The $10-50 price range often includes mid-sized businesses with proven track records and plenty of growth runway ahead. They also usually carry less risk than penny stocks, though they’re not immune to volatility as many lack the scale advantages of their larger peers.
These dynamics can cause headaches for even the most seasoned professionals, which is why we started StockStory - to help you separate the good companies from the bad. Keeping that in mind, here are three stocks under $50 to avoid and some other investments you should consider instead.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)
Share Price: $27.13
Formed from the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a multinational media and entertainment company, offering television networks, streaming services, and film and television production.
Why Should You Dump WBD?
- Large revenue base makes it harder to increase sales quickly, and its annual revenue growth of 14.7% over the last five years was below our standards for the consumer discretionary sector
- Ability to fund investments or reward shareholders with increased buybacks or dividends is restricted by its weak free cash flow margin of 8.8% for the last two years
- Shrinking returns on capital from an already weak position reveal that neither previous nor ongoing investments are yielding the desired results
Warner Bros. Discovery’s stock price of $27.13 implies a valuation ratio of 4,737.2x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with WBD, check out our full research report (it’s free).
Richardson Electronics (RELL)
Share Price: $17.91
Founded in 1947, Richardson Electronics (NASDAQ: RELL) is a distributor of power grid and microwave tubes as well as consumables related to those products.
Why Do We Think RELL Will Underperform?
- Annual revenue growth of 1.5% over the last two years was below our standards for the industrials sector
- Cash burn makes us question whether it can achieve sustainable long-term growth
- Eroding returns on capital from an already low base indicate that management’s recent investments are destroying value
At $17.91 per share, Richardson Electronics trades at 47.6x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including RELL in your portfolio.
Moderna (MRNA)
Share Price: $49.96
Rising to global prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic with one of the first effective vaccines, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) develops messenger RNA (mRNA) medicines that direct the body's cells to produce proteins with therapeutic or preventive benefits for various diseases.
Why Are We Out on MRNA?
- Sales tumbled by 34.3% annually over the last two years, showing market trends are working against it during this cycle
- Earnings per share decreased by more than its revenue over the last five years, showing each sale was less profitable
- Capital intensity has ramped up over the last five years as its free cash flow margin decreased by 129.7 percentage points
Moderna is trading at $49.96 per share, or 10.2x forward price-to-sales. If you’re considering MRNA for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.
Stocks We Like More
ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively.
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Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
