As of this moment, there appears to be 2 certainties that are unquestionable. The first is the penny stocks are where the majority of retail investors are spending their time right now. And, unfortunately, the 2nd is that the coronavirus continues to run rampant around the US and cases are mounting up. On a daily basis, you can almost find a penny stock that has coronavirus news that is sending its shares vertical.
Is this a trend that will continue for the long-term? Hopefully not, but at the same time, there doesn’t look like a clear-cut answer coming anytime soon. So, for now, biotech stocks have been surging for the first several months of 2020 and could close the 2nd half of the year even stronger. At the end of the day, this looks like a race to who will get the vaccine first.
Read More: Half Way Into This Week, Do You Have These 3 Penny Stocks Monitored Right Now?
I’ve got a legit question for you right now: Are you making a list of all the penny stocks that you are watching daily? You’re probably not the only one if you said, “yes.” Among the younger traders out there, these are the stocks on their lists. What they are doing, for the most part, isn’t investing. They are jumping in and out of what’s hot at the moment. Now, not everyone is doing that and some are finding success in companies that have stocks under $5 that are growing and holding their gains. Here are a handful of penny stocks to watch closely with major news out that could draw in a bunch of attention.
Your No. 1 Penny Stock To Watch This Thursday: CynergisTek, Inc.
CynergisTek, Inc. (NYSE American: CTEK) provides cyber security, privacy, and compliance services in the United States. The company offers assessment and audit, technical testing, program development and remediation, and monitoring and advisory services. Primarily it serves the healthcare industry, as well as education, financial services, government, Internet and media, and manufacturing industries under the CynergisTek, Redspin, and Backbone Consultants brand names.
CynergisTek announced renewals of two long-term, publicly held clients for information technology (IT) audit and compliance contracts totaling approximately $950 thousand. Under the terms of the agreements CynergisTek will provide IT audit support services for internal information technology systems and IT Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) controls and will test the IT SOX controls as an outsourced IT internal audit function for the next 12 months. Modern finance, accounting and treasury applications are technology-based, resulting in a compliance obligation to validate the reliability of financial reporting.
“We strive to exceed our clients’ expectations and look forward to continuing our relationship with these two long-standing clients,” said Walter Zuniga, Managing Partner. “Our IT Audit Service, based on Information Technology General Computing Controls (ITGCC), delivers much more than a ‘check the box audit’ - it ensures that you meet your compliance requirements while validating the maturity of your IT control environment.”
CynergisTek’s team of Certified Information Systems Auditors (CISA) are highly qualified and experienced in conducting IT audits and internal reviews of an organization’s IT control framework including controls over financial reporting.
“Our IT Audit service offering is a result of the acquisition of Backbone Consultants and is a testament that our expertise and strength in building a partnership with clients validates these critical renewals,” said Caleb Barlow, CEO of CynergisTek. “With the uncertainty of COVID-19 and the impacts many enterprises have faced, we have maintained focus on strengthening our ties with our client base.”
Your No. 2 Penny Stock To Watch This Thursday: Birks Group Inc.
Birks Group Inc. (NYSE American: BGI) designs, develops, produces, and retails fine jewelry, timepieces, sterling and plated silverware, and gifts in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Other. The company offers designed products, as well as various merchandise, including designer jewelry, diamonds, gemstone and precious metal jewelry, rings, wedding bands, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, charms, and pearls. As of October 10, 2019, it operated 28 Birks stores in various metropolitan markets in Canada; 1 retail location under the Brinkhaus brand in Calgary; and 2 retail locations under the Graff and Patek Philippe brands in Vancouver. The company also engages in the retail and wholesale of fine jewelry collections through Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths stores and on their e-commerce platforms in the United Kingdom.
Birks Group Inc. reported its financial results for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2020 (“fiscal 2020”).
Highlights
All figures presented herein are in Canadian dollars.
