We recently published a list of the 11 Most Promising Penny Stocks According to Analysts. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Geron Corp. (NASDAQ:GERN) stands against other promising penny stocks.

Solus’ Dan Greenhaus, and Invesco’s Brian Levitt together appeared on CNBC’s ‘Closing Bell’ on April 15 to talk about tariffs, market uncertainty, and risk concerns. The discussion started with Dan Greenhaus expressing his belief that many worst-case scenarios are already priced into the market. He acknowledged that he’s cautious but not overly worried. He pointed out recent events, like the exemptions on auto part imports and the 90-day delay on tariff implementation, as evidence that President Trump is listening to advisors and avoiding pushing toward extreme outcomes. Greenhaus attributed these actions to the rebound seen in the stock market. At the same time, he agreed that the administration has been rather inconsistent, in the context of Morgan Stanley’s comment that investors should prepare for more inconsistencies. But he argued that many investors are assuming scenarios closer to the worst rather than the best. He emphasized that while frightening predictions about skyrocketing prices are taking over media right now, these scenarios are unlikely to materialize.

Brian Levitt built on Greenhaus’ optimism while acknowledging the ongoing uncertainty as well. He attributed this uncertainty to the reliance on decisions from the White House rather than traditional policy mechanisms. He compared the current situation to 2018 when markets fell 20% in a quarter before rebounding due to trade pauses and Fed intervention. He cautioned that the current S&P 500 multiples are not at recession levels so there are potential downside risks if uncertainty remains. While Levitt thinks that business investment and consumer confidence metrics show signs of prolonged volatility, Greenhaus further emphasizes that periods of heightened uncertainty often end up presenting long-term investment opportunities. He acknowledged risks such as sudden tariff increases but also encouraged investors to take advantage of these moments when risk premiums rise.

Our Methodology

We sifted through the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of the top penny stocks that were trading below $5 and had the highest analysts’ upside potential (at least 40%). The stocks are ranked in ascending order of their upside potential. We have also added the hedge fund sentiment for each stock, as of Q4 2024, which was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database.

Note: All data was sourced on April 15.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

A close-up of a laboratory technician in a laboratory, measuring a newly developed biopharmaceutical drug.

Geron Corp. (NASDAQ:GERN)

Share Price as of April 15: $1.32

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 46

Average Upside Potential as of April 15: 240.91%

Geron Corp. (NASDAQ:GERN) is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops therapeutics for oncology. It offers RYTELO, which is a telomerase inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with low to intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes (lower-risk MDS) with transfusion-dependent anemia. RYTELO was approved in the US in June 2024.

Later in August 2024, RYTELO also gained favorable placement in the NCCN guidelines and received a Category 1 treatment recommendation for second-line RS-positive and RS-negative patients. Since its launch in the US, RYTELO made $76.5 million in net product revenue by year-end. In Q4 2024 alone, RYTELO made $47.5 million in net product revenue.

RYTELO has received a positive opinion in Europe, with a final EU approval decision expected in H1 2025. This will potentially lead to a 2026 EU launch. On March 12, Wedbush analyst Robert Driscoll maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $7 price target. Payers that cover about 80% of US-insured lives have favorable coverage for RYTELO. The US market for eligible lower-risk MDS patients is estimated to be ~15,400 in 2025.

ClearBridge Small Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“We continued to generate a number of compelling new ideas, adding five new investments that we still held at quarter end: Glaukos, Rocket Lab USA, Karman Holdings (through its IPO), Archrock, Hims & Hers and Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN).

Geron is a biotechnology company with a commercialized drug launching to treat blood cancer. Its product is newly entering a sizable market with broad applicability for patients who cycle through a variety of treatments throughout the course of the disease, allowing for a potentially larger revenue opportunity than currently appreciated by the market.”

Overall, GERN ranks 5th on our list of the most promising penny stocks according to analysts. While we acknowledge the growth potential of GERN, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GERN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.