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Small-cap stocks can be incredibly lucrative investments because their lack of analyst coverage leads to frequent mispricings. However, these businesses (and their stock prices) often stay small because their subscale operations make it harder to expand their competitive moats.

Large-cap stocks have the power to shape entire industries thanks to their size and widespread influence. With such vast footprints, however, finding new areas for growth is much harder than for smaller, more agile players.

Stocks in the $10-50 range offer a sweet spot between affordability and stability as they’re typically more established than penny stocks. But their headline prices don’t guarantee quality, and investors should exercise caution as some have shaky business models.

Whether you see them or not, industrials businesses play a crucial part in our daily activities. Unfortunately, this role also comes with a demand profile tethered to the ebbs and flows of the broader economy, and investors seem to be forecasting a downturn - over the past six months, the industry has pulled back by 1.7%. This drawdown was disheartening since the S&P 500 gained 5.1%.

The performance of consumer discretionary businesses is closely linked to economic cycles. Thankfully for the industry, demand trends seem to be healthy as discretionary stocks have gained 6.1% over the past six months. This performance has nearly mirrored the S&P 500.

Large-cap stocks usually command their industries because they have the scale to drive market trends. The flip side though is that their sheer size can limit growth as expanding further becomes an increasingly challenging task.

Investors looking for hidden gems should keep an eye on small-cap stocks because they’re frequently overlooked by Wall Street. Many opportunities exist in this part of the market, but it is also a high-risk, high-reward environment due to the lack of reliable analyst price targets.