On October 9, Scott Ladner, Chief Investment Officer at Horizon Investments, appeared on CNBC to suggest that AI remains the key market driver along with tech. Ladner stated that it’s important to go back to the fundamentals and broadly affirmed that the market is still a tech trade and an all-tech-driven, AI-driven market. He explained that this is driven not only by AI itself but also by the massive infrastructure that is needed for the scale of AI necessary to be built out and fused through the US and global economic system.
Talking about the circularity of the AI trade and questioning whether the companies themselves truly understand the magnitude of the necessary build-out, Ladner acknowledged that questioning the valuations and the funding mechanism is always acceptable but defended this by stating that if the market is only a few hundred billion dollars into a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure build like an AI build, then the current valuations are fairly well supported. He noted that the much-discussed circularity is being funded through cash flows and operating profits, not through debt, as was the case in the late 90s and early 2000s. He concluded that the current build is sustainable and healthy. Shifting to specific investment opportunities within the tech trade, Ladner stated that outside the hyperscalers and chips, given the huge run-ups in those areas, his firm is interested in the infrastructure play itself. He clarified that while the rest of the current year will likely remain focused on Tech, as the market moves into the following year, if people realize the scale of the necessary infrastructure built to roll out the technology to the worldwide economy, those areas are still undervalued.
That being said, we’re here with a list of the 11 best NASDAQ stocks under $5 to buy now.
Our Methodology
We sifted through the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of the top NASDAQ stocks under $5. We then selected the 10 stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q2 2025.
Note: All data was sourced on October 23.
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 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
11 Best NASDAQ Stocks Under $5 to Buy Now
11. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE)
Share Price as of October 23: $2.76
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE) is one of the best NASDAQ stocks under $5 to buy now. On October 22, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. announced the launch of its second heavy-duty truck demo program. The new program features the 2026 Freightliner Cascadia Gen 5 day cab equipped with the Cummins X15N natural gas engine.
The announcement follows the success of Clean Energy’s first Peterbilt X15N demo truck program, which was launched last year and was praised by fleets for the engine’s smooth handling, impressive torque, fuel efficiency, and per-gallon cost savings when running on RNG. The 2026 Freightliner demo truck will be initially showcased at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition/ATA MCE in San Diego, running from October 25 to October 28.
The program is designed to give fleets across the country the opportunity to experience the capabilities of the Freightliner Cascadia Gen 5 with the X15N engine firsthand. Participating carriers will be able to refuel using Clean Energy’s nationwide network of RNG stations, demonstrating the ease of integrating this low-carbon fueling option into their operations.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ:CLNE) offers natural gas as an alternative fuel for vehicle fleets and related fueling solutions in the US and Canada.
10. Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY)
Share Price as of October 23: $4.38
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25
Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY) is one of the best NASDAQ stocks under $5 to buy now. On October 14, Repay Holdings Corporation announced a partnership with Emotive Software, which is an all-in-one automotive finance and compliance platform. The collaboration empowers automotive sales and finance companies by combining Repay’s automation-enabling payment technology with Emotive’s loan management capabilities into a single platform.
The integration expands loan payment automation and offers numerous benefits to dealerships and lenders using the Emotive platform. Repay’s advanced automation ensures payments are processed and tracked instantly. Automotive lenders and dealerships providing financing services can now offer borrowers flexible payment options through Repay.
Repay Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:RPAY) is a payments technology company that provides integrated payment processing solutions for consumers and businesses to make payments using electronic payment methods through two segments: Consumer Payments and Business Payments.
