Stocks in the $10-50 range offer a sweet spot between affordability and stability as they’re typically more established than penny stocks. But their headline prices don’t guarantee quality, and investors should exercise caution as some have shaky business models.
These dynamics can cause headaches for even the most seasoned professionals, which is why we started StockStory - to help you separate the good companies from the bad. Keeping that in mind, here are two stocks under $50 that could 10x and one that may have trouble.
One Stock Under $50 to Sell:
Insperity (NSP)
Share Price: $22.24
Pioneering the professional employer organization (PEO) industry it helped establish, Insperity (NYSE: NSP) provides human resources outsourcing services to small and medium-sized businesses, handling payroll, benefits, compliance, and HR administration.
Why Should You Dump NSP?
- 2.5% annual revenue growth over the last two years was slower than its business services peers
- Performance over the past five years shows its incremental sales were much less profitable, as its earnings per share fell by 26% annually
- Free cash flow margin shrank by 9.1 percentage points over the last five years, suggesting the company is consuming more capital to stay competitive
Insperity’s stock price of $22.24 implies a valuation ratio of 10.2x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than NSP.
Two Stocks Under $50 to Buy:
Paymentus (PAY)
Share Price: $24.22
Founded in 2004 to simplify the complex world of bill payments, Paymentus (NYSE: PAY) provides a cloud-based platform that helps utilities, municipalities, and service providers automate billing and payment processes.
Why Will PAY Outperform?
- Annual revenue growth of 39.5% over the past two years was outstanding, reflecting market share gains this cycle
- Incremental sales over the last two years have been highly profitable as its earnings per share increased by 65.8% annually, topping its revenue gains
Paymentus is trading at $24.22 per share, or 32.1x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
NMI Holdings (NMIH)
Share Price: $39.30
Founded in the aftermath of the 2008 housing crisis to bring new capacity to the mortgage insurance market, NMI Holdings (NASDAQ: NMIH) provides mortgage insurance that protects lenders against losses when homebuyers default on their mortgage loans.
Why Do We Love NMIH?
- Pre-tax profits and efficiency rose over the last five years as it benefited from some fixed cost leverage
- Impressive 16.1% annual book value per share growth over the last five years indicates it’s building equity value this cycle
- Stellar return on equity showcases management’s ability to surface highly profitable business ventures
At $39.30 per share, NMI Holdings trades at 1x forward P/B. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free.
Stocks We Like Even More
Your portfolio can’t afford to be based on yesterday’s story. The risk in a handful of heavily crowded stocks is rising daily.
The names generating the next wave of massive growth are right here in our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
