A highly volatile stock can deliver big gains - or just as easily wipe out a portfolio if things go south.
While some investors embrace risk, mistakes can be costly for those who aren’t prepared.
A surplus of cash can mean financial stability, but it can also indicate a reluctance (or inability) to invest in growth.
Some of these companies also face challenges like stagnating revenue, declining market share, or limited scalability.
Many small-cap stocks have limited Wall Street coverage, giving savvy investors the chance to act before everyone else catches on.
But the flip side is that these businesses have increased downside risk because they lack the scale and staying power of their larger competitors.
Let’s dig into the relative performance of ON24 (NYSE:ONTF) and its peers as we unravel the now-completed Q1 sales and marketing software earnings season.
Shares of customer engagement software provider Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) fell 17.2% in the afternoon session after the company reported mixed first quarter 2025 (fiscal 2026) results: its full-year EPS guidance missed and its EPS guidance for next quarter fell short of Wall Street's estimates.
Customer engagement software provider Braze (NASDAQ:BRZE) announced better-than-expected revenue in Q1 CY2025, with sales up 19.6% year on year to $162.1 million. Guidance for next quarter’s revenue was better than expected at $171.5 million at the midpoint, 1.6% above analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.07 per share was 50.8% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
The stocks featured in this article are seeing some big returns.
Over the past month, they’ve outpaced the market due to new product launches, positive news, or even a dedicated social media following.
Unprofitable companies can burn through cash quickly, leaving investors exposed if they fail to turn things around.
Without a clear path to profitability, these businesses risk running out of capital or relying on dilutive fundraising.
Growth boosts valuation multiples, but it doesn’t always last forever.
Companies that cannot maintain it are often penalized with large declines in market value, a lesson ingrained in investors who lost money in tech stocks during 2022.
From commerce to culture, software is digitizing every aspect of our lives. In the past, the undeniable tailwinds fueling SaaS companies led to lofty valuation multiples that made it easier to raise capital.
But this was a double-edged sword as the high prices exposed them to big drawdowns, and unfortunately, the industry has tumbled by 9.4% over the last six months. This performance was worse than the S&P 500’s 5.5% decline.
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.
