Moreover, while talking about how growth and value stocks have performed during the first 9 months of the year, Gannon pointed out value stocks still lag behind growth stocks, with the Russell 2000 Value Index up 9.2% compared to 13.2% for growth stocks. However, the gap between the two narrowed by the end of September, and Gannon believes that a growing economy will continue to support value stocks in the upcoming months.
Francis Gannon also presented his bullish sentiment for small-cap stocks by analyzing historic trends. He believes that with the United States economy still growing and interest rates becoming more normal could be beneficial for small-cap companies. Gannon bases his bullish thesis on three historical pieces of evidence. He mentioned that it is not common for the Russell 2000 to have a monthly return of over 10%. This has only happened 22 times since the index started in 1978. However, when returns have been above 10%, small-cap stocks tend to perform very well in the following months. Secondly, historically speaking when the Fed lowered interest rates small-cap stocks tended to outperform large-cap stocks in the months following the rate cut. Gannon pointed out that this trend has been observed since at least 1957.
Thirdly, small-cap stocks have underperformed for a while, however, after periods of low returns, particularly when annual returns go lower than 3% small-cap stocks usually bounce back with better-than-average returns.
In addition to Francis Gannon's analysis regarding small-cap stocks, we have also covered Brent Schutte's analysis in 8 High Growth Penny Stocks That Are Profitable in 2024. Brent Schutte is the Chief Investment Officer of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. Here is a piece from the article:
"Brent Schutte, Chief Investment Officer of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company joined CNBC to discuss how small caps offer more value. Schutte mentioned the 1999 and 2000 markets which were very similar to the current market. During that time the market became very narrow, he thinks that the current market is barely holding up. To explain his point he mentioned the manufacturing market and the lower and middle income consumers have been harmed by the interest rate hike over the past years. Schutte does not see the Fed being able to alleviate the suffering market and what consumers have been through and believes that how the economy will perform in the future remains an unanswered question.
Our Methodology
To compile the list of 8 best small-cap growth stocks to buy according to analysts we used the Finviz stock screener and CNN. Using the screener we shortlisted growth stocks with a market capitalization between $500 million and $2 billion. Once we had the list of small cap growth stocks we then checked the analyst upside potential for each stock sourced from CNN and ranked them in ascending order of the upside potential. Please note that the data was recorded on October 19, 2024. Moreover, we have also mentioned the number of hedge funds holding each stock sourced from Insider Monkey's Q2 2024 database.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A biotechnology laboratory with a scientist working with a microscope on a volixibat drug.
Next on our list of best small-cap growth stocks to buy according to analysts is Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIRM). It is another biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing treatments for rare diseases that affect the liver.
They have three main medications including LIVMARLI, Cholbam, and Chenodal. Management is focused on developing new treatments including Volixibat, aimed at adult patients with liver diseases related to bile flow issues.
The second quarter of fiscal 2024 was a successful year for Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIRM). The company grew its net product sales by 139% year-over-year to reach $77.8 million. The sales growth was on the back of strong performance by all three major products. LIVMARLI sales for the quarter grew by 45%, whereas CHOLBAM and CHENODAL net sales amounted to $30.5 million.
The pipeline development also remains robust as Volixibat showed positive interim results for the VISTAS PSC and VANTAGE PBC studies. Moreover, LIVMARLI was approved in Europe for PFIC patients. The cash position of the company also improved significantly from $286.3 million in the comparable quarter of 2023 to $295.4 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2024. Looking ahead, management is on track to achieve its full-year guidance of $310 to $320 million in net sales.
ClearBridge Small Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIRM) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
"In the fourth quarter we initiated four new investments: Inari Medical, Blackbaud, Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIRM) and Installed Building Products. Mirum Pharmaceuticals is a commercial stage pharmaceutical company primarily treating rare liver conditions, often in pediatric patients. With multiple approved marketed products across different indications, the company is already operating near cash[1]flow breakeven. Mirum is pursuing label indication expansions across two of its marketed products that could be materially additive to the growth trajectory, along with two promising Phase 2 candidates designed to treat several adult rare liver diseases."
Overall, MIRM ranks 4th on our list of best small-cap stocks to buy according to analysts. While we acknowledge the potential of MIRM to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a promising AI stock that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.