We recently published a list of 20 Small-Cap Stocks Insiders Were Buying in Q1 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) stands against other small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025.
President Donald Trump’s initial unilateral 10% tariff went into effect on Saturday, at least partly causing the drop in the stock market. On Sunday, the President said “I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” as reported by CNBC.
On Monday morning, the broader market index lost 1.87%, marking an 11% loss over the past five trading days, signaling the possibility of entering a bear market. Also, during Monday’s morning session, the blue-chip companies declined 2.34% and the NASDAQ Composite lost 1.57%.
Amid market uncertainty, insider trading often attracts attention. Executive stock purchases can indicate optimism, while sales might reflect personal financial decisions or investment diversification. Executives usually follow pre-arranged strategies, such as 10b5-1 plans, and insider trading should be considered alongside the company’s financial health and market conditions.
Our Methodology
Today, we’re focusing on stocks with small market capitalizations that have seen heavy insider buying activity in the first quarter of the year. Using Insider Monkey’s insider trading screener, we identified companies with market caps between $250 million and $2 billion, where at least four insiders purchased shares in the past three months. From this list, we ranked the top 20 stocks with the highest number of insiders making purchases. Stocks that have been recently covered were excluded from our analysis.
Our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds, focusing on insider trading and stock picks from hedge fund investor newsletters and conferences. 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).
For each stock, we note the number of insiders who acquired shares in the first quarter and the market capitalizations. Let’s take a look at the 20 small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025.
A technician inspecting a series of critical ultra-high purity components.
Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT)
Number of insiders buying: 5
Market Capitalization: $825.02 million
Ultra Clean Holdings develops and supplies critical subsystems, components, and cleaning services for the semiconductor industry. Its products include chemical and gas delivery systems, precision robotics, and high-purity components that support semiconductor manufacturing. The Hayward, California-based company also provides cleaning, coating, and analytical services for various industries.
In March, five insiders bought approximately $543,270 worth of Ultra Clean Holdings shares at an average price of $24.78 per share. Currently, the stock trades at $18.28 per share, having lost 49.15% year-to-date and 60.39% over the past 12 months.
For the full year 2024, Ultra Clean Holdings disclosed a total revenue of $2.1 billion, compared to $1.74 billion in 2023. Total gross margin was 17%, compared to 16% in the prior year. Net income was $23.7 million or $0.52 per diluted share, which compares to a net loss of $31.1 million or a loss of $0.70 per diluted share in 2023.
For the first quarter of 2025, the company expects revenue of $505 million to $555 million, with GAAP diluted net income (loss) per share to be between $(0.11) and $0.09, and non-GAAP diluted net income per share to be between $0.22 and $0.42.
According to StockAnalysis, four analysts rate Ultra Clean Holdings stock as a “Strong Buy” with a price target of $56.75 per share. The average price target indicates a 210.45% potential upside from the latest price.
Overall, UCTT ranks 11th on our list of small-cap stocks insiders were buying in Q1 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of UCTT, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. 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 UCTT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this 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.