During fiscal 2020, and prior to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the related store closures on March 18, 2020 , the Company transitioned out of a very capital-intensive investment period and focused on the execution of its transformation plan intended to return the Company to profitability and propel it onto the path of long-term value creation for its shareholders. In fiscal 2020, the Company achieved net sales of $169.4 million , a growth of $18.4 million , or 12.2%, compared to the fiscal period ended March 30, 2019 (“fiscal 2019”), with all three of its flagship stores operating at full capacity following the completion of the major renovations to the Montreal , Toronto and Vancouver locations. The Company also reported an improvement in operating results from continuing operations of $7.1 million , or 51.9%, compared to fiscal 2019.
In March 2020 , the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic and a global emergency. In response to this pandemic, many government authorities have taken preventative and protective actions to contain the spread of the virus, including imposing restrictions on business operations and travel, as well as advising individuals to limit or forego the time outside of their homes. As a result of the measures adopted by the Canadian federal and provincial governments to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and in order to ensure the health and safety of its employees, customers and the community, the Company temporarily closed all of its retail locations in Canada effective on March 18, 2020 until further notice. This closure has adversely impacted the Company’s operations for the remainder of fiscal 2020 and the first months of fiscal 2021, during which the Company’s sales were primarily derived from its e-commerce business as well as its concierge service by which clients are assisted by telephone. Starting on May 12, 2020 , the Company gradually reopened its store locations, market-by-market, in accordance with the directives of local government and public health authorities. As of today, the Company has reopened 29 of its 30 stores across Canada .
Mr. Jean-Christophe Bédos, President and Chief Executive Officer of Birks Group, commented: “These are unprecedented times. Retailers across Canada and the world are now operating under a drastically different landscape, and as such we need to be financially responsible and proactive. I am extremely proud of our Crisis Management Team that was assembled at the outset of the pandemic and is responsible for reviewing business goals, objectives and processes in order to find ways to reduce expenses, adapt to emerging trends, generate sales and protect the well-being of our employees, clients, partners and communities. I would also like to thank our loyal employees who had to be placed on temporary layoff and those who made the adjustments to work remotely.”
Your No. 3 Penny Stock To Watch This Thursday: AIM ImmunoTech Inc.
AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (NYSE American: AIM), an immuno-pharma company, focuses on the research and development of therapeutics to treat multiple types of cancers and immune-deficiency disorders in the United States. The company’s products include Alferon N Injection, an injectable formulation of natural alpha interferon to treat a category of genital warts, a sexually transmitted disease; and Ampligen, a drug of macromolecular ribonucleic acid molecule for the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome. It is also developing Ampligen for the treatment of Hepatitis B and HIV, as well as patients with renal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, non-small cell lung, ovarian, breast, colorectal, urothelial, prostate, and pancreatic cancer.
AIM ImmunoTech announced that it has entered into a clinical trial agreement (CTA) with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center to support Roswell Park’s Phase 1/2a trial of Ampligen (rintatolimod) in combination with interferon alfa-2b, in cancer patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Funding for the clinical trial is provided, in part, through grants from the National Cancer Institute and AIM, as well as institutional support from Roswell Park.
Thomas K. Equels, CEO of AIM ImmunoTech, commented, “We are excited to team up with Roswell Park, a leading cancer research center, to test Ampligen as part of an antiviral treatment combination for COVID-19 among cancer patients. Based on the preclinical studies, we are encouraged by the potential for an effective early-onset treatment against this new and deadly virus especially for cancer patients, who face significantly increased risk of severe symptoms or death. We look forward to leveraging this important clinical trial for cancer patients with COVID-19, if successful, into tests of Ampligen in other high risk and immunocompromised COVID-19 groups.”
“We are very grateful for AIM’s participation and collaboration in this study, which represents an important potential treatment option for cancer patients with COVID-19,” said Pawel Kalinski, MD, PhD, Vice Chair for Translational Research and Rustum Family Professor for Molecular Therapeutics and Translational Research at Roswell Park, who is scientific lead on the new clinical trial as well as five other related studies. “The trial is a signature element of Roswell Park’s work to optimize immune-based approaches for treating cancer and infectious diseases, and AIM’s support for our vision helped ensure that we could bring this novel approach to patients.”
Enrollment of patients on the trial, which will be conducted at Roswell Park under the clinical leadership of Brahm Segal, MD, Chair of Internal Medicine and Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Buffalo, N.Y.-based cancer center, is expected to begin within 30 days.
