In this article, we will take a look at the 5 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Right Now.
Valuation has quietly reentered the market conversation at a time when many investors least expected it. After several years in which price momentum, thematic investing, and speculative growth dominated headlines, a growing number of market participants are once again screening for cheap stocks and low P/E stocks that trade at meaningful discounts to their underlying earnings power. This shift has not been driven by panic or crisis, but rather by fatigue with stretched valuations and an increasing emphasis on cash flow, balance sheet discipline, and durable business models. In many portfolios, the “multiple you pay” is starting to matter again, especially when the margin for error is thin and investors are demanding proof rather than promises.
What makes this period unusual is that the market is not behaving like a single unified story. Instead, it has become a collection of mini-markets. A small cluster of high-multiple names continues to attract outsized attention, while a much larger portion of the investable universe trades as if growth is permanently capped. That divergence has created a widening lane for undervalued stocks, particularly those with steady earnings, tangible cash generation, and the kind of predictability that tends to regain popularity when investors become more selective.
Why Cheap Stocks Are Showing Up in More Screens Again
Strategists following sector rotation trends have pointed out that valuation dispersion remains unusually wide. Capital has continued to chase a narrow group of high-multiple names tied to emerging technologies and narrative-driven growth, but this has left behind many profitable businesses that are still executing in the real economy. The result is that cheap P/E ratios are no longer limited to distressed companies or structurally broken industries. More frequently, low forward P/E stocks now include firms with recurring revenue streams, stable end markets, or clear capital return policies that have simply fallen out of favor.
This is the type of setup that tends to trigger broader screening behavior. When investors notice that quality companies are trading at discounted multiples, the next step is usually to ask whether the market is mispricing risk or simply ignoring improvement. That question alone is often enough to bring “best cheap stocks to buy right now” back into the research pipeline, especially for managers who need exposure outside the most crowded trades.
The Interest Rate Lens That Keeps Repricing Multiples
Interest rate expectations have played a central role in this dynamic, and they continue to shape how investors interpret valuation. As inflation pressures show signs of moderation and productivity improvements become more visible across the economy, analysts have increasingly discussed the possibility that restrictive monetary policy may not remain in place indefinitely. Even modest shifts in rate expectations can have an outsized impact on valuation models, particularly for companies with steady earnings and predictable cash flows.
When discount rates stabilize or drift lower, the market often becomes more willing to assign higher multiples to cash flows that appear durable. At the same time, when rates remain elevated, investors often prefer stocks that are already priced conservatively. Either way, low forward earnings multiples can act as a buffer, because they require less “multiple expansion” to generate respectable returns. This is one reason forward P/E has become a popular shortcut for identifying cheap stocks, especially when the market is still debating the path of rates.
Sector Rotation Is Quietly Shifting the Hunting Grounds
Sector by sector, this valuation reset has manifested in different ways, and the differences matter. In healthcare, portions of the sector continue to benefit from non-cyclical demand and pricing resilience, yet still trade at earnings multiples more commonly associated with mature or declining industries. In communications and infrastructure-heavy sectors, high capital intensity and regulatory overhangs can weigh on sentiment even when cash generation is steady. In software and digital services, the market’s skepticism around growth normalization can overshadow improving margins and free cash flow conversion. In industrial and consumer-linked sectors, macro uncertainty can mask company-level execution, operational improvement, and shareholder return programs.
What ties these sectors together is not that they are collapsing. It is that their valuations often reflect an assumption that good news will not last or that improvement will not translate into durable earnings. When sectors fall out of favor, the market sometimes prices in a permanent handicap. That is where valuation gaps can form, and where low P/E stocks can begin to stand out again.
Perception Versus Performance Is Creating Price Gaps
What stands out in the current market is how often price movements reflect perception rather than performance. Many companies now classified as cheap stocks have continued to meet or exceed earnings expectations, strengthen balance sheets, and return capital to shareholders, yet their valuations imply limited future upside. This kind of disconnect tends to happen when investors are focused on what could go wrong rather than what has been going right.
