2025's Most Downgraded Stocks: Buy, Sell, or Hold in 2026

2025 wasn’t kind to a subset of high-profile stocks. Sluggish growth, underperformance, and loss of confidence drove a wave of analyst downgrades that pressured valuations and sentiment.

But downgrades don’t automatically equal “broken.” If you’re building a 2026 watchlist, the better approach is to identify where expectations fell too far versus what the business can realistically deliver next.

Below are the five Most Downgraded names, according to MarketBeat data—where they ended in 2025, what could drive them higher in 2026, and a practical Buy, Sell, or Hold view, based on the catalysts in front of them.

Lululemon: Hit Bottom in Late 2025, Set to Rebound in 2026

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) struggled with domestic sales and margin impacts in 2025 but appears to have turned a corner late in the year.

The string of early-year downgrades and price target revisions, sufficient to rank LULU Most Downgraded for the year, ended with the Q3 earnings release for its fiscal 2025. 

The company announced a CEO change and a focus on international expansion, a move that could easily double the company’s revenue over time. 

In addition to solid results and guidance, LULU announced a $1 billion increase to its buyback authorization, ensuring its aggressive share buybacks will continue in 2026.

The year-to-date (YTD) buyback activity reduced the count by nearly 4% as of the end of fiscal Q3 2025, providing significant leverage to investors. 

Following the Q3 release, more than a dozen analysts posted price target increases, putting a floor on the price action and affirming an outlook for at least 10% upside from critical resistance targets.

Though analyst trends for LULU are favorable, the stock is currently assigned a Hold consensus rating. 

UPS Turns a Corner in Late 2025

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is another company that turned a corner in 2025. While 2025 results included contraction, they also included outperformance and affirmed a return to growth expected in 2026.

Simultaneously, operational quality is improving, including record-level revenue per package, setting the business up for an accelerated earnings recovery once growth resumes.

The trigger for the market was the company's Q3 earnings results, which included favorable guidance for the all-important holiday Q4 and an improved outlook for capital returns.

Trading near 5-year lows, UPS stock yields more than 6.5% and can be expected to sustain the payment in 2026.

Analysts rate this transportation stock a Hold and forecast at least a 10% upside in 2026.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Sets Up Smoking Hot Entry Point

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) struggled in 2025 due to the lingering effects of a 2024 CEO change and macroeconomic headwinds. The result was a massive market reset that ranked the stock third in terms of pessimistic analyst activity.

However, the price decline acted as a powerful reset, and CMG could trend higher in 2026. 

Catalysts include an intensified focus on store-count growth, including internationally, and tailwinds expected to materialize late in the first half. 

Falling interest rates and potential tax relief for lower-income workers could help ease economic headwinds by improving consumer spending.

Analysts, despite the pessimism, rate CMG as a Moderate Buy and see it advancing more than 30% in 2026.

Salesforce Hit a Hard Bottom in 2025: Rebound Has Already Begun

Salesforce’s (NYSE: CRM) 2025 struggles included increased investment activity and slowing growth.

The result was an analyst reset that placed investors in a "wait-and-see" posture.

This posture faded later in the year as the company’s lean-in to agentic AI gained traction, with the company expecting growth to accelerate more in the future.

The core question for 2026 is whether Salesforce can translate AI momentum into measurable demand and durable margin performance.

Guidance included in the company's Q3 earnings release for its fiscal 2026 suggests a return to double-digits, indicating that the analyst price targets may be too low for the stock.

December saw a stock price surge of more than 15% for CRM, sufficient to confirm support at the $225 level and put the market into rebound mode. The indications suggest a significant momentum swing is at hand, potentially taking this stock back to record levels by mid-2026.

Analysts currently rate Salesforce a Moderate Buy, with the consensus forecast predicting 22% upside. 

Comcast Hits Bottom in Late 2025, 20% Upside Is Indicated

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) saw sentiment cool through 2025 as analysts trimmed targets and moved toward more cautious ratings.

However, late-year data includes a significant increase in analyst coverage, along with some price target increases and upgrades that helped put a bottom in the market. 

The increased coverage and bullishness were inspired by the Q3 release, which showed that revenue weakness for CMCSA was better than feared and operational quality was better than expected. 

The forecast for 2026 calls for resumed growth and sustained capital returns, including a 4.45% dividend yield and aggressive share buybacks. 

Buybacks have reduced share count by 5% year-over-year (as of Q3) and are expected to continue robustly in 2026, underpinning the consensus forecast for an approximate 20% stock price increase.

Although analysts still assign CMCSA a Hold rating, this could be a name to watch in 2026. 

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