5 Analyst Stock Picks Called to Rise 100% to 200%

September 26, 2015 by Jon C. Ogg

buy sellThe bull market has finally seen that stocks can correct 10% or more. It was long overdue, but what is so amazing is that even after four years it turns out that investors will buy stocks on pullbacks. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst upgrades and downgrades each day of the week to find hidden values and new trading and investing ideas for its readers.

Many of these calls cover stocks to buy, but some analyst calls are far more aggressive — some analyst reports actually predict that a stock could rise 100% or more.

With higher predicted returns, it is a given that there has to be more risk. Traditional analyst Buy ratings come with implied upside of 8% to 15%. So if you see a call of 50%, 100% or more, you just have to assume it has far more risk.

After looking at the list of stocks from this week, it is a far riskier list of companies than say Dow Jones Industrial Average or S&P 500 companies. These companies also have no solid track record of earnings and stable revenues as you would expect from a Dow or S&P 500 company.

There were five such analyst calls we tracked in the past week in which an analyst was willing to call for a stock to rise roughly 100%, and some even higher. Again, it cannot be stressed enough that calls of this nature are very risky. The stocks are all highly speculative, they often have few analysts or institutional investors in them, and they are all generally considered small-cap stocks.

To point out specific risk here, 24/7 Wall St. has even outlined at least one negative or word of caution in each stock. We wouldn’t want you thinking these analysts are omniscient or that they know the future, and we wouldn’t want you thinking we believe everything just because an analyst predicted it.

Advaxis

Advaxis Inc. (NASDAQ: ADXS) is a speculative clinical stage biotech shop focused on cancer. On Tuesday it was started with an Overweight rating with a $40.00 price target at Barclays. What stands out here is that this implies well over 100% upside. The prior close was $15.99 before the call, but the pressure on biotechs made it close at $13.79. With a positive survival rate in cervical cancer patients in its most recent study, will they really have to worry about Congress telling them their fair price if successful?

Advaxis has a consensus price target of $31.17, a market cap of $460 million and a 52-week trading range of $2.50 to $30.13. The company ended the July quarter with about $97 million in cash. It had no long-term debt to speak of and it had a net tangible asset base of $94 million.

ALSO READ: 9 Well Known Dividend Stocks Yielding Over 5%

CareDx

CareDx Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNA) is so small it has never been covered in any story at 24/7 Wall St. In fact, we have never even heard of it. A firm named Craig-Hallum initiated coverage late in the week with a $13.00 price target, versus a $6.72 prior close. The prior week’s news was that CareDx’s donor-derived cell-free DNA assay was selected to support National Institutes of Health funded clinical trial for kidney transplant patients.

CareDx has a 52-week range of $4.60 to $8.00 and an $82 million market cap. Hint, hint — highly speculative.

Cerulean Pharma

Cerulean Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: CERU) is not the most active stock, and it has a mere $123 million market cap, but it has a substantial upside call for its cancer targets of nanoparticle-drug conjugates that target tumors. Cerulean was started as Overweight at Barclays on Tuesday, with a price target of $8.00. This has a $4.51 price now after falling 9% on Friday. While Barclays is not a call to double, Cerulean was started as Buy at Roth in late August with a $9.00 price target and Canaccord Genuity’s price target from August was $15.00.

Cerulean could double and still not even hit its 52-week high, as that range in the past year has been $2.77 to $10.87. Investors also need to understand that Cerulean has no revenues to speak of, but it did end the June quarter with some $85 million in cash and net tangible assets of $68 million.

Spectranetics

Spectranetics Corp. (NASDAQ: SPNC) is honestly very hard to think of as a double after the price action we have seen. Still, two firms see massive upside. The company’s products are used to treat arterial blockages in the legs and heart, as well as for removing pacemaker and defibrillator cardiac leads. All the news on it is class action suits after shares have been pounded. After the sell-off we saw that Benchmark started Spectranetics with a Buy rating and a $24.00 price target. Shares were at $14.80 before the call, and closed at $12.52. Piper Jaffray kept an Outperform rating and a $25 price target. Still, others don’t believe in it. UBS started it as Sell with a $12.00 price target last week too in a “beware of falling daggers” call.

Spectranetics’ 52-week range keeps getting lower and is currently $12.40 to $37.04. Again, this one has been pounded, and perhaps that 52-week range speaks for itself. The company used to be worth over $1 billion, but the market cap is now $532 million. Spectranetics also is expected by the analysts who follow it to keep seeing revenue growth ahead, but it is expected to keep posting a loss in earnings per share for at least this year and next.

Turtle Beach

Turtle Beach Corp. (NASDAQ: HEAR) could have 200% upside here if Oppenheimer’s call from this last week comes true. Oppenheimer started coverage with a report called “Coming In Loud and Clear,” with Turtle Beach as the best in class headset for gaming. It started Turtle Beach with an Outperform rating and a $6.00 price target, with its target being late in 2016.

Turtle Beach’s prior close was $2.03, and shares closed at $2.14 on Friday, with a 52-week range of $1.75 to $7.65. This one is also very small, with a $90 million market cap, and we covered it with much more detail during the week.

ALSO READ: 8 Great Value Stocks Trading Under 10 Times Earnings

24/7 Wall St. again wants to remind readers that they need to do an incredible amount of their own research before deciding on the validity of highly speculative stocks. Analysts from Wall Street often have perceived conflicts of interest because they have an investment banking relationship or they seek to have one. Many analysts also have no additional information or insight than an institutional investor. If investors want even more harsh disclosures, this has been covered in prior aggressive calls and a more detailed risk warning can be read.

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