We recently published our article 5 Cheap Stocks That Could Deliver 100%+ Gains Over the Next 10 Years. To read the full story, you can head on to 10 Cheap Stocks That Could Deliver 100%+ Gains Over the Next 10 Years. In this article, we discuss Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) as one of the stocks gaining attention, and here’s a closer look at why it stands out in today’s market.
Cheap stocks always attract attention, but in a market increasingly ruled by artificial intelligence, earnings resilience, geopolitical headlines, and investor positioning, the word “cheap” needs to be handled carefully. A low share price alone does not automatically make a stock a bargain. Sometimes, a stock is cheap because Wall Street has temporarily ignored it. Other times, it is cheap because the business is weak, the balance sheet is stretched, or the growth story has already faded. That is why this list of 10 cheap stocks to buy for the next 10 years focuses not just on valuation, but also on forward earnings potential, investor sentiment, market positioning, and recent company developments that could change how the market views each stock.
The timing is especially interesting because the broader stock market is once again proving how strange, emotional, and forward-looking Wall Street can be. While headlines are still dominated by geopolitical instability, inflation concerns, energy prices, interest rates, and recession fears, the market has already started looking beyond some of those risks. That may sound confusing to casual investors, but it is actually one of the oldest habits of the stock market. Stocks often bottom before bad news officially ends. The market does not wait for perfect clarity. It usually moves when investors begin to believe the worst-case scenario is becoming less likely.
That point was recently highlighted by Tom Lee, Fundstrat’s Chief Investment Officer and Head of Research, during his appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box on May 4. Lee discussed the resilience of the U.S. stock market despite ongoing geopolitical conflict and explained why the risk-reward setup for equities still looks favorable. His argument was not based on blind optimism. Instead, it centered on a familiar but powerful market idea: earnings, liquidity, and productivity matter more over time than fear-driven headlines.
Why the Stock Market Keeps Defying Bad News
One of the biggest pieces of market trivia that long-term investors should remember is this: the stock market is not the economy, and it is definitely not the evening news. The market is a discounting machine. It tries to price what may happen six, 12, or even 18 months ahead. That is why stocks can rally while the headlines still look ugly. It is also why some of the best long-term stock opportunities appear when investor sentiment is still weak.
Tom Lee’s view fits that historical pattern. He noted that the market has largely followed the old script of bottoming before geopolitical conflicts are fully resolved. In plain language, investors may still be nervous, but the market has already begun to move past the fear. That does not mean risks have disappeared. It only means that the market is starting to focus on what comes next.
This matters for investors searching for cheap stocks to buy now, undervalued stocks, long-term stocks, and best stocks to buy and hold because market recoveries often do not lift every stock at the same time. The first wave usually benefits the strongest and most obvious winners. In today’s market, that has meant the Magnificent Seven, semiconductor stocks, and companies tied directly to artificial intelligence. The second wave can be more selective, and that is where bargain hunters may find opportunities in cheaper stocks with improving fundamentals.
AI Is Still the Market’s Biggest Growth Engine
The artificial intelligence boom has become one of the most important investment themes of this decade. What started as excitement around chips, cloud infrastructure, and large language models has evolved into a broader productivity story. AI is no longer just about technology companies showing off futuristic tools. It is now about lowering costs, improving margins, speeding up workflows, and helping corporations do more with fewer resources.
That is why Lee emphasized AI-driven productivity as a major force behind U.S. GDP growth and corporate resilience. The trivia here is important: many of the biggest stock market winners in history were not just companies that sold exciting products. They were companies that improved productivity at scale. Railroads changed transportation. Electricity changed manufacturing. The internet changed communication and commerce. Smartphones changed consumer behavior. Now, AI is being treated by many investors as the next productivity platform.
For long-term investors, that backdrop is important when looking at cheap stocks with growth potential. A company does not need to be a pure AI stock to benefit from artificial intelligence. Some software companies may use AI to protect margins. Some consumer companies may use AI to improve supply chains. Some financial firms may use AI to reduce operating costs. Some industrial companies may use automation to improve productivity. The real question is not simply, “Is this an AI stock?” The better question is, “Can this company use AI to become more efficient, more profitable, or more competitive over the next 10 years?”
That is where some cheap stocks become more interesting. The market often overpays for the obvious AI winners, but it can underprice second-layer beneficiaries. Those are companies that may not dominate headlines today but could quietly benefit from AI adoption, cost discipline, improved earnings, and stronger long-term free cash flow.
The Magnificent Seven Are Winning, But the Rest of the Market Still Matters
One of the more unusual features of the current stock market is the high concentration of gains. The Magnificent Seven and semiconductor companies have carried a large portion of the rally, while other sectors have lagged. This is not random. It reflects where investors believe the strongest earnings visibility and productivity gains are happening.
