Big things can sometimes come with small prices. A low share price may suggest that a stock is obscure or out of favor -- or that it has a ton of shares outstanding -- but things don't always have to play out that way.
Low-priced stocks are risky, but the upside is undeniable if these small companies get noticed as their fundamentals improve. Let's discuss Rite Aid (RAD 24.00%), Meet Group (MEET), and Glu Mobile (GLUU) -- three names that could be among the top stocks trading under $5 a share.
Image source: Glu Mobile.
Rite Aid
Life can be cruel when exit strategies don't pan out. Rite Aid struck a deal to be acquired two years ago by Walgreens, but antitrust regulators never gave the buyout the green light. Rite Aid is currently hoping that a much smaller deal -- where it will sell less than half of its stores for less than a third of the original buyout price -- can go through this year.
There's still plenty to like at Rite Aid. It's not at its best right now given the recent red ink and negative comps, but it's in a win-win situation. If the asset sale to Walgreens goes through, we're eyeing $5.175 billion in addition to the $325 million that it's already getting for the original deal not happening. It will also be keeping 52% of its stores as well as its EnvisionRX, RediClinic, and Health Dialog businesses. If the asset sale falls apart, this will be the same Rite Aid that was valued for more than twice as much as it is right now before the original buyout was announced.
Meet Group
The social discovery platform operator has been meeting more bears than bulls these days. The stock tumbled last month after posting disappointing quarterly results. Meet Group managed to grow its top line at a 91% clip in its latest quarter, but that was mostly the handiwork of the Skout acquisition from late last year and the purchase of Tagged parent Ifwe earlier this year. Investors weren't impressed with Meet Group's outlook for $32 million to $34 million in revenue for the current quarter, a small sequential uptick from the $31.3 million it scored during the second quarter. More importantly, Meet Group lowered its full-year revenue forecast.
There's still a lot to like at Meet Group. It remains profitable, trading for less than 10 times this year's projected profit of $0.43 a share. Acquisitions are blurring organic growth, but the synergy is allowing it make big inroads in mobile and video.
Glu Mobile
Trading for less than a fiver doesn't mean you're out of favor. Glu Mobile stock actually hit a 52-week high earlier this month, and the mobile-gaming specialist has seen its shares nearly double in 2017.
Glu Mobile became a brief market darling in 2014 when Kim Kardashian: Hollywood was a hot app. This time around it's being driven by the success of home-designing game Design Home, a title it acquired late last year. The key here is Glu Mobile's surging growth. Back in February it was targeting just $215 million to $225 million in gross bookings for all of 2017. The full-year forecast has gone up twice, and now stands at $307 million to $312 million.
There are a lot of apps out there given the level playing field and low barriers to entry, and casual gamers have been a fickle lot. However, Glu Mobile has proven to be being able to catch lightning in a bottle more than once, and that makes it a bigger stock than its price would seem to suggest.
