So the market's been hitting new highs and we're seeing solid earnings momentum heading into 2026. A lot of traders are looking at where to put money now, and honestly, there's an interesting play that doesn't get enough attention—finding the best cheap stock to buy now in the sub-$10 range.

Most people sleep on this category. They think anything under $10 is just penny stock noise, but that's not really accurate anymore. The SEC moved the penny stock threshold up to $5, and there's actually a solid middle ground between $5-$10 where you find real companies with institutional backing and analyst coverage.

The key is being selective. You can't just throw darts at any cheap stock. You need to screen for volume, analyst ratings, and earnings revisions. That's where the best cheap stock to buy now actually emerges—when you find companies with improving outlooks and real institutional interest.

Let me break down what I'm seeing. There's this gold royalty play, GROY, that caught my attention. It's basically a company that finances mining operations and takes a cut of the gold revenue. Pretty clean business model when you think about it.

What's interesting is their earnings trajectory. They went from a small loss in 2025 to projected $0.06 per share in 2026, with revenue expected to jump 66% this year and another 133% next year. That's the kind of inflection point you look for when hunting for the best cheap stock to buy now.

The stock's already up 285% over the past year, which sounds crazy, but here's the thing—it's still trading under $10 and analysts see another 9% upside from current levels. More importantly, six out of eight broker ratings are strong buys. When you see that kind of consensus, it's worth paying attention.

Gold itself is in a strong structural bull run right now. Central banks are still buying, the dollar's weakening, geopolitical tension is real, and that all feeds into gold demand. GROY essentially gives you leveraged exposure to gold prices through its growing royalty portfolio.

The stock's also in the top 32% of mining-gold industries, which tells you the sector positioning is solid. If you're looking for the best cheap stock to buy now with real catalysts and institutional backing, this is the kind of name that fits the profile—under $10, strong fundamentals, improving estimates, and positioned in a bull market.