What's New in Small-Cap Stocks: The Forbes Ranking, Oklo's Plans for Meta, and Ceco's Record

PepGen's stock soared 93% following new data on an experimental drug for myotonic dystrophy. Oklo secured capacity for the production of components for future reactors and reported Meta’s first payment for fuel for the Ohio project, while CECO Environmental raised its 2026 order forecast. Forbes named the most successful U.S. small-cap companies of 2026, with shipping company Dorian LPG topping the list. Highlights from the small-cap sector for the week of November 9–13 are featured in the Oninvest digest.

Dorian LPG, a propane and butane carrier, took first place in the Forbes ranking. Following disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, the company shifted its focus to shipments from North America to Asia. Longer voyages tied up vessels for longer periods and pushed freight rates higher. In the quarter ending in September, Dorian LPG’s average rate rose 81% year-over-year to $96,990 per day. Net income nearly quadrupled to $213.9 million, including $63.6 million from the sale of two vessels.

Forbes included 100 companies with market capitalizations ranging from $300 million to $5 billion in its ranking. Among the leaders are the payment company PaySign (2nd place), the AI infrastructure provider Penguin Solutions (5th), and the medical apparel manufacturer FIGS (9th). For more details on the ranking, see the Oninvest article.

On November 10, PepGen’s stock rose 92.9% to $4.61. The biotech company presented the results of Phase 2 trials of PGN-EDODM1, an experimental drug for type 1 myotonic dystrophy. In this hereditary disease, muscles have difficulty relaxing after contraction and weaken over time.

In the six patients who received the drug, the average splicing correction—a measure of how well RNA processing abnormalities in the muscles were corrected—was 46.5%, compared with 6.8% in the four participants in the placebo group. According to Leerink Partners analyst Joseph Schwartz, this figure was higher than in separate trials of drugs from Novartis and Dyne Therapeutics. In September, a Phase 3 trial of the Novartis drug failed to meet its primary endpoint.

The next day, PepGen announced the offering price for its new shares—$5 per share. The company expects to raise $125 million before expenses, including costs for further testing of the drug.

Green Thumb Industries, a manufacturer and retailer of cannabis products, reported a net loss for the first time after four consecutive profitable quarters. In the third quarter of 2026, revenue rose 11.3% year-over-year to $324.4 million. Operating income fell from $36.7 million to $25.1 million year-over-year, although it increased from $20 million compared to the second quarter. The net loss was $4.8 million, compared with a profit of $23.3 million a year earlier. At that time, the result was bolstered by a one-time gain from the sale of intellectual property and the hemp products business.

A columnist for The Motley Fool considers Green Thumb’s stock attractive at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of about 1.3. Among the reasons cited are the company’s share buybacks and the potential to expand sales as new legal markets open up in certain states. As of the report’s publication date, the company had repurchased more than $80 million worth of shares since the beginning of the year. According to the author’s calculations, in terms of quarterly revenue among the largest U.S. cannabis retailers, Green Thumb was second only to Curaleaf, which reported revenue of $353 million.

Shares of Oklo, a developer of compact nuclear power plants, rose 22.7% on November 6, to $23.55. On that day, the company announced an agreement with U.S. Forged Rings. The agreement calls for reserving production capacity for steel components for future Aurora reactors. The first deliveries are expected in 2030. The agreement runs through 2035 and includes the option to expand capacity.

Oklo's revenue for the third quarter totaled $1.86 million. Oklo confirmed in its quarterly report that it is developing a nuclear power complex project in Ohio with a capacity of up to 1.2 GW to supply data centers owned by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, according to Barron’s. The company expects to launch the first phase no earlier than 2030.

Shares of Ceco Environmental, a supplier of air and water treatment systems and industrial temperature control equipment, rose approximately 19% on November 9, to $52. Third-quarter revenue increased 105% year-over-year to $404.4 million, while adjusted diluted earnings per share rose from $0.26 to $0.60. Of the quarterly revenue, $148.5 million came from Thermon, which Ceco acquired in June.

New orders rose 234% year-over-year to $777.6 million, while the order backlog at the end of the quarter increased by 205% to approximately $2.19 billion. According to CEO Todd Gleeson, data center projects accounted for about 20% of the order backlog.

Ceco now expects its order volume for 2026 to exceed $2.5 billion. The previous target was at least $2 billion. The annual revenue forecast is $1.3–1.375 billion. For 2027, the company has issued its first revenue forecast of $2.1–2.3 billion. This forecast takes into account a full year of Thermon’s operations as part of the group.