5 Names For Your Penny Stocks List
We’re kick-starting another week where penny stocks are at the center of attention. While economic data could fuel broader markets, sentiment and momentum seem to be carrying things forward for small-cap stocks. Premarket trading in benchmark ETFs like the Russell 2000 Small-Cap Index ETF (NYSE: IWM) has seen prices break above last week’s records.
Monday’s high before the opening bell sat at $235.38, roughly half of a percent higher than Friday’s record. A robust outlook on the economy due to vaccine distribution has helped bolster stocks on Monday morning. At the same time, this bullishness has indicated a stronger start to the week. There are still some things to keep in mind.
One of the main sticking points is likely going to be bond yields and inflationary concerns. This week a 2-day meeting of the Federal Reserve will be the centerpiece. This is the second meeting of the year. While the central bank isn’t expected to take action on interest rates, it won’t likely matter to investors.
As we’ve seen, sentiment has played a huge role in daily trading trends. We saw this in play over the past few weeks as broader markets pulled in on fears of interest rates rising and inflation coming into the market. While this evidently wasn’t the case, it acted as a negative catalyst with tech taking the brunt of the sell-off.
Penny Stocks To Buy [or avoid] Right Now
This brings us to a fresh week. What will stoke traders’ excitement and fears in the days to come. With the Fed meeting as a backdrop for volatility, many are looking at broader market trends. One of the biggest of these is the reopening trend. Just as we saw last year with the Covid trade enhancing the gains for stay-at-home stocks, bullishness from early economic reopening has traders looking at related sectors.
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With this in mind, a few penny stocks are beginning to surge higher to start the week. Will they be at the top of the buy list, or should you avoid them entirely? I’ll leave that answer up to you but let’s take a look at what’s driving this early momentum.
- Check-Cap Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHEK)
- AzurRx BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: AZRX)
- Zomedica Corp. (NYSE: ZOM)
- Intec Pharma (NASDAQ: NTEC)
- aTyr Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: LIFE)
Penny Stocks To Buy [or avoid] #1: Check-Cap Ltd. (CHEK)
One of the most actively traded penny stocks today is Check-Cap Ltd. This is a company we’ve discussed countless times over the last few months as shares have climbed from under $0.25 to over $2.50 at times. The company’s lead product is its C-Scan screening test for detecting polyps before they transform into colorectal cancer.
Check-Cap has been going through the paces for enhanced FDA clearance of the product. This week, that came into a much brighter light as the company announced receipt of FDA Investigational Device Exemption approval for a pivotal study of C-Scan.
Alex Ovadia, Chief Executive Officer of Check-Cap, said, “We are in active discussions with a number of clinical sites as part of our preparations to begin the pivotal study in late 2021. In parallel, as previously communicated, we will be continuing to optimize C-Scan’s performance and patient experience through additional clinical data collection at Israeli sites. To this end, we are gearing up to initiate a study in Israel at more than 10 clinical sites to enroll up to 250 average-risk patients.”
Furthermore, the company received Breakthrough Device Designation for the intended use of identifying candidates with the average risk population who are at a higher risk for polyps of a certain size and are not good candidates for colonoscopy. With this news, CHEK stock has taken flight on Monday. Will this momentum sustain itself through the duration of the week ahead?
#2: AzurRx BioPharma Inc. (AZRX)
Another one of the frequently discussed penny stocks to watch this week is AzurRx. The company also focuses on gastrointestinal treatments. In this case, AzurRx doesn’t develop screening devices but rather targeted treatments for GI diseases.
The company recently raised $10 million to put toward its pipeline treatments. In particular, AzurRx plans to begin two niclosamide clinical programs in the first half of 2021. There’s expected to be a Phase 2 clinical trial for COVID-19 GI infections and a Phase 1b/2a trial for immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced colitis.
