Green Dot and Malibu Boats have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 9, 2025 – Zacks Equity Research shares Green Dot GDOT as the Bull of the Day and Malibu Boats MBUU as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc.'s HRTG, Kinsale Capital Group KNSL and Kingstone Companies KINS.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

As the world's largest prepaid debit card company, Green Dot is starting to flex its reach in the pro-consumer and personal banking markets.

Although Green Dot is not part of the Russell 2000, GDOT could be a "low-priced" stock that has more upside with investor sentiment shifting toward undervalued U.S. companies amid rate cut hopes.

Still trading under $15 a share, Green Dot stock has now spiked nearly +30% year to date after delivering strong Q2 results in early August, which were attributed to a combination of strategic execution, expanding partnerships, and operational efficiency.

Green Dot's Emerging Growth Catalysts

Green Dot has been public since 2010, and while the company hasn't been a fast disruptor like other fintech firms, a shift toward platform-based services is starting to fuel its growth.

These platforms have led to lucrative partnerships, including with Walmart and Uber, which use Green Dot's Instant Payment Network as an early payday or instant pay option for delivery drivers. Furthermore, Green Dot's Arc platform is gaining popularity as a comprehensive embedded finance platform that offers businesses a single-source solution for banking and money movement services. Expanding its Banking as-a-Service (BaaS) footprint, Green Dot's Arc platform has inked new deals with Samsung and Credit Sesame.

Thanks to these strategic partnerships, Green Dot has continued to hit new peaks in annual revenue with projections edging north of $2 billion after posting a record of $1.72 billion in 2024.

Q2 EPS Surprise & Positive EPS Revisions

Blowing away earnings expectations last month, Green Dot posted Q2 EPS of $0.40, crushing expectations of $0.17 by 135%. This also marked a 60% increase from Q2 EPS of $0.25 a year ago.

Notably, management emphasized improving the earnings power of the balance sheet, suggesting better cost discipline and asset utilization. Correlating with this rhetoric and the very impressive Q2 earnings beat, EPS estimates are nicely up for Green Dot in the last 30 days for fiscal 2025 and FY26.

In the last month, FY25 EPS estimates are up over 10% from $1.22 to $1.35, with FY26 EPS revisions rising 8% from $1.44 to $1.56.

Green Dot's Attractive Valuation

Most intriguing regarding Green Dot's strengthening outlook is that GDOT trades at an attractive 10X forward earnings multiple. Despite a sharp YTD rally, Green Dot stock still offers a pleasant discount to its Zacks Financial Transaction Services Industry average of 15X forward earnings, which includes prominent companies such as Visa, Mastercard and PayPal.

Plus, GDOT trades well under the preferred level of less than 2X forward sales compared to the industry average of 2.7X.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts

Keeping in mind that past performance is not always an indicator of future success, Green Dot is starting to make its mark in the Financial Transaction Services Industry, which is currently in the top 21% of over 240 Zacks industries.

It's noteworthy that the outlook for these companies could become more appealing as lower rates would reduce funding costs, while increasing consumer spending. This could be very advantageous for Green Dot regarding the expansion of its fintech platforms and the ability to benefit from interchange fees and other transaction-based revenues.

Bear of the Day:

Experiencing the broader macro pressures on consumer discretionary spending, it may be best to avoid Malibu Boats stock at the moment, which lands a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and the Bear of the Day.

Despite a strong balance sheet and leadership in boating tech, continued retail headwinds and margin volatility have led to cautious sentiment for Malibu's stock, with MBUU falling more than 10% year to date and now down a grizzly 35% in the last five years.

Implied Production Cuts & Soft Guidance

Recently reporting results for its fiscal fourth quarter in late August, Malibu announced a cautious outlook for its current fiscal year 2026. This included lower revenue guidance and implied production cuts due to persistent softness in saltwater markets and a muted rebound in demand during the early-season boat shows.

