We recently published a list of the 10 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Under $10. In this article, we are going to take a look at where The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) stands against other cheap stocks to buy under $10.
On April 21, Tom Lee, Fundstrat CIO, co-founder, and managing partner, joined ‘Squawk Box’ on CNBC to discuss the latest market trends and stated that the market may be past peak uncertainty despite the ongoing Fed uncertainties. However, Lee thinks that ‘maximum pain’ can still be anticipated, as economic risks could still cause hesitation among investors. Despite this, he believes that a structural low in fear has taken place. He acknowledged that the last low at the S&P 500 was around 4,800, which was reached a few weeks prior, and he thinks that there is a chance the market could drift dangerously close to that level in the coming weeks due to the ongoing uncertainty and investors remaining on the sidelines. Nevertheless, Lee emphasized that companies are very resilient, which should become evident during earnings season. He also mentioned the potential for a positive policy shock, such as a reduction in tariffs or de-escalation in trade tensions with countries like China, which could be seen as a win by the market, even though such developments did not seem likely overnight.
Lee also elaborated on his ‘Granny Shot’ ETF, and mentioned that the granny shots in their portfolio are stocks that, while not immune to declines, are closely linked to the most important long-term investment themes, such as cybersecurity and demographic shifts, such as the rise of millennials. The idea is to select stocks that are strongly correlated with multiple enduring themes, which increases the chances that these stocks will perform well over time, likening this to the reliability of a well-executed granny shot in basketball. Lee also noted that Bitcoin may have been held back by institutional deleveraging earlier this year, with investors selling what they could, which suppressed Bitcoin’s price, but that deleveraging process appears to be over. He now expects Bitcoin to catch up to gold and highlighted that Bitcoin’s previous high was over $110,000, which suggests that there is room for Bitcoin to appreciate as it regains momentum as a non-dollar asset. Gold recently surged to new highs, seemingly on track to reach $4,000, while Bitcoin was lagging, but it would eventually attract some of the same investment flows that were driving gold higher.
Our Methodology
We first used the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of cheap stocks that had a forward P/E ratio under 15 and were trading under $10. We then selected the 10 stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q4 2024. The hedge fund data was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database which tracks the moves of over 1000 elite money managers.
Note: All data was sourced on April 22.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
An executive in a power plant control booth overseeing the efficient energy production.
The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES)
Share Price as of April 22: $9.80
Forward P/E Ratio as of April 22: 4.45
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 53
The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) is a power generation and utility company that owns and operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries. It also owns and operates a generation portfolio of approximately 32,109 megawatts and distributes power to about 2.7 million customers.
In 2025, the company anticipates over 60% year-over-year growth in the Renewables Strategic Business Unit’s adjusted EBITDA. This increase is attributed to the financial benefits realized from the maturing of the company’s renewable portfolio, which includes the addition of 6.6 gigawatts of new capacity that was inaugurated in 2023 and 2024. These projects are now online and operating and will contribute to a full year of EBITDA in 2025.
This growth reflects increasing economies of scale as The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) has expanded its online renewable capacity, from 5.9 gigawatts in 2018 to 16.2 gigawatts currently (excluding Brazil). Furthermore, the development business is becoming more efficient. The profitability per megawatt of new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) signed has also increased. For the long term, AThe AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) expects an average annual CAGR of 19% to 21% for the Renewables SBU’s adjusted EBITDA.
Overall, AES ranks 2nd on our list of the best cheap stocks to buy under $10. While we acknowledge the potential of AES as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AES but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.