To this point, AzurRx had previously entered into an agreement with PPD, Inc. (NASDAQ: PPD), a global contract research organization, to manage the Phase 2 clinical trial for an immediate-release capsule formulation of micronized oral niclosamide, also known as FW-1022.
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Heading into this week, the company could be one to watch ahead of its next conference presentation. The company’s CEO, James Sapirstein, will be at the Maxim Group Emerging Growth Conference from Wednesday to Thursday. Sapirstein is expected to provide a corporate overview and discuss anticipated milestones for the year.
#3: Zomedica Corp. (ZOM)
Zomedica has been one of the top penny stocks to watch this year. Most of the action has been fueled by anticipation of the company’s upcoming commercial launch. Specifically, Zomedica has laid the groundwork for the commercial release of its animal diagnostic device, TRUFORMA.
Since the beginning of the year, ZOM stock has strongly rallied. The year began with ZOM trading at $0.25, and shares have since climbed as high as $2.91 over the last few months. Even the February pull-back that the broader market saw didn’t really impact the uptrend in ZOM that much. Furthermore, the stock was also caught up in the Reddit hype, with certain restrictions being placed on the trading activity of ZOM by brokers like Robinhood. Nevertheless, the penny stock seems to have weathered the storm heading into the final weeks of Q1.
Last week, the company completed the exchange of 12 of its outstanding Series 1 Preferred Shares. Robert Cohen, CEO of Zomedica, explained that “The exchange of the Preferred Shares for common shares eliminates this potential detrimental effect, results in a “clean” balance sheet for the Company, and removes what was, in our opinion, a potential overhang on the common shareholders.”
With the upcoming launch of its TRUFORMA product, ZOM could be on the list of penny stocks to watch this month.
#4: Intec Pharma (NTEC)
Intec Pharma has been relatively sporadic in its trading activity. Some days the stock trades millions of shares. Other days you’ll see NTEC stock barely trade 100,000 shares. However, something to note is that the recent trend has been a stronger uptrend after weeks of selling pressure took the stock down from its 2021 highs.
The company develops drugs based on its Accordion Pill platform technology. It also has exposure to the budding cannabis industry as well. This week, however, attention is on the company for a different reason. Monday morning, Intec announced a definitive agreement for a business combination with Decoy Biosystems, Inc. Decoy is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing multi-targeted products that safely “prime both innate and adaptive anti-tumor and anti-viral immune” responses.
“This transformative transaction provides Intec with a robust clinical pipeline based on a novel immunotherapy platform and gives Intec entrée into the exciting area of immuno-oncology,” said Jeffrey A. Meckler, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intec Pharma. “Our transition into immune-oncology leverages Intec’s senior level expertise and offers an exciting, potential value-creating opportunity for our shareholders.”
Decoy held a pre-IND meeting with the FDA previously and plans to file an Investigational New Drug Application in the second half of this year. Furthermore, a Phase I clinical trial is anticipated for 2022 targeting solid tumors and lymphomas.
#5: aTyr Pharma Inc. (LIFE)
Another biotech penny stock in the news today is aTyr Pharma. The stock was already hovering around the $5 threshold the past few days as the company announced it would present at the American Association for Cancer Research later this year. However, heading into the week, attention is on the company for its latest update.
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aTyr announced data from a Phase 2 clinical trial of its ATYR1923 anti-inflammatory treatment. In particular, the trial focuses on ATYR1923 in COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory complications. The data provided first-in-patient mechanistic proof-of-concept for the treatment.
“While this was a small study, overall trends showing a reduction of these biomarkers combined with the higher baseline levels in the ATYR1923 treatment groups suggest that we have drug activity and ATYR1923 appears to provide an added anti-inflammatory benefit even when given concomitantly with steroids. These findings further demonstrate the potential of ATYR1923 as a therapeutic for severe inflammatory lung disease, including pulmonary sarcoidosis and other ILD.”
Sanjay S. Shukla, M.D., M.S., President and Chief Executive Officer of aTyr
