3 cheap stocks that could turn $1,000 into $10,000

At the start of 2025, the stock market appeared unstable as most major assets were, seemingly, very overvalued. Despite this, there was no shortage of opportunities for savvy investors to find undervalued, cheap stocks that enabled them to turn a $1,000 into $10,000 of profit.

The start of 2026 appears similar, and though some fear – as they have for a long time – that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom is a bubble about to burst, the S&P 500 stock market index has, on multiple days in January, closed at unprecedented highs.

With both the dangers and opportunities in mind, Finbold decided to examine potentially undervalued stocks that could help investors turn relatively modest investments into hefty returns in the mid to long-term.

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RCKT)

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RCKT) represents one of the binaries frequently found among cheap stocks of very ambitious companies. In a nutshell, the firm is a clinical-stage gene therapy developer examining rare diseases.

RCKT shares are also, by any standard, very cheap in January 2026 due to a trial-related calamity in early 2025 that sent them plunging from approximately $6.59 to about $2.50 and, eventually, to their press time price of $3.80.

Rocket’s latest stock market trend has, however, been mildly positive with an 8% year-to-date (YTD) rally, and the company has continued working on novel treatments such as adeno-associated viral (AAV) and lentiviral (LV) gene therapy programs, with the project targeting the Danon disease being especially noteworthy, considering it is in Phase 2 trials.

Simultaneously, while there is no doubt that a Rocket Pharmaceuticals investment is only for the risk-seekers, the potential payouts should the company succeed are staggering. 

In fact, the potential upside is so significant that the average Wall Street 12-month price target for the company, per the data Finbold retrieved from TipRanks on January 14, stands at $8.63 – indicating a 127% upside is anticipated before the end of 2026.

Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV)

Unlike Rocket, Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) is a well-established firm that is deeply integrated into the global payments and financial infrastructure. 

A disastrous earnings miss in late 2025 led to a staggering 40% single-day drop and, more importantly for investors in January 2026, to FISV stock becoming significantly undervalued at press time with a price of just $66.79.

Indeed, Fiserv shares could be an example of a value trap turned value play, as many analysts estimated they are significantly undervalued against the company’s fundamentals, and there is a trend toward digital payments and banking technology companies growing.

Furthermore, despite the overall stock ratings still being cautious, it is noteworthy that Wall Street anticipates, on average, that FISV stock will rally at least some 40% in 2026.

Lastly, while Congressional trading patterns are hardly a common indicator, Fiserv also has a roundabout endorsement in the form of Representative Gilbert Cisneros purchasing its shares in December. Cisneros recently drew public attention for seeing a 54% return in a month on a war stock investment he had made late in 2025.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC)

Though Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has been gaining ground through 2025, the semiconductor giant remains – with its press time stock price of $47.29 – significantly cheaper than both Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD).

Simultaneously, despite its woes in recent years, the firm is both well-established and strategically important for the United States, making its continued survival all but guaranteed, and renewed thriving rather likely.

The bull case for INTC shares has also become even stronger in January as its recent growth has set it on a path to overtaking the Korean giant Samsung as the world’s second-largest microchip foundry. 

Such a development would simultaneously emphasize Intel’s national importance, as the global semiconductor production is perpetually at risk due to being concentrated on the politically-sensitive island of Taiwan via the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM).

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