These 2 Stocks Under $2 Are Worth Every Penny

Not all penny stocks are created equal, and these 2 stocks under $2 are worth looking at now.

Penny stocks might be risky, but they can also offer exceptionally robust return potential. And analysts believe that both of the stocks discussed below could deliver triple-digit returns this year.

You may not have heard of these two cheap under-the-radar stocks, but here’s why you may want to consider them now.

Genius Brands International (NASDAQ: GNUS)

The entertainment industry is a notoriously difficult sector to survive, let alone thrive in. But Genius Brands International (NASDAQ: GNUS) is one under-the-radar entertainment company that has been thriving for years.

What sets Genius Brands apart is that it caters to one core audience group: toddlers to tweens.  This is a difficult group to crack as you’re not just catering to the kids who watch, but their parents as well.

Genius Brands has been creating compelling content and characters with partners ranging from Martha Stuart to Leap Frog Entertainment to Stan Lee, and has a multi-year marketing and distribution agreement for several of its properties with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The company’s content is available on Comcast’s OnDemand with a Baby Genius channel, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Apple TV.

With such broad distribution, Genius Brands has a good pathway to future growth, as cartoon characters tend to translate very well internationally, meaning that what does well in the U.S. is likely to do well overseas as well.

Analysts covering the stock rate it a Buy and their average price target for GNUS is $6, suggesting possible upside of 201.5% over the next twelve months.

Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX)

Shares of the clinical-stage biotech Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) were hit hard late last month after the company reported its second late-stage failure for experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine ResVax.

But while this biotech is down, it is certainly not out.

First, while ResVax failed to meet its primary goal of preventing RSV lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in infants in its phase 3 study, it did find that the experimental vaccine showed promise on other fronts. The vaccine was shown to reduce severe RSV hypoxemia in infants, and reduced hospitalizations associated with RSV LRTI by a statistically significant amount. 

The company is planning to complete its assessment of the data from the phase 3 study for ResVax before meeting with regulatory authorities to discuss a path forward for the vaccine. And of the possible scenarios, all point to paths toward approval, though some of those paths may require a re-do of its phase 3 trial.

Secondly, Novavax remains excited about the potential for its other pipeline candidate, NanoFlu, a nanoparticle-based flu vaccine. Last year, Novavax reached an agreement with the FDA that an accelerated approval pathway could be available for NanoFlu. Then this January, the company reported encouraging phase 1/2 results for the experimental vaccine.

The company plans to again meet with the FDA this year to discuss phase 2 results as well as the design for a phase 3 clinical study. If given the green light, Novavax is sure to move as quickly as possible on the phase 3 study, and may also seek out a licensing partner for the vaccine.

Nanovax isn’t without risk though. While the company reported cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash of $103.9 million as of December 31, 2018, it also burned through $45.3 million in the fourth quarter alone which means it will need to raise cash to stay afloat.

However, this isn’t an insurmountable problem. CFO John Trizzino said that Novavax raised about $41 million in cash in the first quarter of 2019 by selling additional shares, and it’s possible the company could raise what it needs to through issuing more shares.

Six analysts rate the stock a Buy and their average price target for NVAX is $3.18, indicating possible upside of 489.2% over the next twelve months. 


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