Investors can certainly boost their returns by concentrating on stocks trading between $1 and $10. However, a disciplined approach is necessary because many of these businesses are speculative and lack the underlying fundamentals to support their prices.

The bad behavior exhibited by lower-quality companies in this space can spook even the most seasoned professionals, which is why we started StockStory - to separate the good from the bad. That said, here are three stocks under $10 to avoid and some other investments you should consider instead.

Asure (ASUR)

Share Price: $9.61

Created from the merger of two small workforce management companies in 2007, Asure (NASDAQ: ASUR) provides cloud based payroll and HR software for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Why Is ASUR Not Exciting?

1. 15.1% annual revenue growth over the last three years was slower than its software peers
2. Offerings struggled to generate meaningful interest as its average billings growth of 7.9% over the last year did not impress
3. Efficiency has decreased over the last year as its operating margin fell by 5.4 percentage points

At $9.61 per share, Asure trades at 1.9x forward price-to-sales. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why ASUR doesn’t pass our bar.

Coursera (COUR)

Share Price: $9.20

Founded by two Stanford University computer science professors, Coursera (NYSE: COUR) is an online learning platform that offers courses, specializations, and degrees from top universities and organizations around the world.

Why Are We Wary of COUR?

1. Customer spending has dipped by 5.2% on average as it focused on growing its customers
2. Estimated sales growth of 4.1% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its three-year trend
3. Highly competitive market means it’s on the never-ending treadmill of sales and marketing spend

Coursera is trading at $9.20 per share, or 26.1x forward EV/EBITDA. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than COUR.

The ONE Group (STKS)

Share Price: $3.39

Doubling as a hospitality services provider for hotels and resorts, The One Group Hospitality (NASDAQ: STKS) is an upscale restaurant company that operates STK Steakhouse and Kona Grill.

Why Do We Avoid STKS?

1. Poor same-store sales performance over the past two years indicates it’s having trouble bringing new diners into its restaurants
2. Earnings per share have dipped by 17.6% annually over the past five years, which is concerning because stock prices follow EPS over the long term
3. High net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 7× could force the company to raise capital at unfavorable terms if market conditions deteriorate

The ONE Group’s stock price of $3.39 implies a valuation ratio of 1x forward EV-to-EBITDA. To fully understand why you should be careful with STKS, check out our full research report (it’s free).

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump’s presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth.

While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we’re leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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.