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1 S&P 500 Stock to Own for Decades and 2 Facing Headwinds

By Kayode Omotosho | September 26, 2025, 12:37 AM

ADBE Cover Image

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is home to the biggest and most well-known companies in the market, making it a go-to index for investors seeking stability. But not all large-cap stocks are created equal - some are struggling with slowing growth, declining margins, or increased competition.

Picking the right S&P 500 stocks requires more than just buying big names, and that’s where StockStory comes in. That said, here is one S&P 500 stock that could deliver good returns and two best left off your watchlist.

Two Stocks to Sell:

Adobe (ADBE)

Market Cap: $148.3 billion

Originally named after Adobe Creek that ran behind co-founder John Warnock's house, Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) develops software products used for digital content creation, document management, and marketing solutions across desktop, mobile, and cloud platforms.

Why Does ADBE Worry Us?

  1. Customers had second thoughts about committing to its platform over the last year as its average billings growth of 11.6% underwhelmed
  2. Estimated sales growth of 9% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend
  3. Operating profits and efficiency rose over the last year as it benefited from some fixed cost leverage

Adobe is trading at $353 per share, or 5.9x forward price-to-sales. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than ADBE.

Hilton (HLT)

Market Cap: $61.45 billion

Founded in 1919, Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) is a global hospitality company with a portfolio of hotel brands.

Why Is HLT Not Exciting?

  1. Weak revenue per room over the past two years indicates challenges in maintaining pricing power and occupancy rates
  2. Projected sales growth of 7.2% for the next 12 months suggests sluggish demand
  3. Projected 2.4 percentage point decline in its free cash flow margin next year reflects the company’s plans to increase its investments to defend its market position

At $261.27 per share, Hilton trades at 31.3x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why HLT doesn’t pass our bar.

One Stock to Buy:

DoorDash (DASH)

Market Cap: $112 billion

Founded by Stanford students with the intent to build “the local, on-demand FedEx", DoorDash (NYSE:DASH) operates an on-demand food delivery platform.

Why Do We Love DASH?

  1. Orders are rising, meaning the company can increase revenue without incurring additional customer acquisition costs if it can cross-sell additional products and features
  2. Additional sales over the last three years increased its profitability as the 111% annual growth in its earnings per share outpaced its revenue
  3. Free cash flow margin grew by 11.9 percentage points over the last few years, giving the company more chips to play with

DoorDash’s stock price of $261.75 implies a valuation ratio of 36.5x forward EV/EBITDA. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

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 5 Strong Momentum 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-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% 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.

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