Lee explained that the concentration makes sense because the global AI productivity story is largely centered in the United States and China. Europe, in his view, has not been as central to the AI growth narrative. That is an important observation because stock market leadership often follows innovation leadership. When capital believes a country or sector owns the next major productivity cycle, money tends to crowd into that area.
Still, concentration creates a different kind of opportunity. When too much attention goes to the same group of mega-cap stocks, other areas of the market may be neglected. The equal-weighted consumer discretionary sector, for example, has struggled and remains below its highs because of economic frictions. Higher borrowing costs, cautious consumers, inflation pressure, and uneven demand can weigh on these businesses. But over a 10-year horizon, some of today’s ignored companies could recover if earnings stabilize and sentiment improves.
This is why the search for cheap stocks for the next decade should not be limited to the hottest names. A disciplined investor looks for valuation, earnings power, balance sheet strength, industry position, and catalysts. The best cheap stocks are not always the most exciting ones today. Sometimes, they are the companies quietly building operating leverage while the market is distracted.
Why Investor Sentiment Could Still Support Stocks
Another important piece of market trivia is that rallies often climb what Wall Street calls a “wall of worry.” That phrase simply means stocks can keep rising even when many investors remain skeptical. In fact, cautious sentiment can sometimes support a rally because it means there is still cash on the sidelines that can later move back into equities.
Lee pointed out that 2026 has been unusual because retail investors behaved differently from past corrections. In previous market pullbacks, retail investors often bought dips aggressively. This time, many sold near the lows and were left wrong-footed when stocks returned to record levels. That matters because muted sentiment and cautious positioning may create potential buying power. If investors are still holding large cash reserves, the market may have more liquidity available if confidence improves.
For readers looking at cheap stocks to buy and hold, this is a useful backdrop. Stocks do not need universal optimism to move higher. In many cases, they move higher because expectations are low, positioning is defensive, and earnings are better than feared. When a cheap stock has improving fundamentals and investors are underpositioned, the upside can be meaningful.
This is also why headline-driven dips can become opportunities for patient investors. Lee suggested that investors may buy dips tied to geopolitical concerns because the structural story remains strong. In other words, the market may treat fear as temporary if earnings, AI demand, and corporate productivity remain intact.
Higher Oil Prices Could Make AI Even More Important
Geopolitical conflict often brings another market concern: rising oil prices. Higher energy prices can hurt consumers, pressure corporate margins, and complicate inflation trends. Normally, that would be a clear negative for stocks. Lee acknowledged this risk, but he also made an interesting point: if energy prices rise and companies feel margin pressure, demand for AI-driven efficiency may increase.
That is a smart angle because companies usually become more serious about productivity tools when costs rise. When labor, energy, financing, and logistics become more expensive, management teams look for ways to protect margins. AI software, automation, analytics, and digital infrastructure can become more attractive in that environment. This does not remove the risk of higher oil prices, but it helps explain why investors continue to focus on productivity as a long-term theme.
For cheap stock investors, this means the strongest opportunities may come from companies that can survive short-term pressure while adapting to long-term efficiency trends. A stock trading below a forward P/E of 15 may look cheap, but the real upside depends on whether earnings can hold up, expand, or recover. Over 10 years, valuation matters, but business quality matters more.
Why Software Stocks Are Back in the Conversation
Lee also highlighted U.S. software as one of his favored areas. That is notable because software stocks have had a complicated few years. Investors once treated many software companies as unstoppable growth machines, then became more skeptical as interest rates rose, revenue growth slowed, and AI created questions about the durability of traditional software business models.
But the software story is not dead. It is changing. Well-managed software companies that can integrate AI, defend customer relationships, and improve productivity may still offer strong long-term returns. Some may even become more valuable if AI makes their platforms more useful. Others may struggle if AI disrupts their pricing power or makes their products easier to replace.
That distinction is critical for investors searching for undervalued software stocks, cheap tech stocks, and best long-term growth stocks. The market may be too harsh on certain software companies that still have strong recurring revenue, high gross margins, sticky customers, and clear AI adaptation strategies. At the same time, not every beaten-down software name deserves a comeback story. Selectivity matters.
Cheap Does Not Mean Safe, But It Can Mean Opportunity
A common mistake among new investors is assuming that a cheap stock is automatically safer than an expensive stock. That is not always true. A $5 stock can still fall to $2. A stock trading at 10 times forward earnings can still be a poor investment if earnings collapse. A company can look statistically cheap and still destroy shareholder value if debt, competition, or weak management becomes a bigger problem.
But cheap stocks can be powerful when the market is underestimating their future. A company trading below a forward P/E of 15 may offer attractive upside if earnings estimates rise, margins improve, management executes, or investor sentiment turns. Over a 10-year period, even modest annual growth can compound into meaningful returns. That is the real appeal of long-term bargain investing.
