Stocks trading between $10 and $50 can be particularly interesting as they frequently represent businesses that have survived their early challenges. However, investors should remain vigilant as some may still have unproven business models, leaving them vulnerable to the ebbs and flows of the broader market.

Luckily for you, our mission at StockStory is to help you make money and avoid losses by sorting the winners from the losers. Keeping that in mind, here are three stocks under $50 to swipe left on and some alternatives you should look into instead.

PagerDuty (PD)

Share Price: $16.60

Born from the frustration of developers being woken up by unprioritized alerts, PagerDuty (NYSE: PD) is a digital operations management platform that helps organizations detect and respond to IT incidents, outages, and other critical issues in real-time.

Why Are We Hesitant About PD?

1. Products, pricing, or go-to-market strategy may need some adjustments as its 5.9% average billings growth over the last year was weak
2. Estimated sales growth of 5.5% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its three-year trend
3. Suboptimal cost structure is highlighted by its history of operating margin losses

At $16.60 per share, PagerDuty trades at 3.1x forward price-to-sales. If you’re considering PD for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

Universal Technical Institute (UTI)

Share Price: $28.25

Founded in 1965, Universal Technical Institute (NYSE: UTI) is a leading provider of technical training programs, specializing in automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle, and marine technicians.

Why Do We Steer Clear of UTI?

1. Estimated sales growth of 9.1% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend
2. Below-average returns on capital indicate management struggled to find compelling investment opportunities, and its falling returns suggest its earlier profit pools are drying up
3. Shrinking returns on capital from an already weak position reveal that neither previous nor ongoing investments are yielding the desired results

Universal Technical Institute is trading at $28.25 per share, or 12.6x forward EV-to-EBITDA. To fully understand why you should be careful with UTI, check out our full research report (it’s free).

OPENLANE (KAR)

Share Price: $29.62

Facilitating the sale of approximately 1.3 million used vehicles in 2023, OPENLANE (NYSE: KAR) operates digital marketplaces that connect sellers and buyers of used vehicles across North America and Europe, facilitating wholesale transactions.

Why Do We Think KAR Will Underperform?

1. Products and services are facing significant end-market challenges during this cycle as sales have declined by 5.3% annually over the last five years
2. Low returns on capital reflect management’s struggle to allocate funds effectively
3. High net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 5× increases the risk of forced asset sales or dilutive financing if operational performance weakens

OPENLANE’s stock price of $29.62 implies a valuation ratio of 31.9x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than KAR.

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

Trump’s April 2025 tariff bombshell triggered a massive market selloff, but stocks have since staged an impressive recovery, leaving those who panic sold on the sidelines.

Take advantage of the rebound by checking out our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025).

Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today

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