Implementing an investment strategy of buying low-priced stocks may not be for everyone. But if you’re a growth-oriented investor who’s willing to accept a level of risk, stocks under $7 can be both appealing and profitable.
These stocks under $7 have greater potential for substantial gains because they start off with lower valuations. It’s much easier to achieve rapid price increases in response to positive news or market trends when a stock is priced at less than $7.
Many of the names on this list are in the early stages of development or operate in niche markets. An investment exposes you to a potential growth story that could see your investment double over time.
But be cautious. Greater rewards always come with greater risk, and lower-priced stocks can always be more volatile than their higher-priced counterparts. Rapid gains can be followed by sudden losses.
You need to be prepared for short-term price swings and have the stomach for risk when you’re investing in these names.
Fortunately, we have the Portfolio Grader at our disposal. The Portfolio Grader evaluates stocks based on growth history, earnings performance, analyst sentiment, and momentum to help us identify the best stocks on the market.
According to the Portfolio Grader, these stocks under $7 are among the best choices if you want to score with a low-priced stock and have a reasonable risk tolerance.
SoundHound (SOUN)
Any company that is being smart about incorporating artificial intelligence into its offerings is getting investors’ attention. And SoundHound (NASDAQ:SOUN) is exceptionally smart about AI.
SoundHound uses AI for its voice recognition products. Employee Assist is a new product that companies can use to help their employees be more productive.
An employee would pose a question to Employee Assist about a job function, for instance, and get immediate verbal instructions from the SoundHound app about how to do the work.
SoundHound also has products that vehicle owners can use to access their owners’ manuals and answer questions about maintenance or troubleshooting problems.
SoundHound stock exploded in February when Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) disclosed it owned 1.7 million shares of SOUN stock. Everything Nvidia touches these days turns to gold, and Nvidia is working with SoundHound’s AI to create applications.
SOUN stock is priced at less than $7, but I don’t think it will be there for long. It’s up 128% this year and gets a “B” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Applied Digital (APLD)
Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) is a Dallas-based company that designs and operates data centers and digital infrastructure to support high-performance computing and AI products.
The company also provides cloud services and blockchain colocation services, although it recently sold a Bitcoin (BTC-USD) 200-megawatt mining campus to Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) for $97 million.
Applied Digital says it plans to focus on its high-performing data centers moving forward (which is why it changed its name from Applied Blockchain).
Earnings for the fiscal second quarter included revenue of $42.2 million, an increase from $12.3 million a year ago.
It reported a net loss of $10.5 million and 10 cents per share, which was a marked improvement from a year ago when it lost $26.7 million and 28 cents per share.
APLD stock is down right now, losing 57% so far this year (volatility!) as it lowered its full-year guidance because of delays in the delivery of networking components for its graphics processing unit clusters.
The company is expected to release more details when it reports fiscal Q3 earnings after the market closes on April 11, so the outlook for this company could change quickly.
For now, APLD stock has a “B” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Elevation Oncology (ELEV)
Medical and pharma stocks are often among Wall Street’s most volatile and risky. Developing new drugs is a costly business full of regulatory hurdles and competition. But when a company hits, the returns can be dynamic.
That brings us to Elevation Oncology (NASDAQ:ELEV), a Boston-based company that is working on various cancer therapies.
The company has two Phase 1 trials for its candidates for treating solid tumors in combination with immunotherapy and targeted agents for gastric, gastroesophageal junction, pancreatic and esophageal cancers.
In February, the company issued its first dose to a patient in Japan as part of a Phase 1 clinical trial for its E0-3021 candidate. Earlier this month, the company issued proof-of-concept for its HER3-ADC program, which shows success in treating cancerous cells while minimizing exposure.
Elevation Oncology says it has sufficient funding for its operations through the fourth quarter of 2025, giving it a solid window to continue to fund its research. ELEV stock is up 777% in 2024 and gets a “B” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
MicroCloud Hologram (HOLO)
MicroCloud Hologram (NASDAQ:HOLO) is a Chinese software company that works with holographic technology, such as holographic content services, smart car holographic fields, cloud data processing and intelligent visual services.
The company’s products can be used in Internet advertising, audio and video applications and automotive electronics manufacturing.
But as the technology grows, MicroCloud is betting that it will capture a significant piece of the market for holographic hardware development and design and holographic chip design.
MicroCloud has been a volatile meme stock, jumping at one point in February more than 1,700%. In September last year, the stock went even higher when it announced it was working with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to make a holographic virtual digital human.
There are some red flags with MicroCloud, to be sure. The company hasn’t done a good job of issuing financial statements, with its Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2023 being the most recent report available. It’s not a company that I would ever consider as a core holding for my portfolio.
But HOLO could be worth a small investment for a speculative investor. It gets a “B” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Clearside Biomedical (CLSD)
Clearside Biomedical (NASDAQ:CLSD) is a Georgia company developing treatments for the back of the eye through the suprachoroidal space.
It patented the SCS Microinjector for use as an in-office, non-surgical procedure to deliver treatments to the macula, retina, or choroid of the eye, and possibly relieve patients with vision-threatening diseases.
Now that Clearside has the Microinjector, it’s working on its own pipeline of product candidates that can be delivered using its own patented device. Its drug candidate for treating age-related macular degeneration is currently in Phase 2B trials.
Revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $6.3 million, up substantially from $330,000 a year ago. The growing company posted a net loss of $4.8 million and 8 cents per share, which was an improvement from $9.6 million and 16 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2022.
CLSD stock is up 10% in 2024 and gets a “B” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Nikola (NKLA)
Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) is an Arizona-based company that manufactures commercial, heavy-duty battery electric vehicles. Nikola also manufactures a hydrogen-powered EV truck with a range of up to 500 miles.
Nikola provides the infrastructure to produce, distribute and dispense hydrogen, and offers electric vehicle fast-charging infrastructure for its battery-powered EVs.
Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $11.5 million, up from $5.4 million in the previous year. The company posted a net loss of 153.5 million and 14 cents per share, down from a loss of $222 million and 36 cents per share in the previous year.
NKLA stock is an interesting bet on green power for heavy-duty vehicles. While the stock will be volatile, it’s up 14% in 2024 and gets a “B” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Bitfarms (BITF)
Bitfarms (NASDAQ:BITF) is a Toronto-based Bitcoin mining company. With the price of Bitcoin up 63% in 2024 and 132% in the last year, Bitcoin mining has become exceptionally profitable.
Bitfarms currently operates 11 farms in Canada, Paraguay, Argentina and the U.S., deploying nearly 66,000 miners to produce the cryptocurrency. While it currently has a production capacity of 6.5 exa hash per second (EH/s), Bitfarms has plans to increase its capacity to 21 EH/s.
In March, Bitfarms produced 286 Bitcoin and sold 284 of them, which at today’s prices would be more than $19.5 million in revenue.
The company reported revenue of $146 million and an operating loss of $72 million for the year, compared to revenue of $142 million and a loss of $284 million in 2022.
The company will continue to see losses as it expands its production capacity, but its added capacity bodes well for future profitability.
BITF stock is up 113% in the last 12 months and gets a “B” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
On the date of publication, Louis Navellier had a long position in NVDA. Louis Navellier did not have (either directly or indirectly) any other positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
The InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article had a long position in BTC and NVDA. The staff member did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any other positions in the securities mentioned in this article.