1 Unpopular Stock That Deserves Some Love and 2 Facing Headwinds

When Wall Street turns bearish on a stock, it’s worth paying attention. These calls stand out because analysts rarely issue grim ratings on companies for fear their firms will lose out in other business lines such as M&A advisory.

At StockStory, we look beyond the headlines with our independent analysis to determine whether these bearish calls are justified. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock where you should be greedy instead of fearful and two where the outlook is warranted.

Two Stocks to Sell:

Walmart (WMT)

Consensus Price Target: $123.20 (2.5% implied return)

Known for its large-format Supercenters, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is a retail pioneer that serves a budget-conscious consumer who is looking for a wide range of products under one roof.

Why Is WMT Not Exciting?

1. Annual sales growth of 5.4% over the last three years lagged behind its consumer retail peers as its large revenue base made it difficult to generate incremental demand
2. Widely-available products (and therefore stiff competition) result in an inferior gross margin of 24.8% that must be offset through higher volumes
3. Operating margin of 4.2% falls short of the industry average, and the smaller profit dollars make it harder to react to unexpected market developments

Walmart is trading at $120.24 per share, or 41.8x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than WMT.

Flagstar Financial (FLG)

Consensus Price Target: $14.13 (8.7% implied return)

Tracing its roots back to 1859 and rebranded from New York Community Bancorp in 2024, Flagstar Financial (NYSE:FLG) is a bank holding company that offers commercial and consumer banking services, with specialties in multi-family lending, mortgage originations, and warehouse lending.

Why Should You Sell FLG?

1. Customers postponed purchases of its products and services this cycle as its revenue declined by 19.5% annually over the last two years
2. Net interest margin of 1.9% is well below other banks, signaling its loans aren’t very profitable
3. Performance over the past five years shows its incremental sales were much less profitable, as its earnings per share fell by 18.3% annually

At $13 per share, Flagstar Financial trades at 0.8x forward P/B. If you’re considering FLG for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

One Stock to Buy:

Armstrong World (AWI)

Consensus Price Target: $211.10 (7.6% implied return)

Started as a two-man shop dating back to the 1860s, Armstrong (NYSE:AWI) provides ceiling and wall products to commercial and residential spaces.

Why Is AWI a Good Business?

1. Annual revenue growth of 11.5% over the past two years was outstanding, reflecting market share gains this cycle
2. Healthy operating margin of 24.7% shows it’s a well-run company with efficient processes, and its rise over the last five years was fueled by some leverage on its fixed costs
3. Share buybacks catapulted its annual earnings per share growth to 18.7%, which outperformed its revenue gains over the last two years

Armstrong World’s stock price of $196.12 implies a valuation ratio of 23.9x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in 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 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).

Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.