2 S&P 500 Stocks with Promising Prospects and 1 Facing Headwinds

While the S&P 500 (^GSPC) includes industry leaders, not every stock in the index is a winner. Some companies are past their prime, weighed down by poor execution, weak financials, or structural headwinds.

Even among blue-chip stocks, not all investments are created equal - which is why we built StockStory to help you navigate the market. Keeping that in mind, here are two S&P 500 stocks that could deliver good returns and one that may struggle.

One Stock to Sell:

Fiserv (FISV)

Market Cap: $33.1 billion

Powering over 1 billion accounts and processing more than 12,000 financial transactions per second globally, Fiserv (NASDAQ:FISV) provides payment processing and financial technology solutions that enable merchants, banks, and credit unions to accept payments and manage financial transactions.

Why Do We Think Twice About FISV?

1. The company has faced growth challenges as its 5.3% annual revenue increases over the last two years fell short of other financials companies
2. Earnings growth underperformed the sector average over the last two years as its EPS grew by just 7% annually
3. Underwhelming 9.4% return on equity reflects management’s difficulties in finding profitable growth opportunities

Fiserv is trading at $61.59 per share, or 7.6x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with FISV, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Two Stocks to Watch:

Seagate (STX)

Market Cap: $91.78 billion

One of two remaining major hard drive manufacturers after decades of industry consolidation, Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) manufactures hard disk drives and solid state drives that store data in data centers, cloud systems, and consumer devices.

Why Do We Like STX?

1. Market share has increased this cycle as its 24.7% annual revenue growth over the last two years was exceptional
2. Estimated revenue growth of 28.2% for the next 12 months implies demand will accelerate from its two-year trend
3. Operating margin increased by 8 percentage points over the last five years as it refined its cost structure

Seagate’s stock price of $406.36 implies a valuation ratio of 25.3x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO)

Market Cap: $32.94 billion

Creator of the three-digit number that can determine whether you get a mortgage or credit card, Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FICO) develops analytics software and the widely used FICO Score, which is the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the United States.

Why Will FICO Beat the Market?

1. Performance over the past two years was turbocharged by share buybacks, which enabled its earnings per share to grow faster than its revenue
2. Impressive free cash flow profitability enables the company to fund new investments or reward investors with share buybacks/dividends
3. Returns on capital are climbing as management makes more lucrative bets

At $1,375 per share, Fair Isaac Corporation trades at 28.9x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

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 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 Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.