Generally, you get what you pay for. And that may well be the core catalyst for these cheap stocks to buy under $50. Yes, when you throw around the word “cheap,” you’re probably thinking about single digits if not even sub-single digits. However, raising your crosshairs to the $50 level carries significant advantages.

Essentially, you will be targeting middle-capitalization companies. Ideas that stem from this category can be incredibly attractive because of their balanced profile. They’re not large-cap players so there’s plenty of room to run higher. At the same time, they’re also fairly established businesses so you don’t have to fret anxiously about forward viability.

For many, this space hits the sweet spot. On that note, below are (relatively) cheap stocks to buy.

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Tower Semiconductor (TSEM)

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Based in Israel, Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) falls under the namesake category (obviously). Per its public profile, Tower is an independent computer chip foundry. It focuses on specialty process technologies to manufacture analog-intensive mixed-signal semiconductor devices in Israel, the U.S., Japan, Europe and other international markets. In addition to its core business, it also provides design enablement platforms for quick and accurate design cycles.

Thanks to wide-ranging relevancies, Wall Street analysts rate TSEM a unanimous strong buy. Further, the average price target comes in at $46.33, implying 26% upside potential. Generally speaking, Tower’s financial performance is consistent. Even with a miss in the second quarter of last year, the average positive earnings surprise in the past four quarters came out to 5.88%.

For fiscal 2024, covering experts anticipate a modest slowdown. However, one year later, they’re looking for earnings per share of $2.28 on revenue of $1.57 billion. In 2023, the company posted earnings of $2.22 per share on sales of $1.42 billion. For patient investors, TSEM could be one of the cheap stocks to buy.

PowerSchool (PWSC)

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Operating in the technology field, PowerSchool (NYSE:PWSC) works in the application software category. Per its corporate profile, PowerSchool with its subsidiaries offers cloud-based software to the K-12 education market in the U.S., Canada and other international markets. Its solutions are embedded in school workflows, enabling easy daily use by educators, students, administrators and parents in schools and districts.

Cynically, PWSC could be an intriguing idea for cheap stocks to buy because of the Covid-19 disruption. Even before the crisis, American students were falling behind internationally. However, the pandemic imposed devastating impacts on the learning cycle. In other words, the U.S. and arguably other western nations have much catching up to do.