At a time when the Indian stock market is witnessing a sharp selloff, gripped by inflation fears, macroeconomic and earnings stress amid skyrocketing crude oil prices due to the West Asia conflict, several penny stocks are quietly making money for their investors.
Often considered among the riskiest bets in the stock market, penny stocks are generally defined as those with lower stock prices and even lower liquidity. Retail investors often gravitate towards them amid the promise of making a quick buck. However, these scrips can also emerge as traps due to low liquidity and poor disclosures by these companies.
That said, certain penny stocks below ₹10 have managed to defy the recent market slump and managed to make their investors money. For the purpose of this study, we considered only those stocks that are priced below ₹10 and have a daily volume turnover of 50,000 or more.
The real danger in penny stocks isn’t volatility — it’s liquidity, said Harshal Dasani of INVasset PMS. “Wide bid-ask spreads, thin order books, and the prevalence of SEBI’s ASM and GSM surveillance flags mean you can enter a position easily but exit only at a punishing discount, if at all.”
Sharing an example, Dasani said that for every Suzlon that journeyed from ₹2 to ₹40, hundreds have been delisted or suspended, wiping out capital entirely — a textbook case of survivorship bias, highlighting the underlying risk that retail investors must take note of.
“In an environment where Brent is above $110, the rupee is at record lows near 94, and FPIs are dumping over ₹60,000 crore in a single month, capital preservation should take precedence over speculation. Investors would be far better served parking incremental capital in large-cap SIPs or even liquid funds, rather than gambling on micro-caps where the house — and the operators — almost always win,” he advised.
Penny stock winners
That said, data from Capitaline highlighted 10 penny stocks, with high volumes, that surged up to 59% on a month-to-date basis as of March 20, 2026. During the same period, the headline index — Nifty 50 — has shed 10.5%, the worst monthly decline since the Covid-19 crisis six years ago.
Investors must note that most of these stocks do not have any fundamental factors driving this rise, and it is largely volume and speculation-driven. Therefore, they must exercise due diligence when it comes to investing in penny stocks.
The biggest gainer is Usha Martin Education & Solutions, whose shares have surged from ₹4.1 since before the US-Iran war to ₹6.51 as of last close, resulting in a 58.78% upside in a span of nearly three weeks. For the third quarter, the company’s revenue had almost doubled to ₹20.25 lakh from ₹11.60 lakh in the same period a year ago. However, profit after tax dipped to ₹8.14 lakh from ₹14.53 lakh year-on-year.
According to a March 11 filing, the exchange has sought some clarification from the company on its Q3 earnings performance.
It was followed by Viji Finance, a penny stock below ₹10, which has surged 37% in March so far. The company recently announced a board meeting to consider fundraising. Meanwhile, Akme Fintrade, another NBFC penny stock, has zoomed 19.30% during the said period as the stock rose from ₹7.1 as of February 27 to ₹8.47 on March 20.
Supreme Engineering, Auri Grow India, Paras Petrofils, Aakash Exploration, Axita Cotton, Reliance Communication and Sikko Industries are among other penny stock winners, gaining between 3-15%.
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