Professional investors, especially those with longer time horizons, often treat valuation as a margin of safety rather than a timing tool. When they see durable earnings trading at compressed multiples, the natural question becomes whether the stock is priced for a downturn that may already be reflected in fundamentals, or whether the business is quietly improving while the market remains distracted. This is why forward P/E ratios and earnings durability have become increasingly important screening criteria. They do not guarantee outperformance, but they help narrow the field to companies where expectations appear unusually low relative to current results.
What “Cheap” Actually Means in This Market
In practice, “cheap” does not simply mean low price. It usually means the market is offering an earnings stream at a discounted multiple compared with peers, history, or the broader index. That is why forward earnings multiples tend to be used more than trailing multiples in screening work. Forward P/E is a shorthand for how the market is pricing the next year of expected profitability, and it can reveal where skepticism is embedded.
It also helps explain why cheap stocks often come in clusters. If an entire sector is viewed as out of favor, multiples compress broadly, even for the strongest operators. If a business is executing but the market is still anchored to an older narrative, the valuation may lag. When the story changes faster than the market’s perception, the valuation gap becomes the opportunity.
Why This Leads Naturally to a “Best Cheap Stocks” Shortlist
Against this backdrop, compiling a list of the 5 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Right Now is less about making bold predictions and more about identifying where valuation, fundamentals, and market expectations are misaligned. These opportunities tend to emerge when sectors fall out of favor not because of structural decline, but because attention has shifted elsewhere. History suggests that such periods often precede meaningful re-rating cycles, especially when broader market conditions begin to stabilize.
This is also why a shortlist approach matters. Not every low multiple stock is undervalued, and not every discounted company is cheap for the right reasons. The goal is to isolate situations where the business has measurable earnings power, credible cash flow generation, and enough visibility for forward expectations to be judged rationally. When those boxes are checked, a low forward multiple becomes more meaningful as a signal rather than a warning.
Setting the Stage for the 5 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Right Now
In an environment where uncertainty remains elevated but fundamentals continue to assert themselves, cheap stocks with proven earnings power stand out as a distinct segment of the market worth close examination. With valuation once again playing a central role in portfolio construction, the focus naturally turns to identifying which names offer the most compelling combination of low forward multiples, financial resilience, and potential upside if expectations normalize.
That framework sets the stage for reviewing the 5 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Right Now, a group defined not by hype or narrative momentum, but by the simple reality that the market is still offering some earnings streams at prices that look unusually conservative relative to their fundamentals.
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Our Framework
To identify the 5 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Right Now, the analysis focused on publicly traded companies listed in the United States that meet a clear set of quantitative and coverage based criteria. The initial screen required a minimum market capitalization of approximately $2 billion to ensure sufficient liquidity and institutional relevance. Companies were also required to be covered by at least three sell-side analysts, providing a baseline level of market scrutiny and earnings visibility. Finally, the shortlist was narrowed to stocks trading at forward price to earnings multiples below 15x, reflecting a valuation profile that is meaningfully below broader market averages while still supported by ongoing profitability.
5 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Right Now
5. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)
Forward P/E: 13.77x
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN) continues to stand out within the biotechnology sector as a rare disease specialist with a fully commercialized portfolio rather than a binary, development-stage risk profile. The company’s focus on genetically defined patient populations has historically supported durable pricing, predictable demand, and longer product lifecycles, all of which contribute to a revenue base that is less sensitive to broader economic cycles. As the portfolio has scaled, BioMarin’s operating model has gradually improved, with fixed cost leverage supporting expanding margins over time.
