Eight Analyst Stocks to Buy Under $10 for Big Upside

May 3, 2014 by Jon C. Ogg

24/7 Wall St. routinely reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. At the end of each week, there is a realization that some stood out handily over most reports. Then there is an entirely different group of analyst calls: the stocks under $10 per share, where analysts see huge upside.

We have found several instances where analysts were calling for big upside in these stocks under $10 per share. Some are even trading under $5 per share. These were the top analyst calls of the week covering stocks trading under $10.

Alphatec Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ATEC) could still be a double, at least that is Canaccord Genuity’s call. The medical technology company announced a leadership change and Canaccord Genuity also said that its expense improvement was solid, even with revenues being light. The firm maintained a Buy rating on Thursday with a $3.00 price target, versus a close of $1.35, and shares were up 13% at $1.54 in late Friday trading.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNR) was raised to Buy from Neutral by Mizuho on Friday, after the company won a key patent case that grants exclusivity out to 2026. Mizuho gave a $10 price target, and shares were only at $4.65 late on Friday. Keep in mind that this was a $3.40 stock before the patent news broke this last week.

ALSO READ: Is Sell in May and Go Away the Right Call for 2014?

Five9 Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN) saw its quiet period end. Shares of the virtual contact center cloud platform were trading at $7.00 late Friday. This week we saw Canaccord Genuity issue a Buy with a $9 target; Pacific Crest gave an Outperform rating and $10 target; Bank of America Merrill Lynch issued a Buy rating and $10 target; and Barclays issued an Overweight rating with a $10 price target.

Fuel-Tech Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK) shares were trading up nearly 5% in late Friday trading, at $6.62, after Sidoti raised its rating to Buy from Neutral. Earlier in the week we saw that Canaccord Genuity maintained its Hold rating and $6 price target.

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) has been an on-again and off-again winner in mobile games, and a positive rating went to the most positive that you can hear. On Thursday, Needham & Co. raised the rating to Strong Buy from Buy and raised the price target up to $6 from $5. The share price was around $4 prior to the upgrade, and shares were around $4.35 in late trading on Friday.

ALSO READ: The Next Big Stock Splits After Apple

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) remains one of the only real airlines trading under $10, and a call from Thursday may signal a change to that. JetBlue was raised to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan, and the price target was raised to $10 from $9.50. Trading at $8.20 in late Friday, this implies close to 20% upside.

SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM), now separated as Sallie Mae, was assigned a new Outperform rating by Credit Suisse on Thursday. The price target was $11. Shares were around $9 on an adjusted basis.

Sonus Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: SONS) had a strong week after reporting a narrower loss. William Blair gave it a new Outperform rating on Tuesday. Sonus shares were at $3.25 in late-Friday trading, against a 52-week range of $2.30 to $3.98 and with a consensus price target of about $4.50.

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