would have let Arch Coal double in 2014 has all but died. Shares have broken under $3 and the news of yet another complex being idled has turned a Hail Mary touchdown pass into an interception that leaves less than 4 minutes on the clock with no timeouts. Adios, or if not you have to use options to prove that sanity at least is offsetting unrealistic optimism.

Arch Coal Update February 25: After Earnings Trouble, Arch Can Still Double

3. Ceragon Networks
> Market Cap: $118 million
> Share Price: $3.15
> 52-Week Range: $2.35 to $4.96
> Forward P/E: 53
> Stock Options: Yes

Ceragon Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ: CRNT) is a top high-capacity wireless hauling specialist. This Tel Aviv-based company provides innovative, flexible and cost-effective wireless backhaul and fronthaul solutions that enable mobile operators and other wired/wireless service providers to deliver 2G/3G, 4G/LTE and other broadband services to their subscribers.

Ceragon recently bolstered its balance sheet by raising about $30 million in a rescue offering that offered the stock at a considerable discount of $2.40 per share. This means that many new shareholders are sitting on gains of 30% and could decide to take profits. Another risk factor to consider is the business’ dependance on possibly spotty new orders. In early January, Ceragon said it had received two larger operator orders from North America and India.

Ceragon is hardly followed by Wall Street, but Needham & Co. recently issued a Strong Buy rating with a price target of $8.00 per share — more than double the current stock price. The stock traded near $14 in 2011. The company is expected to be profitable in 2014 and beyond, but revenue may have been down close to 20% in 2013, after peaking at $446 million in 2012.

4. Control4
> Market Cap: $533 million
> Share Price: $23.00
> 52-Week Range: $13.77 to $32.50
> Forward P/E: 53
> Stock Options: When first added No, but options do exist now

Control4 Corp. (NASDAQ: CTRL) made headlines recently when Google announced its $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest Labs — Control4’s rival player in the home automation market. Control4 operations include home theater automation and smart business place solutions. The company also seems further along than Nest in its operations. The consensus analyst price target of $25.20 per share is above the current share price, and the highest analyst target is $30.00 per share.

There are actually four factors to consider when it comes to risk: The stock price has already doubled once; competition in this space will be fierce and there may be a dependence on new construction trends; Control4 has only been public since the summer of 2013; and finally, there are also no stock options for hedging, but that should change very soon.

Control4 shares already more than doubled from the lows of last year, following the Google-Nest news, but the stock has since come back to earth. Analysts see sales growth of about 17% to $150 million in 2014, and earnings growth is expected to be close to 30%. The competition in this field of home automation and smarter “places” is only going to grow because of the immediate money-saving potential. The adoption rate, however, will depend largely on new construction trends, and existing competition from home security providers will grow. The good news is that Control4 could easily be acquired.

Control4 Update February 12: After Earnings, Control4 Can Still Double with stock price at $22.60.

5. GenCorp
> Market Cap: $1.04 billion
> Share Price: $17.00
> 52-Week Range: $10.22 to $18.50
> Forward P/E: 30
> Stock Options: Yes

GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY) is all about its Aerojet Rocketdyne unit, although the company is also a California acreage play. Investors will have to be patient here, because GenCorp has close to no analyst coverage. Its Aerojet Rocketdyne unit, which manufactures rockets and missile propulsion, has supported recent NASA activities, and it has deep space aspirations as well.

Perhaps the company’s biggest opportunity ahead lies with the Air Force’s Nuclear Weapons Center Propulsion Applications Program, where Aerojet Rocketdyne was recently awarded a contract to develop new Medium Class Stage III motors for America’s aging Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. While no financial details were released, one outside report estimates the contract’s value at around $11 billion or more.

Of course, GenCorp’s business revenue is subject to many variables, including cuts to defense spending and space exploration, any of which could derail its growth.

Still, even a partial success here – or any hint of a potentially big contract in the works — could propel the stock higher. At that point, analysts would likely be coming out of the woodwork to call GenCorp the next undiscovered company.

6. Halcon Resources (The First Actual Double!)
> Market Cap: $1.4 billion
> Share Price: $3.50
> 52-Week Range: $3.16 to $8.20
> Forward P/E: 20
> Stock Options: Yes

Halcon Resources Corp. (NYSE: HK) has been a serial disappointment. But Chairman and CEO Floyd Wilson is no stranger to lucrative deal making in the oil and gas sector – and the Houston-based company is operating in the prolific Bakken, Eagle Ford and Utica shale regions.

2013 was the year that revenues started to pick up exponentially, and sales growth is expected to surpass 17%, to $1.16 billion, in 2014. The company is just turning profitable, and that trend is expected to continue. And with the current stock price at less than half its year ago value, the stock could double and still not recover back to its 52-week high.

