Stocks trading in the $1-10 range are generally smaller players with less risk than their penny stock counterparts. But that doesn’t mean the underlying businesses are cheap, and we advise caution as many have questionable fundamentals.
The bad behavior exhibited by lower-quality companies in this space can spook even the most seasoned professionals, which is why we started StockStory - to separate the good from the bad. That said, here is one stock under $10 with explosive upside potential and two that may have trouble.
Two Stocks Under $10 to Sell:
Himax (HIMX)
Share Price: $8.22
Taiwan-based Himax Technologies (NASDAQ: HIMX) is a leading manufacturer of display driver chips and timing controllers used in TVs, laptops, and mobile phones.
Why Does HIMX Worry Us?
- Annual sales declines of 5.9% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
- Sales are expected to decline once again over the next 12 months as it continues working through a challenging demand environment
- Substandard operating profitability and its deterioration over the last five years limit its responsiveness to unforeseen market trends
Himax’s stock price of $8.22 implies a valuation ratio of 23.5x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including HIMX in your portfolio.
JELD-WEN (JELD)
Share Price: $3.42
Founded in the 1960s as a general wood-making company, JELD-WEN (NYSE: JELD) manufactures doors, windows, and other related building products.
Why Do We Avoid JELD?
- Core business is underperforming as its organic revenue has disappointed over the past two years, suggesting it might need acquisitions to stimulate growth
- Free cash flow margin dropped by 10.7 percentage points over the last five years, implying the company became more capital intensive as competition picked up
- Diminishing returns on capital from an already low starting point show that neither management’s prior nor current bets are going as planned
At $3.42 per share, JELD-WEN trades at 5.6x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than JELD.
One Stock Under $10 to Watch:
Semrush (SEMR)
Share Price: $9.99
Started by Oleg Shchegolev while still in university, Semrush (NYSE: SEMR) is a software-as-a-service platform that helps companies optimize their search engine and content marketing efforts.
Why Do We Like SEMR?
- Winning new contracts that can potentially increase in value as its billings growth has averaged 24.8% over the last year
- Sales outlook for the upcoming 12 months implies the business will stay on its desirable three-year growth trajectory
- Superior software functionality and low servicing costs are reflected in its stellar gross margin of 82.1%
Semrush is trading at $9.99 per share, or 3.2x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.
Stocks We Like Even More
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs.
While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 176% over the last five years.
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.
