A Message From Altimetry

Small Colorado Company (Backed by Sam Altman) Could Save U.S. Power Grid

A small Colorado company now owns rights to a tech that could save the entire public power grid from collapse. And billionaire Sam Altman is now an investor.

Click here to learn this company's name for free.

These 3 Stocks Under $20 Have Wall Street Looking Past the Share Price

Written by Chris Markoch. Posted: 9/20/2026.

Buying stocks priced under $20 is largely about investor psychology. It’s an extreme reflection of the mantra to buy low and sell high.

Math also plays a part. A 10% gain on a $20 stock means the stock only has to move $2. For some of these stocks, that can happen in a matter of days. A similar gain on a $200 stock requires a $20 move. All other factors being equal, the lower-priced stock may experience greater percentage volatility because of factors such as a smaller float or less institutional ownership. 

Performance drives that price action. That’s why investors should pay attention to a company’s earnings reports and what analysts think about them. Analysts aren’t always right, but they can offer perspectives on the bull and bear cases for a company. That insight can help explain whether a stock under $20 has breakout potential or is cheap for a reason.

Positive analyst sentiment is a common denominator among these three stocks under $20. That sentiment is based on their potential for near-term growth, making them solid choices ahead of the next round of earnings reports in October.

Nokia Stock Pullback Could Create a New AI Opportunity

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has been one of the best-performing stocks of 2026, up about 65% year to date (YTD). A recent 23% pullback may create a buying opportunity for investors who missed its strong growth over the last 12 months.

The reason behind Nokia’s resurgence is the company’s pivot into optical processing (i.e., photonics). The company received a lift in October 2025 when NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) gave it a stamp of approval, along with a $1 billion investment. NVIDIA wants to help Nokia build its next-generation AI-native mobile networks and AI networking infrastructure. Nokia has also highlighted growing AI-RAN adoption among global operators using NVIDIA platforms, reinforcing its push into AI-native network infrastructure.

Following that announcement, analysts began raising their price targets, with the current consensus at $14.12. NOK was trading above that level in June but has pulled back since. The move looks more like profit-taking, as analysts haven’t budged from their bullish outlook, which now implies approximately 33% upside.

That outlook received another boost in mid-September when Nokia announced a partnership with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to combine Nokia Data Suite with Microsoft Fabric. The partnership will give telecom operators faster access to network data and support agent-based, automated operations across multivendor networks.

Huntington Bancshares Combines a Low Valuation With Growth

Conventional wisdom says higher interest rates are bullish for bank stocks, but that isn’t always true of regional banks. Unlike their too-big-to-fail peers, regional lenders lack the pricing power to keep deposit costs from rising as quickly as loan yields. That can turn the textbook “higher rates, wider margins” story into a race they can lose.

Many of these stocks, however, trade at attractive valuations while maintaining share prices under $20. That’s the case with Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN). The stock is trading at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 9.6, well below its historic average.

Analysts give HBAN a consensus price target of $20.15, implying about 27% upside. The bullish outlook is rooted in two factors. First, the bank is expanding its footprint beyond its traditional Midwest base, particularly in Texas and the Carolinas. Second, the bank recently acquired Veritex and Cadence Bank, transactions that should benefit the company’s balance sheet.

That growth is supported by a spike in institutional buying in Q2 2026. However, it isn’t reflected in the current HBAN price, which is down about 8.7% YTD.

CNH Industrial Stock Offers a Contrarian Bet on a Cyclical Recovery

CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNH) is a contrarian pick in this group. Many industrial stocks have performed well in 2026, but CNH specializes in agricultural and construction machinery. That leaves it exposed to the cyclical downturn in agricultural equipment sales, which has been compounded by rising diesel fuel costs.

Nevertheless, CNH is up about 46% in 2026, putting it about 3% above its consensus price target of $13.10. The bull case becomes clearer when investors look closer. Recent analyst activity shows upgrades from Robert Baird and Evercore, with price targets of $15 and $18, respectively.

The positive outlook is rooted in the idea that the sector may be at a turning point, which would benefit CNH. The company has improved factory utilization and anticipates a better product mix by 2027.

CNH trades at a premium of about 30 times forward earnings, but earnings are expected to grow by 48% over the next 12 months.