7 Surprising 1-Star Stocks

With the new Motley Fool CAPS investment research service, we've looked at some poorly rated stocks that have shown some serious spunk in the last month. And here we are again with another batch of unloved outperformers. Are these stocks poised to skyrocket, or are they just enjoying their swan song?

Here are this week's shocking seven, as identified by your fellow Fools on CAPS. Our community of investors gave each of these companies a one-star rating -- the lowest -- just 30 days ago.

In spite of these one-month returns, four of these stocks are still rated with one star today. The other three have gotten a little more respect. Sangamo, a Richmond, Calif.-based biotech, was the crowd-pleaser of the bunch and has been promoted to four-star status. Meanwhile, both Force Protection and Cyberonics edged up to two stars.

A couple of these stocks look intriguing. Sangamo has enjoyed a lot of good news over the past month, so there's little surprise that the stock has done as well as it has, or that the Fools on CAPS have become more optimistic on the company's future. For one, Sangamo released earnings back at the end of October that beat analyst estimates by $0.04. Of course, the company is still in the development stage and unprofitable, but at least it lost less than expected. On top of that, the stock turned up on some lists of potential buyout candidates last week, and with all of the action recently on that front, anyone and everyone seems to be a target.

Cyberonics, which rose to two stars, is another one to take a look at. Cyberonics manufactures medical devices that are used for treating epilepsy and -- following an approval last year -- depression. There was a time when the company was growing and, at least for a little while, somewhat profitable. Growth in sales, general, and administrative expenses has outpaced sales growth, though, and that has not made for a pretty picture, even as the company projects faster sales growth as a result of the move into depression treatment.

Two key events over the past month at Cyberonics have made investors sit up, though. First, billionaire Carl Icahn purchased 606,668 shares, or roughly 2% of the company, on Nov. 14 -- and on the news, shares shot up 20%. Then, last week, the company announced that the CEO and CFO were out after getting tangled up in a stock-options scandal -- and the stock rose another 12%. While I'm still skeptical on the story, these two events could start the overdue process of cutting the fat out of Cyberonics and usher in a turnaround.

Also worth a look from this week's list are Blockbuster, another Carl Icahn special, and VeraSun, a recent IPO in alternative energy -- ethanol, to be precise. Both are still scraping the bottom with one-star ratings, but both have interesting stories and now some momentum as well.

You still might not want to run out and start buying up these stocks like they're going out of style, but they might be excellent candidates for further due diligence. In the meantime, get in the game and get yourself heard. You'll also be able to read timely analysis from our community and perhaps offer your own pitch for one of these stocks. CAPS is entirely free, and it's definitely a place where "the more, the merrier" is actually true.

Eager for more surprises?

• Here are some recent one-star shockers.
• Here are some more from October.
• And here are even more surprises!

Fool contributorMatt Koppenhefferdidn't see these particular moves coming, but he is rarely surprised at Mr. Market's general tomfoolery. He does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned. The Fool'sdisclosure policyis always expected.