The $10-50 price range often includes mid-sized businesses with proven track records and plenty of growth runway ahead. They also usually carry less risk than penny stocks, though they’re not immune to volatility as many lack the scale advantages of their larger peers.
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.
Alarm.com (ALRM)
Share Price: $45.69
Processing over 325 billion data points annually from more than 150 million connected devices, Alarm.com (NASDAQ: ALRM) provides cloud-based platforms that enable residential and commercial property owners to remotely monitor and control their security, video, energy, and other connected devices.
Why Is ALRM Risky?
- Offerings struggled to generate meaningful interest as its average billings growth of 7.2% over the last year did not impress
- Estimated sales growth of 4.9% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend
- Operating margin expanded by 1.7 percentage points over the last year as it scaled and became more efficient
At $45.69 per share, Alarm.com trades at 2.4x forward price-to-sales. If you’re considering ALRM for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.
Azenta (AZTA)
Share Price: $28.09
Serving as the guardian of some of medicine's most valuable materials, Azenta (NASDAQ: AZTA) provides biological sample management, storage, and genomic services that help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies preserve and analyze critical research materials.
Why Do We Steer Clear of AZTA?
- Products and services are facing significant end-market challenges during this cycle as sales have declined by 2.7% annually over the last two years
- Earnings per share decreased by more than its revenue over the last five years, showing each sale was less profitable
- Cash-burning history and the downward spiral in its margin profile make us wonder if it has a viable business model
Azenta’s stock price of $28.09 implies a valuation ratio of 31.1x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why AZTA doesn’t pass our bar.
F.N.B. Corporation (FNB)
Share Price: $17.63
Tracing its roots back to 1864 during the Civil War era, F.N.B. Corporation (NYSE: FNB) is a diversified financial services holding company that provides banking, wealth management, and insurance services to consumers and businesses across seven states and Washington, D.C.
Why Is FNB Not Exciting?
- Sales trends were unexciting over the last two years as its 3.8% annual growth was below the typical banking company
- Muted 8.6% annual net interest income growth over the last five years shows its demand lagged behind its banking peers
- Performance over the past two years shows its incremental sales were less profitable as its earnings per share were flat
F.N.B. Corporation is trading at $17.63 per share, or 0.9x forward P/B. To fully understand why you should be careful with FNB, check out our full research report (it’s free).
Stocks We Like More
Your portfolio can’t afford to be based on yesterday’s story. The risk in a handful of heavily crowded stocks is rising daily.
The names generating the next wave of massive growth are right here in our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 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.
