Let's get real: A stock's price is just a number, not a verdict on its value. A $1,000 stock could represent an unprofitable company with shrinking sales. That ticker in the $5 to $15 range? Oh, it's just one of the world's largest telecoms, or a multinational bank, or one of the Big Three American automakers.
And let's chat about stock splits for a sec. They might make a share more pocket-friendly, but they don't change a company's actual market value. It's like cutting a pie into smaller slices: You're not getting more or tastier pizza, just a larger number of easier-to-handle pieces.
Don't worry if your brokerage doesn't do the fractional-shares thing, and you're not rolling in dough. There's a whole smorgasbord of low-priced tech stocks just waiting for you to take a bite. Here are two great stocks below $20 per share to sink your teeth into.
NYSE: PATH
Key Data Points
UiPath: $15.08 per share
If process automation sounds like a great match for artificial intelligence (AI), UiPath (PATH 4.33%) would agree. The company has always had some form of AI in its DNA. From analyzing digital camera images to managing administrative tasks in healthcare, UiPath has always achieved business-changing results by applying machine learning to raw data. By specializing in robotic process automation (RPA), these AI angles just come naturally to the company.
So you might expect UiPath to ride the AI wave in 2023. If AI-crunching chip designer Nvidia (NVDA +0.99%) has nearly tripled its stock price this year due to the AI surge, surely UiPath's shares can't be far behind, right?
Well, that hasn't happened (and don't call me Shirley). Most investors seem to have missed UiPath's AI connection, and the stock has only gained 19% this year. It trades at 7.4 times trailing sales and 33 times forward earnings projections, and these valuations are quite modest for a high-octane growth stock.
And I really mean "high octane" -- UiPath's top line has increased by 69% in the two and a half years the company has published financial results.
Yet the stock didn't just miss the growth train in 2023 but also crashed hard last year. All told, UiPath's share price is down by 79% since that first trading day in April 2021.
This is a great AI pick with tons of potential -- and a deeply undervalued growth stock. You can get all that for approximately $15 per share today. It doesn't take a fortune to start a UiPath position.
NASDAQ: PLTR
Key Data Points
Palantir: $14.69 per share
Just as the Palantír of Orthanc gave Saruman expansive but risky powers in Tolkien's Middle-earth, Palantir Technologies (PLTR 7.30%) is a potent tool in the modern world of data analytics and AI -- with its own set of market risks.
With a hefty market cap of $31.6 billion, you might think growth would slow down, but it's quite the opposite. The company has a five-year compound annual growth rate of 34% in sales, illustrating its impressive ability to scale even at its hefty size.
Far from being an artifact of a bygone era, Palantir is aggressively innovating with its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), which is carving out a niche for the company in an AI market expected to offer annual revenue of more than $2 trillion by 2030. The company's sharp focus on intelligence for the defense sector adds another layer of potential, because the lessons learned in the Pentagon are applied to enterprise-scale corporations, too.
And then there's the new Palantir Mixed Reality service, a software suite that could redefine how military commanders visualize complex operations -- a fitting modern-day parallel to a Tolkien palantír revealing hidden truths at a distance.
In particular, Palantir's mixed-reality tools allow an unprecedented level of situational awareness. And considering the Defense Department plans to spend up to $22 billion in augmented and virtual reality technologies over the next 10 years, the company is poised to benefit.
Much like the storied palantírs of The Lord of the Rings, investing in Palantir offers both opportunity and risk. On one hand, the company is pioneering and strategically well placed in AI and defense sectors. On the other, its valuation metrics do warrant caution. Its stock has surged 129% this year, although it has retreated 26% from a 52-week peak, leaving room for a future recovery.
Aspiring investors must weigh these factors carefully because, even in Middle-earth, the wise knew that great power should be wielded with great responsibility. Exciting growth stocks must still earn their lofty valuation ratios, and I think Palantir Technologies is doing that right now.
