In July, the market is rewarding quality at almost any price, which makes the bargain bin worth a serious look. Three NYSE-listed names trade well under $1,000 a share, carry single-digit or low-double-digit forward multiples, and have catalysts the consensus has yet to fully price in. A theoretical $1,000 split across all three buys roughly six shares of each, with change to spare.
Here is the case for putting that capital to work in July.
Alcoa (NYSE: AA)
Alcoa (NYSE:AA | AA Price Prediction) is the cheapest it has been in months. Shares traded around $48.60 on July 7, after a nearly 34% slide over the past month. But even after the selloff, the stock is still up 63% over the trailing year.
The valuation now screens cheap on multiple lenses: a forward P/E of 11, EV/EBITDA of 9 and an analyst target price of $80.79, with 10 Buy or Strong Buy ratings against four Neutral or Bearish calls.
The bull case is operational momentum stacking on top of commodity leverage. Alcoa set annual production records at five aluminum smelters and one alumina refinery in 2025, with FY2025 revenue climbing to $12.83 billion and free cash flow jumping to $567 million, up 1,250% year over year. The Q4 earnings report beat by a wide margin, with adjusted EPS of $1.26 versus $1.01 expected. CEO William Oplinger said the company “maintained our pace of delivering on key operational, strategic, and capital allocation objectives, while setting numerous production records.”
Risk: Q1 2026 is expected to carry a roughly $100 million sequential EBITDA headwind tied to absent CO2 compensation and elevated San Ciprián restart costs, on top of Section 232 tariff exposure on Canadian aluminum imports.
Forestar Group (NYSE: FOR)
Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) is the rare residential lot developer trading below book value. Shares traded around $30.44 on July 7, up around 8% on the month and more than 25% year to date. Reported book value sits at $35.66 per share, putting the price-to-book ratio at just 0.90, paired with a trailing P/E of 10.
Forestar is the captive lot supplier to D.R. Horton, and its fiscal Q2 2026 numbers show resilience inside a soft housing market. Revenue rose 7% year over year to $374.3 million, pre-tax income was up 8% to $43.9 million, and average sales price per lot expanded to $112,800 from $101,700. Liquidity stands at $1.0 billion, with 24,100 lots under contract representing roughly $2.2 billion of future revenue.
CEO Donald Tomnitz argued the company is “uniquely positioned to consistently supply finished lots that are essential to the homebuilding industry.” Sell-side targets average $34, modest upside, but the discount to book value is what makes the math work.
Risk: Lot deliveries were narrowed to 14,000 to 14,500 from 14,000 to 15,000, and lots sold fell 14% year over year. Concentration in D.R. Horton remains the dominant single-customer risk.
Eni (NYSE: E)
Eni (NYSE:E), the Italian integrated major, is the income-heavy member of this list. The ADR traded around $47 as of July 7 after a nearly 14% pullback over the past month, leaving it still 20% higher year over year. The forward multiple is the real eye-opener: forward P/E of 8, EV/EBITDA of 4 and a 5.20% dividend yield.
The capital return story is the headline. Eni raised its 2026 cash flow guidance to €13.8 billion, a 20% lift from the initial €11.5 billion plan, and almost doubled its buyback program to €2.8 billion, with potential expansion to €4.0 billion in upside cash flow scenarios. The 2026 dividend is set at €1.10 per share, up 5%, paid in four tranches through May 2027.
Operationally, E&P production grew 9% year over year to 1.8 million boe/d, and the company announced a 5 trillion cubic feet gas discovery at Geliga in Indonesia along with sizable finds in Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire. CEO Claudio Descalzi said the upgrade “will translate into an expanded buyback program of €2.8 bln, almost a 90% increase vs the original plan.”
Risk: Q1 results were dented by an 11% EUR/USD appreciation and the buyback math assumes Brent at $83/bbl. A sustained slide in crude or a sharper dollar weakening would compress the return profile.
What to Watch in July
The common thread is forward multiples below the broad market with company-specific catalysts. Alcoa needs aluminum prices to firm following the June reset. Forestar needs housing affordability headwinds to ease enough to defend the lower end of guidance. Eni needs Brent to hold its assumed scenario. Each pick offers a different macro tilt, so the basket diversifies what would otherwise be three concentrated commodity-and-rate bets.
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