Halcon peaked in 2012 with a stock price of about $12, but that figure’s been in decline ever since. The shares have dipped low enough that it even trades at a discount to its September 2013 book value of $1.84 billion. This stock used to be considered a buyout candidate, and the endless number of oil and gas mergers that we’ve seen in recent years could help keep interest in this company alive.

Halcon Update May 30, 2014:  Halcon Resources Corp. (NYSE: HK) may be the first of the stocks to double that made it close to the mark. Shares were at $6.35 on Friday, up over 81% from the $3.50 price when we first included it. This stock was talked up on Friday by Zacks Investment Research, but the firm only rates it a #3 (Hold). Zacks said that investors may definitely want to consider this stock to profit in the near future. One caveat – we would point out that the consensus price target is down at $5.75.

Update June 17, 2014: Halcon became the first stock to successfully double.

7. Hecla Mining
> Market Cap: $1.07 billion
> Share Price: $3.12
> 52-Week Range: $2.63 to $5.59
> Forward P/E: 60
> Stock Options: Yes

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) was a down-and-out silver, gold, and precious metals mining operation long before the overall mining industry ran into its current challenges of rising costs and lower commodity prices. A series of on-again, off-again mergers and transactions haven’t helped, either.

After posting revenue of $477 million in 2011, the company’s offline mining operation pulled revenue down to $321 million in 2012. Since then, with the mining operations back online, sales grew by close to 24% in 2013, and they are expected to grow by another 33% in 2014 to $534 million

Hecla’s woes appeared long before that of its peers – due in part to accidents and closures at its unlucky “Lucky Friday” mine. But the company’s gold and silver production were up strongly last year, and Hecla also reported it still has $212 million in cash.

Hecla is a turnaround story, and its stock could possibly do well even if gold and silver remain in limbo or drop marginally. That being said, gold and silver miners generally trade as a group, and if metals rekindle their bearish trends then Hecla’s stock will not escape that fate. Hecla was a $10 stock at the start of 2011. It has been a troubled stock ever since.

Hecla Update on April 9: Production Gains Keeps The Turnaround (and Chance of a Double) Alive

Hecla Update on February 15: After Earnings, Hecla and Gold Miners Want To Break Out!  Share Price $3.47

8. VIVUS (Removed From List)
> Market Cap: $765 million
> Share Price: $7.55
> 52-Week Range: $7.48 to $15.62
> Forward P/E: Negative
> Stock Options: Yes

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is one of the emerging pharma stocks whose potential huge upside comes with great risks. The company’s Qsymia drug seems to be the safest of the three anti-obesity drugs currently being marketed. Yet despite health insurer Aetna’s announcement it would cover Qsymia, share prices have continued to slide. The commercial strategy of the company’s prior management hurt VIVUS, which despite expectations of much earlier revenues only started to market the drug last year.

The consensus price target increased to $11.30 per share. Cowen & Co. analysts are extremely bullish on VIVUS and have a target price of $19 per share, signaling a more than a 150% upside. Sales are expected to grow by more than 80%, to about $120 million, in 2014.

VIVUS’ big potential upside comes from America’s big and growing waistline. If health care plans become more proactive, weight loss drugs could become huge winners. There are always ongoing safety trial risks with drugs like this, but there are huge potential rewards as well.

VIVUS Update February 25: VIVUS Chances Of Double Are Dimming – Share price $5.90, taken off the list as the outlook has changed for the worse.

9. Westport Innovations
> Market Cap: $1.1 billion
> Share Price: $17.50
> 52-Week Range: $16.93 to $35.40
> Forward P/E: Negative
> Stock Options: Yes

Westport Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: WPRT) has tumbled from its 2012 highs. Although investors have so far been left empty-handed, they are still hoping the T. Boone Pickens’ plan of converting all trucks to CNG fueled trucks over the next decade to eventually gain traction.

This stock briefly traded above $40 back in 2012, and a price of close to $17.50 does not sound too promising. Of the few analysts who follow Westport, the consensus price target is above $27, and one analyst has a formal price target all the way up at $37 per share. 2014 will be a “show me the money year” for Westport, as sales are expected to grow close to 40% to about $225 million after dropping by half to around $162 million (analyst estimate) in 2013.

Update on February 27 after earnings: 24/7 Wall St. remains very positive on Westport Innovations upside versus downside, but chances of a double this year have diminished. Holding in at $16 is impressive, but this news likely kills the chance of a double if we keep the same criteria for Westport as when it was selected. Stay tuned with a final verdict over the next quarter.