We recently published a list of 12 Penny Stocks with Insider Buying in 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where CalciMedica, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALC) stands against other penny stocks with insider buying in 2025.

Insider trading can be a reliable signal for gauging the degree of confidence that management has in the future of their company. This practice has been supported for decades by leading investors and analysts, who claim that there is only one reason for insiders to buy shares of their own companies – if they strongly believe the share prices are going to rise significantly. We discussed the theory behind insider buying in one of our recent articles named 10 Large-Cap Stocks with Insider Buying in 2025.

Insider buying can be an even more significant signal in the case of penny stocks, which are usually small- or micro-cap companies, because these stocks are often underfollowed or not followed at all, leading to significant price inefficiencies and overreactions from investors. This, in turn, may create pockets of opportunity that insiders exploit by leveraging their confidential information and visibility. Furthermore, given the smaller market cap, insiders can exert significant upward pressure on the stock price, which may help boost morale among shareholders.

READ ALSO: 10 Technology Stocks with Insider Buying in 2024

Empirical studies suggest that small caps tend to underperform relative to large caps during tough economic conditions, such as slowing GDP growth, inflation, high interest rates, and other exogenous pressures. Many believe that the US has already entered a new regime, called “Trump 2.0,” which will be dominated by higher inflation, lower economic support from government spending, and reduced availability of cheap labor, among several other possible challenges. Some surveys have hinted at a deteriorating business outlook among small- and mid-sized businesses, marked by lower CapEx budgets. Yardeni Research charts show that small-cap forward earnings have lagged significantly behind large caps since 2023. On top of that, the new economic regime in the US could further exacerbate these discrepancies and lead to greater relative underperformance of small caps, including penny stocks.

While the aforementioned developments could be bad for existing penny stock investors, they could also create investment opportunities for new investors. As the US broad market is still trading near its all-time highs, it has become increasingly difficult to find undervalued or even fairly valued large- and mid-cap companies. In such an environment, investors seeking higher returns may turn to smaller, lesser-known stocks with strong growth potential. The key takeaway for investors is that penny stocks could offer much more attractive, high-upside opportunities than large caps, and watching insider buying signals provides further reassurance regarding stock picking.

Our Methodology

We used Insider Monkey’s insider trading stock screener to find penny stocks trading under $5.00 share price with at least two insiders buying shares worth at least $100,000 in the last six months. We believe that multiple insiders buying significant amounts of stock represents a higher chance that insiders have high confidence in the company. For all the companies, we also include the number of hedge funds holding stakes in them, tracked by Insider Monkey as of Q4 2024. The stocks are ranked according to hedge fund positions.

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).

CalciMedica, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 6

CalciMedica, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALC) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing first-in-class therapies for life-threatening inflammatory diseases with high unmet needs. Their proprietary technology targets the inhibition of calcium release-activated calcium channels, aiming to modulate immune responses and protect against tissue cell injury. The company’s lead product candidate is an intravenous formulation of a small molecule CRAC channel inhibitor, which is currently in development for the treatment of acute pancreatitis with systemic inflammatory response syndrome and asparaginase-associated pancreatitis. There are currently no approved disease-modifying treatments for these conditions. CALC’s approach offers potential therapeutic benefits in these life-threatening inflammatory diseases.

CalciMedica, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALC) is developing novel CRAC channel inhibitors targeting life-threatening inflammatory diseases with high unmet medical needs. The company has demonstrated consistent positive clinical activity and good tolerability in multiple Phase 2 clinical trials in acute critical illnesses. CALC’s current cash runway extends into 1H26 and is expected to fund operations and completion of the ongoing KOURAGE Phase 2 trial in AKI patients. The market opportunity is substantial, with approximately 1 million target AKI population and around 100 thousand target AP population representing multi-billion US market opportunities with no approved therapies.

CalciMedica, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALC) has strong intellectual property protection; their lead candidate, Auxora, has shown consistent reduction and prevention of acute respiratory failure and mortality across multiple clinical trials. In the CARPO Phase 2b trial, Auxora demonstrated positive impact on organ failure, particularly new onset severe respiratory failure, reduction of necrotizing pancreatitis, and reduction in time to medically indicated discharge and length of hospital stays. The drug has been well-tolerated in over 350 critically ill patients with no sudden unexpected serious adverse reactions reported to date. With a strong portfolio of promising pharmaceutical products, the company’s future appears bright, which is supported by significant insider purchasing in the last months.

Overall, CALC ranks 9th on our list of penny stocks with insider buying in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of CALC as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CALC 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 Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap

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