If you’re making a list of penny stocks to buy, you have plenty to choose from. In the stock market today, volatility has created a higher-risk environment to trade in. With that, those well-versed in stocks that perform well during times like these have benefited.
Penny stocks are some of the highest-risk, high-volatility equities in the market, and retail traders continue focusing on them. Whether the stock market is down or breaking out to new highs, cheaper stocks tend to disconnect from broader trends and move independently. The most significant focus for many traders is on potential catalysts.
If you’re new to the markets in general, potential catalysts can range from company news to wildly touted rumors. Unusual or irregular activity is also something that traders focus on. Some traders even look at what options traders are doing and speculate on the “someone knows something” style of trading. Whichever the case, when it comes to making your list of penny stocks, understanding why specific companies are moving and what that might mean for future sessions is key.
Penny Stocks To Watch
That brings us to today’s article. We look at a handful of cheap stocks to watch after recent events sparked bullishness in the stock market today.
VBL Therapeutics (VBLT)
This week we discussed VBL Therapeutics in the article 4 Penny Stocks Under $1 To Watch Now, Time To Buy? Essentially, the company is in a period of transition. VBL announced an agreement to merge with Notable Labs. In a related update, the company explained the deal would create a clinical-stage therapeutic platform company developing precision medicines. The new focus will be on Notable’s Predictive Precision Medicines Platform and pipeline targeting cancer.
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The company continued asserting this focus based on the recent update on Wednesday. VBL announced the sale of a manufacturing facility in Israel and certain related assets to Aleph Farms. “Our state-of-the-art facility will enable Aleph Farms to unlock value and ramp up local production in an efficient manner,” explained Dror Harats, MD, Chief Executive Officer of VBL. “We look forward to seeing the facility support Aleph Farms’ goals in the future.”
With the pending merger anticipated to close in the second quarter of 2023, the clock is ticking, and traders are watching.
Amarin Corp. (AMRN)
Amarin has been one of the companies frequently on our watch lists since last year. It develops treatments for cardiovascular disease management. Amarin recently received regulatory approval in Switzerland for its VAZKEPA for reducing cardiovascular events.
The company has been embroiled in a shareholder vote that would see Sarissa Capital members joining the Amarin board. In a statement late last month, the company’s largest shareholder explicitly stated, “We cannot afford to allow the current regime to destroy further shareholder value. Our slate includes Sarissa candidates that helped turn around The Medicines Company until its ultimate sale for nearly $10 billion. We have the qualifications and the experience to help guide Amarin through this critical period.”
Amarin shareholders voted to elect all seven of Sarissa’s nominees and remove Per Wold-Olsen as Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective immediately. On the heels of this update, an exclusive licensing and distribution deal was signed with CSL Seqirus. CSL will commercialize VAZKEPA in Australia and New Zealand, where, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), approximately 1.3 million patients in Australia have established cardiovascular disease.
AMRN stock is back on the radar this week following the company’s latest financial results. Amarin beat sales estimates by a wider margin. It’s also enacting a cost-savings program, which is on track to exceed the $100 million target that was initially set.
Looking ahead, Amarin will present at Cowen’s Health Care Conference next week. So if the penny stock is on your list, keep March 8th in mind.
Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (CDTX)
Another one of the biotechnology penny stocks to watch right now is Cidara Therapeutics. It has been on the move since the start of 2023. While there haven’t been frequent updates, the news that has come from the company has been received well by the market. The company initially nominated its first oncology clinical development candidate using its Cloudbreak Platform, CBO-212. But what could be more of a focus right now is its rezafungin for treating candidemia and invasive candidiasis.
An FDA advisory committee recommended that the FDA approve the treatment for those indications earlier this year. This decision was based on Cidara’s ReSTORE Phase 3 data and non-clinical development program. This month could be important because the PDUFA target date for the treatment is March 22nd. As this grows closer, speculative trading has heated up.
In addition to that, Cidara continues making headlines. This week the company announced “promising” interim Phase 2a data from the safety and efficacy portion of a trial of its CD388 in an influenza challenge model. “This planned interim analysis of our Phase 2a study provides preliminary evidence that CD388 may effectively prevent influenza and supports our belief in the potential of DFCs from our Cloudbreak platform,” said Jeffrey Stein, President and CEO of Cidara Therapeutics.
The news has helped trigger another big move in the stock market today.
Sidus Space Inc. (SIDU)
The “Space-as-a-Service” company has bounced back from a significant sell-off earlier in the year thanks to financing news. Now that the dust has settled, the market is looking for the next move to be made. The company earmarked funds for sales and marketing, operational costs, product development, and manufacturing expansion. It’s also worth mentioning that the funding came right before Sidus was awarded a $2.5 million project for The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research. The two will test the Organization’s laser communications technology on a Sidus LizzieSat satellite.
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News that it signed an agreement with SpaceX to launch on Transporter missions manifested for 2024 and 2025 helped keep the momentum going in the stock market at the end of February. Like iBio (discussed below), Sidus has also brought AI into its model. This week Sidus reported that it would integrate edge AI capabilities into its planned satellite constellation.
“FeatherEdge executes novel machine vision algorithms to detect and classify objects and structures within the field of view of on-board imaging systems. FeatherEdge processes raw data directly from sensors and sends down only the relevant information, reducing downlink costs and improving response times to observable events,” said Jeremy Allam, Co-founder, and CEO of Exo-Space.
This is something that the company anticipates will allow its government and commercial customers to access near-real-time intelligence.
iBio Inc. (IBIO)
Even though there weren’t any headlines this week, iBio remains a focus for traders. I say that because the penny stock exploded in mid-February after the company’s latest headlines. It announced the disclosure of MUC16 as the target of its latest immune-oncology program. For some context, iBio utilizes artificial intelligence to develop its platforms. Thanks to more interest in AI stocks or “ChatGPT stocks,” any stock with those letters (AI) has gotten more attention this quarter.
iBio’s Interim CEO and Chief Scientific Officer, Martin Brenner, explained in a related update, “The targeting of a very specific, pathophysiologically relevant, region of MUC16 is a testament to the versatility of our AI technology, as it successfully shows it can be applied to a broad range of targets.”
While IBIO stock has experienced a strong surge of bullishness over the last week, there are other things to consider. One to pay attention to is a recent prospectus filed. It shows a proposed offering of up to $100,000,000. Whether this presents potential risks of dilution is to be seen.
List Of Penny Stocks
Here’s the full list of penny stocks discussed in this article:
- VBL Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VBLT)
- Amarin Corp. (NASDAQ: AMRN)
- Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CDTX)
- Sidus Space Inc. (NASDAQ: SIDU)
- iBio Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN: IBIO)