Recent share price action has brought renewed attention to the stock. BioMarin shares are trading around $58.13, with a one-day gain of roughly 1.7% and a 90-day return of approximately 13.0%. This shorter-term momentum contrasts with a one-year total shareholder return decline of about 9.1%, highlighting the gap between near-term performance and longer-term sentiment. According to valuation frameworks followed by Simply Wall St, BioMarin currently carries a value score of 3 and is viewed as materially undervalued under the most widely referenced narrative.
That valuation gap is meaningful. The most popular intrinsic value estimate places BioMarin’s fair value near $90.74 per share, implying that the stock is trading at a discount of roughly 35.9%. This narrative assumes revenue growth of approximately 7.6% annually over the next three years, alongside margin expansion from roughly 21.5% today to nearly 29.8% over the same period. The underlying thesis is that steady revenue gains combined with an improving profit profile would justify a higher future earnings multiple.
Sell-side coverage has begun to align more closely with this view. Barclays recently initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and an $80 price target, citing BioMarin’s strong fundamentals and credible acquisition optionality. Central to that strategy is the planned acquisition of Amicus Therapeutics, a transaction valued at approximately $4.8 billion and expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. The deal would expand BioMarin’s footprint in rare metabolic diseases while adding marketed assets and pipeline depth that fit squarely within its existing commercial infrastructure.
From a balance sheet perspective, BioMarin has structured the acquisition to preserve flexibility. The company finalized a $2.0 billion senior secured Term Loan B facility, supplemented by an $800 million Term Loan A and a $600 million revolving credit facility. While execution risk remains, particularly around integration and future R&D and SG&A spending, the current valuation at 13.77x forward earnings continues to reflect skepticism more consistent with ex-growth biopharma than with a rare disease platform pursuing disciplined expansion.
4. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)
Forward P/E: 9.12x
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) has been increasingly shaped by the tension between turnaround optimism and execution risk. Shares recently slipped 1.68% to close at $46.31, ending a seven-session rally and pulling back from a one-year high reached just a day earlier. Despite the short-term pullback, Verizon shares remain up roughly 16% since late January, leaving little margin for missteps as investors assess whether the rally can be sustained.
Operationally, Verizon’s fourth quarter of 2025 delivered results that management framed as a key inflection point. The company reported 616,000 postpaid phone net additions in the quarter, one of the most closely watched indicators in the U.S. wireless market. Looking ahead, management guided for retail postpaid phone net additions of 750,000 to 1 million in 2026, alongside adjusted EPS of $4.90 to $4.95 and free cash flow of at least $21.5 billion.
Capital returns have also taken center stage. Verizon announced a $25 billion share repurchase authorization, which helped drive a sharp rally in late January. Analysts noted that the Frontier acquisition has pushed Verizon’s fiber footprint close to parity with its largest peers, reinforcing management’s view that the company is no longer a “hunting ground” for competitors. Fiber expansion remains a key pillar of Verizon’s long-term strategy, both for broadband growth and for supporting converged wireless offerings.
At the same time, execution challenges are clearly visible. Verizon is undergoing leadership turnover within its consumer division, with the current consumer chief set to exit at the end of March as CEO Dan Schulman continues a broader restructuring effort. The company has also flagged job cuts and adjustments to its retail footprint. These changes follow a January network outage that triggered an FCC investigation and forced Verizon to issue customer credits, underscoring the operational sensitivity of a premium network brand.
At 9.12x forward earnings, Verizon trades near historical valuation lows, reflecting both its cash flow stability and ongoing skepticism around execution. The coming quarters will hinge not just on subscriber additions, but also on churn, retention costs, and margin discipline as competition with other major carriers remains intense.
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3. Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:WIX)
Forward P/E: 13.02x
Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:WIX) achieved the 3rd spot in our list of the 5 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Right Now. Wix continues to reposition itself from a simple website builder into a broader creator-focused digital commerce platform. The company serves entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small businesses with tools spanning site creation, e-commerce, payments, marketing, and AI-assisted design. This diversified revenue model has supported recurring subscription income while enabling incremental monetization through higher-value services.
