The Fourth of July Holiday in 2023 will see the stock market closed for a full session. But that doesn’t mean fewer opportunities to make money in the stock market. With broader market indexes like the S&P 500 “SPY ETF” knocking in 2023 highs again, traders are taking a more risk-on approach to the stock market today.
It doesn’t come as a surprise that the go-to niche is penny stocks. These low-priced shares can experience explosive moves within short periods to the tune of hundreds of percentage points. In many cases, the apparent catalysts tend to propel momentum and compound the overall market moves.
Look at one of the most active penny stocks today, Polymet Mining (NYSEAMERICAN: PLM). The company’s shares slumped to fresh 52-week lows at the end of June. However, the beginning of July is a much different story. In fact, PLM stock was one of the penny stocks under $1 as recently as last Friday.
This week, news that the company received a non-binding proposal to be acquired and taken private raised some eyebrows. Glencore PLC wants to acquire Polymet at a proposed purchase price of $2.11 per share. The news sparked even more bullish sentiment in the market for penny stocks thanks to the sympathy sentiment that has resulted.
In this article, we look at a handful of cheap stocks that are also gaining ground in the stock market today. Will they be the best stocks to buy now, or will pre-4th July fireworks fizzle before the Tuesday holiday?
Penny Stocks To Watch
Canopy Growth Corporation (CGC)
A once Goliath marijuana stock, Canopy Growth, is a shell of what it once was in terms of stock price. The last few sessions have seen CGC stock put in fresh 52-week lows of $0.384. The trend at the start of July and the beginning of the year’s second half is off to a stronger start. In this case, CGC stock jumped more than 30% after its latest headline came out during premarket hours on Monday.
Canopy Growth announced the completion of conversions under its $100 million senior unsecured convertible debentures. “Today’s announcement underscores our continued commitment to deleveraging and strengthening Canopy Growth’s financial position,” said Judy Hong, Chief Financial Officer of Canopy Growth. “When paired with our ongoing cost reduction program in Canada, which is on track to achieve $240-$310M in total savings by March 2024, we are well positioned to achieve improved profitability, enhance financial flexibility, and support long-term value creation.”
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While there is still a long way to go for the penny stock, Canopy’s shares saw one of the first green days in months on July 3rd. The biggest question now is can it continue?
CleanSpark Inc. (CLSK)
Cryptocurrency-related stocks are heading higher thanks to the financial market’s bullish action. CleanSpark shares are following suit after recovering from a late-June sell-off. The company mines Bitcoin and, in its most recent mining update, reported that it minded 598 BTC in March. The company also remains on track to build out its Washington build-out.
Last month, CleanSpark announced plans to acquire a turnkey Bitcoin mining facility package for $9.3 million. The facilities part of the deal are expected to add just under one exahash per second to CleanSpark’s hash rate. The facilities will also host more than 6,000 Bitcoin mining machines.
“This acquisition ensures that we have more than enough infrastructure to reach our year-end target of 16 EH/s. It also continues to position us as one of the most power-efficient miners on an energy-per-hashrate basis,” said Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark. “These two additional sites are testament to our deepening ties with rural communities in Georgia and the regional expertise we are developing there as a large, flexible load. Importantly, our efforts are generating economic growth for the suburban and rural areas where our operations are located.”
The critical thing to note with any Bitcoin stocks today is that the move is likely more sentiment based than anything else. Those hedging their bets against a real financial crisis may look at other assets less tied to centralized financial institutions. With bullish sentiment can come higher levels of volatility in the short term. But like we’ve seen many times in the past with cryptocurrency-related companies, a shift in opinion can also mean volatile trends to the downside quickly.
Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI)
We discussed Sirius XM Holdings earlier this week in our article Penny Stocks to Buy? 3 Stocks To Watch Under $5. In it, we highlighted SIRI stock among a list of penny stocks experiencing a recent uptick in price. Shares hovered below the $3.70 mark a few weeks ago and experienced a steep downturn at the beginning of this year. It was primarily due to an economic slump and unimpressive earnings, which sent some investors scurrying for safer grounds.
The case for SIRI stock is a bit muddled since there hasn’t been any significant improvement in earnings. But the overall sentiment in the stock market appears to have lightened, at least for now. In an interview with CNBC in April, CEO Jennifer Witz said that the quarter itself was expected and the rest of the year is expecting growth.
“Really what we’re trying to do is set the company up for future growth…The economic model is robust as ever.”
Attention has primarily been focused on the short interest in SIRI stock. The most recent data from Fintel reveals a short float of about 31.7% on the penny stock. However, TD Ameritrade data paints a slightly different picture, indicating a marginally higher figure at approximately 30.65%. Meanwhile, speculation may have begun building as the market anticipates the next round of financial results in August. Ahead of this, analysts at firms including Benchmark reiterated their stance. The firm has a Buy rating and a $6 price target.
Aeglea BioTherapeutics (AGLE)
The biotech company tapped fresh 52-week lows of $0.1064 toward the end of June. However, the company recently revealed something that sparked a night-and-day difference (literally) in share price. Aeglea, specializing in enzyme therapeutics for rare metabolic diseases, announced a milestone acquisition.
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It purchased Spyre Therapeutics, which holds a pipeline of candidates targeting inflammatory bowel disease. “The concurrent launch of Spyre and acquisition by Aeglea will provide immediate access to the public capital markets and the opportunity to accelerate research and development efforts for our broad pipeline of biologics,” said Cameron Turtle, DPhil, newly appointed Chief Operating Officer of Aeglea.
Following the update, this news sparked a massive move to highs of over $1 during the premarket session when the news came out. Now that the excitement has died down a bit and AGLE stock has pulled back, traders seem to have refocused on the company. This week, shares have continued climbing with the 5th consecutive green day since June 27th.
List Of Penny Stocks
- Canopy Growth Corporation (NASDAQ: CGC)
- CleanSpark Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSK)
- Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI)
- Aeglea BioTherapeutics (NASDAQ: AGLE)
