Best penny stocks to buy in 2023

Penny stocks are high risk, high reward companies. Cheap shares can be the best place to look for the next big thing. Here are our top five penny picks for this year.
By:  & 
Updated: Nov 18, 2022
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Our experts have analysed the market to find their best five companies trading below $5 in the US or £1 in the UK. Keep reading to see which stocks we’re most excited by right now, along with a summary of each one.

What are the top penny stocks to buy?

These are the best penny stocks for the year ahead, according to our experts. You can find their latest share price by clicking on one of the links in the table, or scroll down to learn more about why they made the list.

#Stock symbolCompany nameTrade now
1CYRNCyren Inc.
2NOKNokia Oyj
3SHIPSeanergy Maritime Holdings Corp.
4RKDAArcadia Biosciences Inc.
5GTEGran Tierra Energy Inc.
List selected by our team of analysts, updated 27th January 2022.

1. Cyrn Inc. (NASDAQ: CYRN)

Founded in 1991 and based in Herzliya, Israel, Cyrn is an international cybersecurity player. The company develops and markets information security solutions that protect web, email and mobile transactions.

Cyrn had its heyday back in the early 2000s, and since then its share price has been on a long and dramatic decline to its current value. However, there are some reasons to be positive about this penny stock. Most notably, several major hedge funds hold a position in the stock, demonstrating a degree of institutional confidence in the company’s technological solutions.

The key reason Cyrn has found a place on our list is its diverse suite of cybersecurity products, which are especially marketable in its home jurisdiction of Israel. We don’t doubt the technical proficiency of the company; it just needs to deliver a sustained period of increased revenues to reignite this growth story.

2. Nokia Oyj (NYSE: NOK)

Nokia is a Finnish telecoms company that makes computer hardware and network equipment. Best known as one of the biggest early providers of mobile phones, it now focuses almost exclusively on infrastructure and hardware instead.

The glory days at the cutting edge of mobile technology are gone, and Nokia’s share price is well off its peak. The last few years have been a time of transition, as it’s focused instead on producing network hardware and developing 5G infrastructure, a process that hasn’t been entirely successful.

That transition – and its lingering popularity with people who grew up using its phones – is why Nokia is second here. It has a substantial 15% market share of global telecoms equipment, new leadership, and 5G represents an opportunity to catapult it back to relevance.

3. Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHIP)

Seanergy Maritime Holdings is a transportation company that owns a fleet of cargo ships. These are big ships, often used to move raw materials like coal around the world.

Shipping stocks tend to be particularly volatile, so you need to stay on top of the news cycle if you are going to invest. They’re also cyclical, tending to grow when global trade is booming and fall when economies start to stagnate. Institutional investors have drifted away from shipping, which is why stocks like this are trading so cheaply.

The reason SHIP is third on this list is it’s trading below the value of its assets – a fleet of 14 massive cargo ships. It’s also been able to improve its fundamental business model in recent times, setting it up for a potential rebound.

4. Arcadia Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: RKDA)

Arcadia is an ‘agriculture biotech’ company that specialises in adapting crops to improve their nutritional and health benefits. It’s particularly focused on wheat, soybean, and hemp.

Recent times have been tough for Arcadia, thanks to a difficult financial situation and a share price that has fallen from well over $100 in 2015 to reside in the penny stock zone, below $5, since 2019. 

The potential upside is its focus on healthy food and adapting common crops to offer farmers more environmentally-friendly solutions. Arcadia could be primed to benefit from a world that’s becoming more concerned with finding climate conscious solutions to the difficult problem of feeding a growing population. 

5. Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN: GTE)

Gran Tierra Energy is an energy company that’s involved in oil and gas exploration. It operates in South America, particularly Colombia and Ecuador, to discover new sources of oil and gas and then develop and produce the fuel.

Like many of the companies on this list, it has fallen on hard times. Gran Tierra shares peaked close to $10 in 2011, but had collapsed to just $0.30 in the aftermath of the March 2020 coronavirus crash, when oil prices briefly fell below zero.

Much of GTE’s business plan relies on oil prices being around $50, and in discovering new sources of oil in Ecuador. It has experience in exploring and extracting oil in remote locations and is predicting a steep increase in revenues in the months and years to come.

Where to buy the best penny shares

To get any stock, you need to find yourself an online stockbroker. The platforms below are some of the best around. You can use any one of these to get penny stocks right now.

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What is a penny stock?

Companies whose shares cost below $5 in the US or £1 in the UK. They also have market capitalisations – the total value of all their shares combined – of less than $300m or £100m, respectively. Penny stocks tend to come without much of a track record of making money or creating good products, so investing them is a high risk, high reward opportunity.

Are penny shares a good investment?

They can be in moderation, if you thoroughly research a company before investing. You have to be prepared for the fact that not every penny stock you buy is going to succeed; many are cheap because they aren’t good companies or have been surpassed by their competitors.

The ones that do succeed, however, have the potential to pay off in a big way. It’s possible to see 5x or 10x returns on your investment. For that reason, the best way to use them is to spread small amounts around a number of different companies to improve your chances.

If you do decide to trade penny stocks, it’s important to keep tabs on them so that you’re able to react to new developments. Just making it into the news can have an impact on the price of a penny stock, and they’re often more volatile than more mainstream companies. The latest news below is the best way to do this.

Latest penny stock news

Newmed Energy LP (TLV: NWMD) is in focus this morning after BP plc (LON: BP) partnered with ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.) to jointly acquire the Israeli energy company for about $2.0 billion. What’s in it for BP and ADNOC? The non-binding offer announced today values each share…
Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) opened more than 10% up on Tuesday after the tech behemoth announced plans of reorganising into six businesses. Details of the restructuring plan The Chinese multinational expects to unlock significant shareholder value as it splits into the following units: Cloud Intelligence…
Reliance Industries (NSE:EQRELIANCE) share price is having a difficult year as concerns about India’s conglomerates continue. The stock was trading at 2,252 INR, a few points above the year-to-date low of 2,182 INR. This price is close to its lowest level in about 52 weeks and is down by…
The last trading week in March has started slow, with financial market participants still digesting the recent events. Several banks failed in the United States, rivals acquired some, and things appear to have calmed down. While many talk about a banking crisis that will spill over to other parts…
CMC Markets (LON: CMCX) share price nosedived on Monday after the company warned of the tough operating environment as it downgraded its forward guidance. Shares of the FTSE 250 company plunged by over 20% to a low of 184.6p. They have dropped by ~67% from the highest level during…

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