13 Analyst Stocks Under $10 With Major Upside Calls

October 11, 2014 by Jon C. Ogg

ten dollar billsVolatility has returned in a major way in the stock market, and investors saw the single worst day of 2014 on Thursday, October 9. What we are continuing to see is that big sell-offs are still bringing in buyers who are on the hunt for oversold and overlooked stocks. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning, which translates to hundreds of analyst reports reviewed each week. Some reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

When it comes to looking for value, some investors think that low-priced stocks trading under $10 offer more value than stocks with high prices. Some investors also believe that they can find better value and upside potential in small-cap stocks rather than S&P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks. 24/7 Wall St. would convey that is not universally true. In fact, many analysts will not even cover small-cap stocks or stocks that trade with prices under $10 or $5. Still, the analysts who do follow low-priced and small-cap stocks often issue price targets with massive upside of 50%, 100% or much more.

As always, keep in mind that analyst calls of this nature are far riskier than normal analyst calls. Almost none of these low-priced or small-cap stocks would pass the traditional “widows and orphans” suitability test. Many small-cap and low-priced stocks suffer business failures or delisting, or they just become zombie companies.

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24/7 Wall St. tracked 13 stocks under $10 in which analysts have made key calls. Not all are upgrades or new coverage, but some of the upside targets were handily above calls from elsewhere. We have included a research summary of each analyst call, along with trading levels and color if applicable.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) saw surprising news that Rory Read was being replaced as CEO. The timing of the news was more than questionable, ahead of earnings a week out. While Wedbush was the big downgrade and while this stock broke under $3 to new 52-week lows, it was amazing that several analysts maintained positive ratings and price targets on this processor and graphics player.

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $5.90 price target at Benchmark Securities on Wednesday. We also featured this in a Cowen sector piece calling for new gaming companies that could double. This seems overly aggressive, and we would point out the shares were weak based on a drop in Kardashian game rankings. Shares were at $5.25 a week earlier, and this stock was down at $4.37 late on Friday, versus a 52-week trading range of $2.91 to $7.60.

Nxt-ID Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTD) has been extremely volatile and makes our list for the second week in a row. This week it was Benchmark issuing a Speculative Buy rating and $6 price target, after Northland Securities issued a new Outperform rating and $6 price target the prior week. Shares were trading at $3.38 late on Friday, against a 52-week range of $1.36 to $7.25, and it has warrants trading under NXTDW. Please note that a capital raise in September was handled by Northland and Benchmark (and Newport Coast Securities), for full disclosure.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) was started as Outperform and given a $12 price target at Bernstein on Tuesday. The stock had been at $9.98 around the call, but shares were down about $9.75 late on Friday around the market weakness. This call was close enough to earnings that one might wonder if the firm has insight to a substantially better earnings report. We will find out soon.

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Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) was not given a key upgrade or downgrade, but what happened is that Jessica Reif Cohen of Merrill Lynch did not just reiterate her Buy rating. She maintained that $5 price objective, and that is the highest of all analyst price targets on Wall Street. Without full coverage, it is based on upside in new and used auto sales. If Cohen is correct, that is 55% implied upside from the $3.22 late-Friday price.

Other key analyst calls under $10 were as follows:

Agile Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: AGRX) was named in the Janney Capital Markets report of top small-cap ideas after the market sell-off in a note sent out on Thursday. The firm indicated that it has a Buy rating and a fair value of $18, quite a bit higher than the $6.40 share price in the report and the $6.00 price after the stock slid even more. One key driver is an unmet need for a patch contraceptive option.

Aratana Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: PETX) was started as Overweight with a $17 price target at Piper Jaffray on Tuesday. What was interesting here is that this was above $10 late on Friday ($10.45), but it had traded under $10 each day this past week, so it still qualifies under the $10 barrier.

BioAmber Inc. (NYSE: BIOA) was started as Buy with a $16 price target at Canaccord Genuity on Wednesday. This is almost a call to double from the $8.21 prior closing price, based on it building a renewable chemicals business. Shares were at $8.74 late on Friday, against a 52-week range of $6.00 to $15.29.

Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $12 price target at Goldman Sachs on Wednesday. The prior close was $8.88, and this stock had popped as high as about $9.25 before retreating to around $8.65 late on Friday. What stands out here is that Goldman Sachs rarely makes calls on $440 million market cap stocks. Calix is into broadband communications access systems and software for fiber and copper-based network architectures, and its stock has a 52-week range of $7.12 to $13.36.

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Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) was started as Overweight with a price target of $7 at J.P. Morgan on Tuesday. Shares were trading at $4.48 on Friday, indicating upside of some 56%. This speculative biotech has a market cap of just over $1 billion, and the 52-week range is $2.68 to $6.95.

Pacific Coast Oil Trust (NYSE: ROYT) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel on Thursday. The stock was trading at $9.45 late on Friday. What is interesting here is that just a month earlier this trust was downgraded by Stifel, and a month earlier that it was upgraded. The $10 price target doesn’t sound like much upside here, but you have to consider its 11%-plus dividend.

Unilife Corp. (NASDAQ: UNIS) rose for the second time last week on Wednesday, after a report from a firm called Griffin Securities drove shares up with a massive upside call around $13.50. We are adding no color due to the this likely being an all-or-none call.

Vocera Communications Inc. (NYSE: VCRA) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $10 price target at FBR Capital Markets on Wednesday. This was on the heels of a $7.64 close, and this stock was up at $8.62 on Friday. Also be advised that this stock’s 52-week range is $7.58 to $19.33.

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