Best stocks · Penny Stocks
Best Penny Stocks — 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 September 18, 2026. 30 stocks currently make today's Penny Stocks list (composite 35+ on Tapeline's published six-factor methodology). At the top of the list right now: GLBS, HMR, GREE, STIM, DSX — composites across the list range from 68 to 79 out of 100.
Scores are a descriptive reading of six weighted factors, not a forecast or a buy call. Each recorded 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 | GLBS | Globus Maritime Limited | 79 | STRONG SETUP | $3.85 | -1.98% |
| 2 | HMR | Heidmar Maritime Holdings Corp. Common Stock | 78 | STRONG SETUP | $1.78 | +2.31% |
| 3 | GREE | Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc. Class A Common | 76 | STRONG SETUP | $2.85 | +0.41% |
| 4 | STIM | Neuronetics Inc | 76 | STRONG SETUP | $2.92 | -1.85% |
| 5 | DSX | Diana Shipping, Inc. | 75 | STRONG SETUP | $3.13 | +2.12% |
| 6 | INMB | INmune Bio Inc. Common stock | 75 | STRONG SETUP | $2.27 | +4.13% |
| 7 | BNGO | Bionano Genomics, Inc. Common Stock | 74 | STRONG SETUP | $1.78 | +2.30% |
| 8 | MNOV | Medicinova, Inc. | 74 | STRONG SETUP | $3.40 | -1.49% |
| 9 | TELA | TELA Bio, Inc. Common Stock | 74 | STRONG SETUP | $1.28 | -0.78% |
| 10 | VOC | VOC ENERGY TRUST | 74 | STRONG SETUP | $3.41 | -0.58% |
| 11 | SBC | SBC Medical Group Holdings Inc | 73 | STRONG SETUP | $4.83 | +2.98% |
| 12 | CRON | Cronos Group Inc. Common Share | 73 | STRONG SETUP | $3.37 | +0.12% |
| 13 | MSGM | Motorsport Games Inc. Class A Common Stock | 72 | STRONG SETUP | $4.35 | -4.02% |
| 14 | UROY | Uranium Royalty Corp | 72 | STRONG SETUP | $4.65 | +3.79% |
| 15 | XBP | XBP Global Holdings, Inc. Common Stock | 71 | STRONG SETUP | $3.58 | +12.42% |
| 16 | IAUX | i-80 Gold Corp. | 71 | STRONG SETUP | $1.72 | -1.54% |
| 17 | SWVL | Swvl Holdings Corp | 71 | STRONG SETUP | $4.00 | -9.71% |
| 18 | USEA | United Maritime Corporation Common Stock | 70 | STRONG SETUP | $3.04 | -1.30% |
| 19 | PLX | Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc | 70 | STRONG SETUP | $2.67 | -0.93% |
| 20 | SABR | Sabre Corp | 70 | STRONG SETUP | $2.24 | -3.41% |
| 21 | OABI | OmniAb Inc | 70 | STRONG SETUP | $4.42 | -0.45% |
| 22 | GORO | Gold Resource Corporation | 70 | STRONG SETUP | $3.50 | -0.14% |
| 23 | MNTK | Montauk Renewables Inc | 70 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $2.21 | +0.68% |
| 24 | CHMI | CHERRY HILL MORTGAGE INVESTMENT CORPORATION | 70 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $2.83 | -1.05% |
| 25 | AUTL | Autolus Therapeutics PLC | 69 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $1.92 | 0.00% |
| 26 | ETS | Elite Express Holding Inc. Class A Common Stock | 69 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $2.49 | +13.18% |
| 27 | IKT | Inhibikase Therapeutics, Inc. Common Stock | 69 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $2.33 | +1.41% |
| 28 | TMCI | Treace Medical Concepts, Inc | 69 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $4.60 | +1.52% |
| 29 | USIO | Usio, Inc. Common Stock | 69 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $2.25 | -0.88% |
| 30 | LPRO | Open Lending Corporation Common Stock | 68 | CONSTRUCTIVE | $3.14 | +0.02% |
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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The published record — daily Top 10, full scorecard, raw CSV/JSON — stays free with no account. An account takes an email and a password, and runs this scan ten scored rows at a time. A card starts the 30-day Premium trial: $0 today, first charge on day 30, one click to cancel — every matching row across the scored universe (about 11,500 US stocks and ETFs), every sort/filter combination, watchlist + alerts. Pro from $8.25/mo ($99.00/yr), with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Saved snapshot; can be an hour old or more. Prices delayed about 15 minutes. Not investment advice — see risk disclosure.