While most of Wall Street focuses on large-cap and mega-cap stocks, as they provide a degree of safety and liquidity, many investors are limited in the number of shares they can buy. Many of the biggest public companies, especially the technology giants, trade in the hundreds, all the way up to over $1,000 per share or more. At those steep prices, it is difficult to get any decent share count leverage.
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Many investors, especially more aggressive traders, look at lower-priced stocks as a way not only to make some good money but to get a higher share count. That can really help the decision-making process, especially when you are on to a winner, as you can always sell half and keep half.

Skeptics of low-priced shares should remember that at one point Amazon, Apple and Netflix traded in the single digits. Nvidia, which has exploded higher on AI semiconductor chips, traded under $10 for years. One stock we featured over the years, Zynga, was purchased by Take-Two Interactive. Cogent Biosciences, which we featured last March, has tripled since then.

We screened our 24/7 Wall St. research database looking for smaller cap companies that could offer patient investors some huge returns for the rest of 2023 and beyond. While these five stocks are rated Buy and have a ton of Wall Street coverage, it is important to remember that no single analyst report should be used as a sole basis for any buying or selling decision.

8X8

Just over two years ago, this former high-flier traded near the $40 level. 8X8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) provides voice, video, chat, contact center and enterprise-class application programmable interface software-as-a-service solutions for small and midsize businesses, mid-market and larger enterprises, government agencies and other organizations worldwide.

The company provides 8×8 Work, a self-contained end-to-end united communications solution that delivers enterprise voice with public switched telephone network connectivity, video meetings and unified messaging, as well as direct messages, public and private team messaging rooms and short and multimedia services. Its 8×8 Contact Center is a multichannel cloud-based contact center solution, and 8×8 CPaaS is a set of global communications platform-as-a-service.

8X8 also offers X1 through X4 and X5 through X8, which provide enterprise-grade voice, unified communications, and video meetings and team collaboration and contact center solutions. It markets its services to end users through industry conferences, trade shows, webinars and digital advertising channels.

Needham has a $6 target price for 8X8 stock. The consensus target is just $4.79, and on Friday shares last traded at $2.68.

This electric vehicle (EV) company could be in the sights of a larger car maker. Lucid Group Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID) is an automotive company focused on the design, development, customer experience, sale and service of EVs, as well as electric powertrains for Formula E and energy storage systems, starting with its Air sedan, to be followed by additional models through 2030.
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The company’s vehicles are manufactured off of Lucid Electric Advanced Platform (LEAP), a skateboard architecture that will underpin numerous models, and offered to consumers through a direct sales and service model.

While the EV industry has become a do-or-die proposition, Aston Martin recently announced it would be taking up with Lucid Motors for future battery EV development and stepping away from Mercedes-Benz’s EV technology.

Needham’s target price is $9, and Lucid stock has a consensus target of $8.30. The shares last traded on Friday at $5.84 apiece.

Novavax

This small biotech stock has taken investors on a roller-coaster ride over the past three years but could be ready for a big move higher. Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) promotes improved health by discovering, developing and commercializing vaccines to protect against serious infectious diseases. It offers a vaccine platform that combines a recombinant protein approach, nanoparticle technology and its patented Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response.

Novavax focuses on urgent health challenges, which is evaluating vaccines for COVID-19 and influenza, as well as COVID-19 and influenza combined. The company is commercializing a COVID-19 vaccine, NVX-CoV2373 under the brand names of Nuvaxovid, Covovax and Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted for adult and adolescent populations as a primary series and for both homologous and heterologous booster indications. It is also focusing on product candidates for respiratory syncytial virus and malaria.

Note that a stunning 46% of the float is sold short.

The $35 H.C. Wainwright target price is well above the consensus target of $20.60. On Friday, Novavax stock last traded at just $8.97 a share.

RumbleOn

This quirky company with the funny name could have the biggest upside potential of all this week’s stocks. RumbleOn Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBL) operates a technology-based omnichannel platform in North America.
Its Powersports segment distributes motorcycles and other powersports vehicles. The Automotive segment distributes cars and trucks. The Vehicle Logistics segment provides nationwide transportation brokerage services between dealerships and auctions. Its platform offers the ability to buy, sell, trade, and finance new and pre-owned vehicles online or in store for dealers and consumers.
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While it is under the radar, some institutional investors have been loading the boat on the stock. It is reported that a stunning 34% of the shares are held by institutional accounts, as the top five shareholders hold 51% of the company and insiders hold 17%.

D.A. Davidson has set its target price at $11 target. The consensus target is $10.50, and shares closed at $6.30 on Friday.

2U

Investors are likely familiar with this top company. 2U Inc. (NASDAQ: TWOU) operates as an online education platform company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through the following two segments.

The Degree Program segment provides the technology and services to nonprofit colleges and universities to enable the online delivery of degree programs. This segment targets students seeking an undergraduate or graduate degree.

The Alternative Credential segment offers online open courses, executive education programs, technical, skills-based boot camps and micro-credential programs through nonprofit colleges and universities. This segment targets students seeking to reskill or upskill for career or personal development through shorter duration and lower-priced offerings. It also provides a platform that provides technology and technology-enabled services.

2U stock has a $9 target price at Needham. The consensus target is just $6.04, and shares last traded on Friday at $3.13.

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These are five stocks for aggressive investors looking to get share count leverage on companies that have sizable upside potential. While not suited for all investors, they are not penny stocks with absolutely no track record or liquidity, and major Wall Street firms have research coverage.

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