Penny stock investing can be slippery, since many of these
low-priced offerings are hard to research. Complicating things is
that some penny stocks can be characterized by rapid gains and
significant changes in numbers, while others haven't seen their
balance sheets budge in some time.
So how do you pick good penny stocks? Well since I'm a "growth
guy," I only recommend buying stocks with growing sales and
earnings. And in my book, there is a very short list of low
priced stocks that are seeing sales grow at an impressive
rate.
Here they are - the 8 penny stocks that get my highest rating
for "Sales Growth" in my Portfolio Grader stock rating tool:
Comstock Homebuilding Cos. Inc. (
CHCI
)
Sector:
Household Durables
Market Cap:
$28.6 million
Comstock Homebuilding Companies, Inc.
(NASDAQ:
CHCI
) is a multi-faceted real estate development company engaged in
the development of for-sale residential and mixed use products
operating out of the Washington, D.C. metro area. Since this time
in 2009, CHCI has gained +742.5% on its shares and its largest
increase came in April, when it jumped +117% in one week. Coming
off consecutive profitable quarters, Comstock could be a good
addition to a portfolio at it current $1.78.
Axcelis Technologies Inc. (
ACLS
)
Sector:
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment
Market Cap:
$180.1 million
The Massachusetts-based
Axcelis Technologies
(NASDAQ:
ACLS
) engages in the design, manufacture, and servicing of capital
equipment for the semiconductor manufacturing industry worldwide.
Axcelis provides its services for clients such as IBM, Texas
Instruments, and Samsung. Since January ACLS has gone up by +29%
and has been showing steady and consistent growth which outpaces
its industry rivals, not to mention being half the price with
twice the return at $1.83 per share.
Joe's Jeans Inc. (
JOEZ
)
Sector:
textiles Apparel & Luxury Goods
Market Cap:
$128.3 million
Joe's Jeans Inc.
(NASDAQ:
JOEZ
) sources and distributes its branded apparel products to over
1,200 retail doors in the U.S. and abroad with its competitive
advantages and industry expertise in denim-wear and denim-related
products. The company recently announced a 51% increase in net
sales for the quarter ending July 15. With stock already showing
an increase in return of +237.7% from the same time last summer,
JOEZ might turn out to be a steal at its current asking price of
$2.06.
Renhuang Pharmaceuticals Inc. (
CBP
)
Sector:
Personal Products
Market Cap:
$74.5 million
Renhuang Pharmaceuticals
(AMEX:
CBP
) is a developer, manufacturer and distributor of botanical
products, bio-pharmaceuticals and traditional Chinese medicines.
Renhuang's key product line is the Siberian Ginseng
(Acanthopanax) based product series, a natural medicine effective
in treating depression, melancholy, and other nerve regulating
products. Shares of CBP are currently trading for just over $2
which marks an approximate 100% increase in the past six
months.
Camtek Ltd. (
CAMT
)
Sector:
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment
Market Cap:
$70.8 million
Camtek Limited
(NASDAQ:
CAMT
) designs, develops, manufactures automated optical inspection (
AOI
) systems used to enhance both production processes and yields
for manufacturers in the printed circuit board industry, the
integrated circuit substrate industry, and the semiconductor
manufacturing and packaging industry. CAMT shares trading around
$0.78 in July 2009 are trading now at $2.58 per share, a +230.8%
increase. With large orders continuing to roll in for the Israeli
company, considering an investment in Camtek might be a smart
move.
SMTC Corp. (
SMTX
)
Sector:
Electronic Equipment Instruments & Components
Market Cap:
$39.8 million
SMTC Corporation
(NASDAQ:
SMTX
) is a provider of electronics manufacturing services, including
product design and sustaining engineering services, printed
circuit board assembly, enclosure fabrication, systems
integration and testing services, and configuration to order.
Investors have enjoyed the ride with SMTX stock so far this year
as it has gone up in value 100% since the beginning of March.
After announcing a new partnership with FEI, a provider of
electron and ion-beam microscopes and tools for nano-scale
applications just day ago, SMTX is worth a second look at its
current $2.76 trading price.
LTX-Credence Corp. (LTXC)
Sector:
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment
Market Cap:
$412.6 million
LTX-Credence Corporation
(NASDAQ:
LTXC
) designs, manufactures, markets and services ATE solutions that
address the divergent test requirements of the wireless,
computing, automotive and digital consumer market segments.
Semiconductor designers and manufacturers worldwide use its
equipment to test their devices during the manufacturing process.
The past three months have brought many sharp rises and falls for
LTXC but none seem to overshadow the fact that shares are up +59%
since January 2010.
Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (
AXAS
)
Sector:
Oil Gas & Consumable Fuels
Market Cap:
$222.6 million
Abraxas Petroleum Corporation
(NASDAQ:
AXAS
) is an independent energy company primarily engaged in the
development and production of oil and gas. The past year has been
favorable for investors who were lucky enough to buy AXAS shares
this time last summer when they were less than $1. Now that it's
nearly two dollars later and shares are at $2.96, the possibility
of seeing an investment increase by more than 200% in one year
might be enough to lure in some new investors who are hungry for
returns.
As of this writing, Louis Navellier did not own a position
in any of the stocks named here.
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