1 Unpopular Stock That Deserves Some Love and 2 We Avoid

Wall Street’s bearish price targets for the stocks in this article signal serious concerns. Such forecasts are uncommon in an industry where maintaining cordial corporate relationships often trumps delivering the hard truth.

Whatever the consensus opinion may be, our team at StockStory cuts through the noise by conducting independent analysis to determine a company’s long-term prospects. That said, here is one stock poised to prove Wall Street wrong and two facing legitimate challenges.

Two Stocks to Sell:

Hexcel (HXL)

Consensus Price Target: $64.33 (1.4% implied return)

Founded shortly after World War II by a group of engineers from UC Berkley, Hexcel (NYSE:HXL) manufactures lightweight composite materials primarily for the aerospace and defense sectors.

Why Is HXL Risky?

1. Sales tumbled by 1.8% annually over the last five years, showing market trends are working against its favor during this cycle
2. Earnings per share have contracted by 5.6% annually over the last five years, a headwind for returns as stock prices often echo long-term EPS performance
3. Free cash flow margin shrank by 8.2 percentage points over the last five years, suggesting the company is consuming more capital to stay competitive

Hexcel’s stock price of $63.44 implies a valuation ratio of 28.5x forward P/E. If you’re considering HXL for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

CME Group (CME)

Consensus Price Target: $283.11 (4.9% implied return)

Born from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange founded in 1898 as a butter and egg trading venue, CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) operates the world's largest derivatives marketplace where traders can buy and sell futures and options contracts across interest rates, equities, currencies, commodities, and more.

Why Does CME Worry Us?

1. Annual revenue growth of 4.7% over the last five years was below our standards for the financials sector
2. Earnings growth over the last five years fell short of the peer group average as its EPS only increased by 8.2% annually

CME Group is trading at $270 per share, or 23.8x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with CME, check out our full research report (it’s free).

One Stock to Watch:

Ross Stores (ROST)

Consensus Price Target: $158.47 (7.1% implied return)

Selling excess inventory or overstocked items from other retailers, Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) is an off-price concept that sells apparel and other goods at prices much lower than department stores.

Why Do We Like ROST?

1. Fast expansion of new stores to reach markets with few or no locations is justified by its same-store sales growth
2. Comparable store sales rose by 3.1% on average over the past two years, demonstrating its ability to drive increased spending at existing locations
3. Market-beating returns on capital illustrate that management has a knack for investing in profitable ventures

At $147.94 per share, Ross Stores trades at 22.6x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

Trump’s April 2025 tariff bombshell triggered a massive market selloff, but stocks have since staged an impressive recovery, leaving those who panic sold on the sidelines.

Take advantage of the rebound by checking out our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025).

Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today

StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.