Notably, Malibu expects net sales to be flat to down mid-single digits in FY26 after seeing its top line decrease 2% in FY25 to $807.56 million. Free-falling from peaks of more than $1.3 billion in FY23, the ongoing sales weakness has led to more pessimism about Malibu's ability to maintain its operational strength. To that point, Malibu's net income surged 127% in FY25 to $15.2 million, but the company saw a 9% decline in adjusted EBITDA ($74.8 million) and unit volumes (4,898).

Declining EPS Revisions

Amid the acknowledgement of retail headwinds, earnings estimate revisions for Malibu have fallen mightily in the last 30 days.

Suggesting more short-term weakness in MBUU shares, FY26 EPS estimates have dropped 39% in the last month from $2.59 to $1.58. Starting to drain hopes of a sharp rebound in Malibu stock and taking away from its growth narrative is that FY27 EPS estimates have fallen 20% from $2.75 to $2.14.

Bottom Line

Although Malibu is a leading manufacturer of sports boats, the company is starting to be more susceptible to a weaker operating environment, with its Zacks Leisure and Recreation Products Industry currently in the bottom 29% of over 240 Zacks industries.

Additional content:

Investment Income: A Strategic Lever for Heritage Insurance?

Investment income remains a subtle yet important driver of Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc.'s overall performance. While the insurer's core strength lies in disciplined underwriting and consistent premium growth, its investment portfolio provides valuable earnings support, particularly during favorable interest rate cycles.

As with most property and casualty insurers, Heritage allocates the majority of its portfolio to fixed-income securities, which offer predictable cash flows necessary to meet policyholder obligations. In 2024, the company's portfolio totaled $663.4 million, with $655.6 million or nearly 98.8% invested in fixed-maturity securities. Although underwriting gains accounted for most of the net income increase that year, investment income added a meaningful boost. Reinvesting cash flows and bond maturities into higher-yielding instruments continues to fuel the rise in net investment income.

A well-structured investment portfolio not only supports earnings but also strengthens statutory surplus and retained earnings, enhancing Heritage's underwriting capacity and flexibility to pay dividends or pursue strategic opportunities. This dual role makes investment returns a critical complement to the company's underwriting engine.

Future performance remains closely linked to interest rate dynamics. Elevated rates continue to benefit reinvestment yields, but anticipated Federal Reserve cuts in 2025 could soften this momentum. Investment income remains a strategic lever — providing a cushion during periods of underwriting stress and amplifying growth when operational results align with favorable market conditions.

What About HRTG's Peers?

Peer like Kinsale Capital Group benefits from investment income as a steady complement to its strong underwriting profits. Kinsale's focus on fixed-income securities delivers predictable cash flows that reinforce surplus and underwriting capacity. By doing so, Kinsale strengthens resilience, mitigates insurance cycle volatility and enhances sustainable long-term value for its shareholders.

Investment income plays a crucial role for Kingstone Companies, complementing its underwriting operations with consistent returns. Kingstone invests heavily in fixed-income securities, ensuring dependable cash flows to meet claims. By reinforcing surplus and financial strength, Kingstone enhances resilience against volatility while supporting sustainable growth and long-term shareholder value.

HRTG's Price Performance

Shares of HRTG have gained 99.1% year to date, outperforming the industry.

HRTG's Expensive Valuation

HRTG trades at a price-to-book value ratio of 1.95 above the industry average of 1.56. But it carries a Value Score of B.

Estimate Movement for HRTG

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HRTG's third-quarter and fourth-quarter 2025 EPS witnessed 103.8% and 6.1% northward movement, respectively, in the past 30 days. The same for full-year 2025 and 2026 has increased 26.2% and 12.8%, respectively.

The consensus estimates for HRTG's 2025 and 2026 revenues and EPS indicate year-over-year increases.

HRTG stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Why Haven't You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?

Since 2000, our top stock-picking strategies have blown away the S&P's +7.7% average gain per year. Amazingly, they soared with average gains of +48.4%, +50.2% and +56.7% per year.

Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.

See Stocks Free >>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

https://www.zacks.com

Zacks.com provides investment resources and informs you of these resources, which you may choose to use in making your own investment decisions. Zacks is providing information on this resource to you subject to the Zacks "Terms and Conditions of Service" disclaimer. www.zacks.com/disclaimer.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research