On January 28, Wix’s board authorized a $2 billion securities buyback program spanning fiscal years 2026 and 2027. The authorization allows for repurchases of both ordinary shares and convertible notes, offering flexibility to optimize capital structure alongside shareholder returns. For context, Wix’s total liabilities and equity stood at approximately $2.56 billion as of September 30, 2025, underscoring the scale of the program relative to the balance sheet.
Analyst sentiment remains broadly constructive. Roughly 92% of analysts covering Wix rate the stock a Buy, with a median price target of $160 and a high estimate of $205. That said, not all commentary is uniformly bullish. Oppenheimer recently trimmed its price target from $160 to $130, citing concerns around revenue growth sustainability and margin trajectory, while maintaining an Outperform rating.
AI remains central to Wix’s long-term strategy. The company has accelerated the rollout of AI-assisted website creation tools aimed at reducing friction for non-technical users while expanding its addressable market. The strategy focuses on acquiring users through ease of use, then increasing lifetime value through commerce, payments, analytics, and agency workflows. At 13.02x forward earnings, Wix trades at a valuation that implies muted growth expectations despite ongoing investment in AI-driven monetization.
2. General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)
Forward P/E: 6.93x
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) continues to trade at one of the lowest forward earnings multiples among large-cap industrial companies, even as peers grapple with similar structural challenges. The broader auto sector has been under pressure following high-profile EV strategy resets, including massive impairment charges elsewhere in the industry that have eroded investor confidence.
GM itself recorded more than $7 billion in special charges tied to EV capacity realignment and policy-related adjustments, contributing to a reported fourth-quarter loss. Unlike some peers, however, GM has maintained its shareholder return framework. In January 2026, the company raised its quarterly dividend by 20% and authorized a $6 billion share repurchase program, signaling confidence in ongoing cash generation.
On an adjusted basis, GM exceeded earnings expectations and guided for 2026 adjusted EBIT of $13 to $15 billion and net income of $10.3 to $11.7 billion. The company continues to benefit from strong performance in high-margin trucks and SUVs, along with improving U.S. market share. Management has emphasized a willingness to right-size EV investments to better align with real-world demand rather than defend aggressive targets set earlier in the cycle.
At just 6.93x forward earnings, GM’s valuation reflects deep skepticism around cyclicality and EV execution. The contrast with peers that have suspended dividends or absorbed significantly larger impairment charges highlights why GM is increasingly viewed as a relative value play within the sector.
1. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)
Forward P/E: 11.90x
Ranking 1st in our list of the 5 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Right Now is AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T). The company’s strategy entering 2026 emphasizes cash flow durability, fiber expansion, and network convergence rather than pure wireless growth. The company delivered a strong fourth quarter in 2025, beating consensus expectations on both revenue and earnings, and reaffirmed its focus on disciplined capital allocation.
Management guided for 1 to 4% revenue growth, 3 to 4% EBITDA growth, and EPS of $2.25 to $2.35 in 2026. AT&T plans to maintain its $1.11 annual dividend while accelerating share repurchases, targeting more than $45 billion in total capital returns between 2026 and 2028.
Strategic partnerships and infrastructure investments remain central. AT&T has expanded collaboration with Amazon across cloud migration, fiber connectivity, and satellite integration, including access to Amazon’s low-Earth-orbit satellite network to enhance coverage. While AT&T has reiterated that these initiatives do not replace its existing satellite-to-cell ambitions, the move underscores a multi-path approach to network resilience.
Fiber remains AT&T’s most attractive growth engine, delivering strong net additions, lower churn, and higher lifetime customer value, particularly when bundled with wireless services. At 11.90x forward earnings, AT&T’s valuation reflects a balance between income stability and modest re-rating potential if execution across fiber, convergence, and capital returns remains consistent.
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Disclosure: No material interests to disclose. This article was originally published on Global Market Bulletin.
