Stocks trading at low prices are easily accessible to a wide pool of investors (i.e., no need to buy fractional shares), which can lead to more liquidity and a faster-moving stock. That can be both a blessing and a curse, however, depending on whether there's bearish or bullish news surrounding a business.
One way to increase the odds of success with these low-priced stocks is to invest in companies with significant growth opportunities. Two stocks trading at less than $10 a share that growth investors will want to consider buying for the long haul are Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA -1.05%) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR -0.30%). Let's find out a bit more about these two growth stocks.
1. Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is a cell programming company that ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is a fan of; it currently trades at just over $3 per share. What's promising about the business is that it has the potential to achieve growth in many different industries. In the food and agriculture industry, it projects that demand for engineered products could be worth at least $800 billion within the next two decades. And in healthcare, the potential could be north of $500 billion. There are also opportunities in consumer goods, materials and energy, and other industries.
The company has partnered with cannabis producer Cronos Group to develop cultured cannabinoids that can be efficiently produced at scale while offering unique products for the cannabis industry. It has also partnered with healthcare giant Bayer on agricultural biological programs that can help boost crop yields for growers.
Ginkgo's full of growth opportunities and is already generating strong results today. Through the first six months of 2022, its revenue of $313 million was more than three times the $87.7 million it reported in the prior-year period. For the full year, it anticipates between $425 million and $440 million in revenue, which, at the midpoint, would be a 38% increase from the $313.8 million it generated in 2021.
Unfortunately, with losses totaling nearly $1.3 billion over the past two quarters, there's still a risk of significant dilution for investors. And that's likely a key reason its shares are down 62% through the first nine months of the year. Ginkgo is a high-risk, high-reward stock that could pay off, but investors will need a lot of patience as profitability may be many years away.
2. Palantir Technologies
Palantir is a data analytics company that provides value for both businesses and governments, the latter using it for defense and counterterrorism operations. Utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning, the company's models can expedite the decision-making process by processing information "on the fly" to generate insights for its users. Its shares are trading at just over $8.
The company's business has been generating impressive growth this year, with sales of $473 million for the second quarter (ended June 30), rising by 26% year over year. And for the full year, it expects sales to be around $1.9 billion -- just over 23% higher than the $1.5 billion that Palantir reported in 2021. A lot of the potential for the company's future growth is with commercial customers, as sales in that segment rose 46% in Q2 compared to just 13% revenue growth from government-related customers. The risk in the short term is that amid inflation and companies scaling back on large purchases, Palantir could face some challenges in growing its commercial business.
Like Ginkgo, Palantir isn't a profitable company today. Its net loss in Q2 totaled $179.3 million. However, CEO Alex Karp said he anticipates that by 2025, Palantir's financials will improve sufficiently so that the business will be operating profitably.
The no-nonsense CEO has always been focused on the long term, with an eye on delivering 30% annualized revenue growth. Although Palantir's growth rate has been slipping in recent quarters, the business still generates strong numbers. But that, unfortunately, hasn't been enough to keep investors around as Palantir's shares are trading down 55% year to date and are performing worse than the S&P 500, which is down by 23%.
If Palantir can improve its bottom line in the years ahead, that will make the stock a much better buy. So if you're willing to trust in Karp's vision and wait until 2025 for the company to achieve its goals of being profitable and generating $4.5 billion in revenue, this could prove to be a solid buy.