This article looks at 10 cheap stocks to buy for the next 10 years by focusing on companies that trade at reasonable forward earnings multiples and have recent developments that could influence investor sentiment. The goal is not to chase low-priced stocks for excitement. The goal is to identify affordable stocks with potential catalysts, analyst interest, and enough business momentum to deserve a closer look.
CHECK THIS OUT: Top 10 Cheap Stocks for 2026 With Massive Upside Potential and Top 10 Stocks to Buy Now That Could Deliver 20%+ Upside Fast.
Our Methodology
In order to come up with our list of the 10 cheap stocks that could deliver 100%+ gains over the next 10 years, we used screeners and financial media reports to identify cheap stocks trading below a forward P/E ratio of 15, limited the list to companies with recent developments that could affect investor sentiment, earnings expectations, or long-term growth potential, and ranked them in ascending order based on the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them as of Q4 2025.
5 Cheap Stocks That Could Deliver 100%+ Gains Over the Next 10 Years
2. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) takes the No. 2 position among cheap stocks to buy for the next 10 years because it remains one of the biggest enterprise software companies in the world and is now pushing hard into artificial intelligence through platforms designed to make customer data more useful, connected, and actionable. Trading at $165.84, Salesforce has spent years building its position in customer relationship management, sales software, service tools, marketing platforms, commerce applications, analytics, and cloud-based business systems. Now, with Agentforce and trusted AI becoming more central to the company’s strategy, Salesforce is trying to prove that it can remain essential in the next generation of enterprise software.
On April 28, Salesforce and Moderna announced a new partnership to unify the biotech company’s global commercial operations through Agentforce Life Sciences. This is a serious development because life sciences companies operate in one of the most complex commercial environments in the world. They deal with healthcare providers, regulatory rules, patient services, medical information, global markets, field teams, regional systems, and sensitive data. Moderna needs a connected digital foundation that can support growth without creating operational confusion. Salesforce is positioning Agentforce Life Sciences as that foundation.
The partnership aims to create a single connected platform that integrates data from sources such as SAP and e-commerce systems to provide a 360-degree view of healthcare provider interactions. That phrase, “360-degree view,” is common in enterprise software, but in healthcare and biotech, it can be especially valuable. If commercial teams can see accurate provider interactions, customer history, product engagement, service needs, and regional activity in one place, they can make better decisions faster. For Moderna, that could mean more coordinated field services, better customer engagement, and a more scalable commercial infrastructure as it expands globally.
Salesforce’s platform will use AI and automation to deliver “next best actions” and automated cycle planning. This means global teams can receive real-time recommendations based on data rather than relying only on manual planning or fragmented regional systems. In a competitive life sciences market, those recommendations can help field teams prioritize outreach, personalize campaigns, and improve service quality. By consolidating regional systems and incorporating IQVIA OneKey reference data, the platform is designed to create a secure and trusted source of truth for commercial activities.
That is an important part of the Salesforce investment thesis. The company is not simply adding AI features for marketing appeal. It is trying to embed AI into real business processes where companies need productivity, compliance, personalization, and operational efficiency. If Agentforce can become a trusted AI layer across industries such as healthcare, financial services, retail, manufacturing, and government, Salesforce could unlock another long-term growth cycle. Investors searching for AI software stocks, cloud stocks, CRM stocks, and undervalued technology stocks should pay attention to whether Agentforce adoption turns into meaningful revenue and customer retention.
The Moderna architecture is also built on an open ecosystem that connects medical, commercial, and patient service operations without vendor lock-in. This is important because large enterprises do not want to be trapped in closed systems that cannot communicate with existing software. Salesforce’s ability to work across platforms could help it stay relevant as companies modernize at different speeds and with different technology stacks. The more flexible Salesforce becomes, the stronger its long-term position may be.
For investors, Salesforce’s long-term appeal comes from the durability of customer relationships and the increasing need for unified data. Most companies already have too much information scattered across too many systems. They need platforms that can organize that data, automate workflows, and help teams act quickly. Salesforce’s Customer 360 platform, powered by data tools and trusted AI, is built exactly for that type of problem.
Over the next 10 years, Salesforce’s biggest challenge will be proving that AI can drive real enterprise value rather than just hype. The Moderna partnership is a useful example because it shows AI being applied to a serious operational problem in a high-value industry. If Salesforce can repeat this across more sectors, CRM could remain one of the best long-term software stocks to buy and hold. The stock may be down in the short term, but for patient investors, Salesforce still offers a rare mix of scale, recurring revenue, enterprise trust, AI optionality, and global market reach.
YOU MUST READ THIS: Top 10 American AI Stocks With 30% to 100% Upside Potential
Disclosure: No material interests to disclose. This article was originally published on Global Market Bulletin.
