3 of Wall Street's Favorite Stocks in Hot Water

Wall Street has set ambitious price targets for the stocks in this article. While this suggests attractive upside potential, it’s important to remain skeptical because analysts face institutional pressures that can sometimes lead to overly optimistic forecasts.

Unlike the investment banks, we created StockStory to provide independent analysis that helps you determine which companies are truly worth following. Keeping that in mind, here are three stocks where Wall Street may be overlooking some important risks and some alternatives with better fundamentals.

Papa John's (PZZA)

Consensus Price Target: $57.02 (73.7% implied return)

Founded by the eclectic John “Papa John” Schnatter, Papa John’s (NASDAQ:PZZA) is a globally recognized pizza delivery and carryout chain known for “better ingredients” and “better pizza”.

Why Does PZZA Fall Short?

1. Lagging same-store sales over the past two years suggest it might have to change its pricing and marketing strategy to stimulate demand
2. Estimated sales growth of 1.8% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its five-year trend
3. Free cash flow margin shrank by 3.8 percentage points over the last year, suggesting the company is consuming more capital to stay competitive

Papa John's is trading at $31.81 per share, or 14x forward price-to-earnings. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than PZZA.

ChargePoint (CHPT)

Consensus Price Target: $1.98 (169% implied return)

The most prominent EV charging company during the COVID bull market, ChargePoint (NYSE:CHPT) is a provider of electric vehicle charging technology solutions in North America and Europe.

Why Are We Hesitant About CHPT?

1. Sales tumbled by 5.6% annually over the last two years, showing market trends are working against its favor during this cycle
2. Negative free cash flow raises questions about the return timeline for its investments
3. Limited cash reserves may force the company to seek unfavorable financing terms that could dilute shareholders

ChargePoint’s stock price of $0.58 implies a valuation ratio of 0.6x forward price-to-sales. To fully understand why you should be careful with CHPT, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Enviri (NVRI)

Consensus Price Target: $14.75 (173% implied return)

Cooling America’s first indoor ice rink in the 19th century, Enviri (NYSE:NVRI) offers steel and waste handling services.

Why Should You Dump NVRI?

1. Falling earnings per share over the last five years has some investors worried as stock prices ultimately follow EPS over the long term
2. Cash-burning tendencies make us wonder if it can sustainably generate shareholder value
3. Depletion of cash reserves could lead to a fundraising event that triggers shareholder dilution

At $5.38 per share, Enviri trades at 63.8x forward price-to-earnings. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why NVRI doesn’t pass our bar.

Stocks We Like More

Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump’s presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth.

While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we’re leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market 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 175% over the last five years.

Stocks that made our list in 2019 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+2,183% between December 2019 and December 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like Axon (+711% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.