Best stocks · Penny Stocks
Best Penny Stocks — Live Top 30 Under $5 by Composite Score
Pure 'cheapest stocks' lists are a guaranteed loss machine — most names under $5 are cheap for a reason (deteriorating fundamentals, failed growth stories, dilution risk). The list below filters US tickers under $5 to a composite score of 35+, which removes the structurally broken names and leaves the small-cap candidates that at least have factor confluence. Tapeline's six-factor formula treats a $3 stock the same way it treats a mega-cap: trend, fundamentals, smart money, macro, momentum. Cheap isn't a strategy. Cheap with the score behind it might be.
Updated August 3, 2026. 10 stocks currently make today's Penny Stocks list (composite 35+ on Tapeline's public 6-factor formula). At the top of the list right now: ASRV, ALTO, AMC, BOLD, CURV — live composites across the list currently range from 68 to 80 out of 100.
Scores are a descriptive reading of six weighted factors, not a forecast or a buy call. Every daily top-10 pick is published — wins and losses — on the public scorecard, which currently trails SPY.
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| # | Ticker | Name | Score | Signal | Price | 1d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ASRV | AmeriServ Financial Inc | 80 | STRONG SETUP | $4.63 | +1.31% |
| 2 | ALTO | Alto Ingredients, Inc. Common Stock | 80 | STRONG SETUP | $4.86 | +2.10% |
| 3 | AMC | AMC ENTERTAINMENT HOLDINGS, INC. | 76 | STRONG SETUP | $2.85 | +1.24% |
| 4 | BOLD | Boundless Bio, Inc. Common Stock | 74 | STRONG SETUP | $2.62 | +4.80% |
| 5 | CURV | Torrid Holdings Inc. | 74 | STRONG SETUP | $2.65 | +3.96% |
| 6 | BWEN | Broadwind, Inc. Common Stock | 73 | STRONG SETUP | $4.16 | +4.00% |
| 7 | AIRS | AirSculpt Technologies, Inc. Common Stock | 71 | STRONG SETUP | $4.88 | +1.46% |
| 8 | BTE | Baytex Energy Corp. | 69 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $4.46 | -2.19% |
| 9 | CCO | Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. Common Stock | 68 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $2.42 | 0.00% |
| 10 | ACCO | Acco Brands Corporation | 68 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $4.31 | +2.13% |
Signal key: HIGH CONVICTION 85–100 · STRONG SETUP 70–84 · CONSTRUCTIVE 55–69 · NEUTRAL 40–54 · CAUTION 25–39 · WEAK 0–24. Labels describe where the six factors sit today — they are not buy or sell recommendations.
How the Penny Stocks ranking works
The Tapeline composite is a transparent weighted blend of six named factors: Trend, Relative Strength, Fundamentals, Smart Money, Macro, and Momentum — weighted most toward Trend and Relative Strength, and least toward Momentum. For the penny stocks view, the emphasis is on score floor + trend — but the composite is the better summary signal than any single factor in isolation.
Read the full methodology on /how-it-works, or see how today's picks have performed historically on the public scorecard.
Browse every scored US name in the full stock directory, or see how a scanner differs from a screener in screener vs scanner.
Questions about penny stocks on Tapeline
Why filter penny stocks by score at all?
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Because most stocks under $5 are there because the market has correctly priced in serious problems — declining revenue, balance-sheet stress, dilution. A score floor of 35 removes the worst of those and leaves cheap names where at least some factor (trend, fundamentals, or relative strength) is holding up. It's a quality screen applied to a price universe.
Are penny stocks dangerous?
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Yes. Penny stocks have wider bid-ask spreads, higher manipulation risk (pump-and-dump schemes are real), lower analyst coverage, and structurally higher bankruptcy rates than mid- and large-caps. Position sizing matters here even more than usual. Tapeline scores them the same way it scores everything else — the score doesn't fix the structural risk of the asset class.
What's a 'good' Tapeline score for a penny stock?
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Anything 60+ on a sub-$5 name is genuinely rare and worth attention — it means the composite is overcoming the natural drag of the small-cap discount. Most usable penny-stock setups sit in the 40–60 band: score isn't great but not terrible, with one or two specific factors that look strong. Click any row for the per-factor breakdown.
Do you cover OTC stocks?
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No. Tapeline's universe is NYSE/Nasdaq-listed US equities and ETFs. OTC-listed names (the venue most retail traders associate with 'penny stocks') aren't in the database. The under-$5 names here are all real exchange-listed companies; that already filters out a lot of the worst-of-the-worst.
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Snapshot cached hourly. Sub-60s tick during US market hours. Not investment advice — see risk disclosure.