3 Reasons to Avoid LIND and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

What a time it’s been for Lindblad Expeditions. In the past six months alone, the company’s stock price has increased by a massive 49.9%, reaching $20.54 per share. This was partly due to its solid quarterly results, and the run-up might have investors contemplating their next move.

Is there a buying opportunity in Lindblad Expeditions, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Dive into our full research report to see our analyst team’s opinion, it’s free.

Why Do We Think Lindblad Expeditions Will Underperform?

Despite the momentum, we're cautious about Lindblad Expeditions. Here are three reasons we avoid LIND and a stock we'd rather own.

1. Long-Term Revenue Growth Disappoints

A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Over the last five years, Lindblad Expeditions grew its sales at a 36.1% compounded annual growth rate. Although this growth is acceptable on an absolute basis, it fell slightly short of our standards for the consumer discretionary sector, which enjoys a number of secular tailwinds.

2. Weak Operating Margin Could Cause Trouble

Operating margin is an important measure of profitability as it shows the portion of revenue left after accounting for all core expenses – everything from the cost of goods sold to advertising and wages. It’s also useful for comparing profitability across companies with different levels of debt and tax rates because it excludes interest and taxes.

Lindblad Expeditions’s operating margin has been trending up over the last 12 months and averaged 4.8% over the last two years. The company’s higher efficiency is a breath of fresh air, but its suboptimal cost structure means it still sports inadequate profitability for a consumer discretionary business.

3. Free Cash Flow Projections Disappoint

If you’ve followed StockStory for a while, you know we emphasize free cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end, cash is king, and you can’t use accounting profits to pay the bills.

Over the next year, analysts’ consensus estimates show they’re expecting Lindblad Expeditions’s free cash flow margin of 7.1% for the last 12 months to remain the same.

Final Judgment

Lindblad Expeditions doesn’t pass our quality test. After the recent surge, the stock trades at 279.8× forward P/E (or $20.54 per share). This multiple tells us a lot of good news is priced in - we think there are better opportunities elsewhere. We’d suggest looking at one of our top software and edge computing picks.

Stocks We Like More Than Lindblad Expeditions

The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. 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 have made our list 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 Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.