This week was a milestone week for the stock market. The S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) and Nasdaq (NASDAQ: QQQ) put in fresh 2023 highs. What could be more impressive is while terms like “stock market crash” and “recession” are trending, the growth-driven Nasdaq reached a separate milestone, new 52-week highs. This risk-on sentiment trickled into penny stocks, and plenty have surged in the stock market this week.
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Negotiations continue regarding the debt ceiling. However, something that is a more significant focus is Fed commentary. Friday will see a slew of FOMC members speaking, as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Surely attention will be on verbiage about inflation and the Fed’s plan to raise rates (or not).
Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones believes the Fed is done raising. In a recent interview, Jones said, “I definitely think they are done…They could probably declare victory now because if you look at CPI, it’s been declining 12 straight months…That’s never happened before in history.”
On the other hand, the European Central Bank is expected to keep the rate hikes flowing. The ECB’s Vice President Luis de Guindos recently said, “A significant part of the journey has been made, there is still some way to go, probably the road ahead is shorter, but I don’t know what the end point is going to be.”
Much like the Fed, the ECB slowed the pace of its interest rate increases with a 25-basis-point. With new inflation data and another Fed meeting coming up, the market is likely looking to Powell’s comments for clues.
Regardless, that hasn’t negatively impacted penny stocks. This article looks at a handful outpacing broader markets today, even as the S&P and Nasdaq test highs.
Penny Stocks To Watch
TuSimple Holdings (TSP)
This week was a big week for TuSimple Holdings. If you look at any stock chart, you’ll see it has been under pressure for most of the year. A dip to fresh 52-week lows came shortly after the company received a delisting notice from Nasdaq.
Fast forward a bit, and the company has published a restructuring plan to reset, hoping to right the ship.
“As we relaunch TuSimple, we have taken a variety of factors into consideration, including further deterioration of global economic growth, significantly reduced capital availability in the self-driving industry and redundant hardware availability,” said Cheng Lu, president and CEO of TuSimple. “Given these factors, we believe this restructuring, while difficult, aligns our capital spend with the pace of overall industry readiness and improves our long-term competitive position.”
The restructuring included a reduction of its workforce by 30%. It’s also no longer seeking strategic alternatives for its Asia Pacific business. Instead, the company wants to push forward with a marketable strategy. This includes expecting readiness for its proprietary central compute unit, TuSimple Domain Controller. TuSimple also introduced an integrated software plus hardware autonomy perception solution for OEM customers called TS-Box.
On the back of this news, TSP stock has continued climbing from its 52-week. So far, the move has taken share from $0.75 to over $1.60.
180 Life Sciences Corp. (ATNF)
Another one of the penny stocks surging on Friday is 180 Life Sciences Corp. The company has been under pressure for most of the year. It hasn’t reported many significant developments besides closing a $3 million round of financing in April. The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for research and development expenses and general corporate purposes. These include preparing a marketing authorization application and legal fees.
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There are some milestones to keep track of coming up this summer. Mainly, 180 Life Sciences announced that Professor Jagdeep Nanchahal was selected to present at the Gordon Research Conference. His presentation will be “Physiological and Disease Relevance and Underlying Molecular Properties of Collagens.”
Nanchahal is the chairman of 180’s clinical advisory board and will present findings on Dupuytren’s disease at the conference from July 9 – 14. Dr. James Woody, CEO of 180 Life Sciences, stated in a February update, “The Gordon Research Conferences are very prestigious international events dating back to 1931, which are organized by a non-profit organization to promote scientific discussion and progress, and build communities to advance the frontiers of science.”
In addition, May has seen several insiders, including Woody, CFO Ozan Pamir, and Director Pamela Marrone, purchase shares of ATNF stock. Altogether, more than 50,000 shares were purchased. CEO Woody’s was the largest purchase of 40,000 shares at an average price of $1.03.
Aemetis Inc. (AMTX)
Shares of Aemetis stock have been on plenty of watch lists over the last few months regarding short-squeeze penny stocks. Fintel and TD Ameritrade data show the AMTX short float at around 23%, putting it back on that list of short-interest names. In addition, Aemetis news has prompted some added attention to the name.
This week, the renewable natural gas company announced that the EPA approved the Aemetis Biogas Services subsidiary’s renewable natural gas production facility to generate D3 renewable identification numbers under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.
“The approval of the Aemetis Biogas for the generation of D3 RINs is a major step towards full product revenue,” said Andy Foster, President of Aemetis Biogas, Inc. “The significant investments made by Aemetis since 2019 directly reduce greenhouse gas pollution and improve local air quality in Central Valley communities, while creating jobs. Aemetis continues to rapidly deploy the infrastructure necessary to connect our network of dairy digesters and increase the production of carbon-negative dairy renewable natural gas to replace petroleum diesel.”
Lilium NV (LILM)
Shares of Lilim continued climbing on Friday, which continued a multi-week move following a drop to fresh 52-week lows at the start of May. The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet maker announced a financing round for up to $250 million it plans to deploy toward its Lilium Jet development.
Company CEO Klaus Roewe explained, “The capital raise announced today marks an important development in our ongoing mission to revolutionize the aviation industry. With this financing, we are excited to continue our development program at full pace. We remain in multiple constructive discussions with existing and potential new investors. We hope to announce further updates soon.”
Over the last few weeks, Lilium has reported on multiple milestones. These included a flight simulator and training agreement with FlightSafety International. Lilium also entered a powered test campaign at Europe’s largest wind tunnel facility to begin testing. Something else that may have also caught investors’ attention is upcoming earnings. In particular, speculation could be playing its part as Lilium will deliver first-quarter financials next week on May 24th.
Stereotaxis Inc. (STXS)
Like many others on this list of penny stocks, Stereotaxis has been under pressure for most of the year. That changed in the stock market today after the company announced its latest milestone. Stereotaxis is developing surgical robotics for minimally invasive endovascular intervention. This week it struck a collaboration deal with Abbott (NYSE:ABT).
The combination of Abbott’s cardiac mapping system with Stereotaxis’ robotic technology allows for real-time diagnostic info with precision robotic therapy delivery. “The combination of these two technologies is a seminal event for the community of physicians who have pioneered and championed robotics in electrophysiology,” said Dr. J. Peter Weiss, electrophysiologist and clinical professor of medicine at Banner University of Arizona Medical Center.
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David Fischel, Chairman and CEO of Stereotaxis, said that this collaboration “further reinforces our commitment to meaningful innovations that advance the frontiers of medical progress. It provides additional choice for the community of robotic users and ensures patients, physicians, and providers can benefit from the combination of the finest diagnostic and therapeutic technologies.”
Shares of STXS stock climbed to their highest levels since early March, back above the $2.20 mark.
List Of Penny Stocks
- TuSimple Holdings (NASDAQ: TSP)
- 180 Life Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ: ATNF)
- Aemetis Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX)
- Lilium NV (NASDAQ: LILM)
- Stereotaxis Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN: STXS)