3 Mid-Cap Stocks Facing Headwinds

Many investors pay attention to mid-cap stocks because they have established business models and expansive market opportunities. However, their paths to becoming $100 billion corporations are ripe with competition, ranging from giants with vast resources to agile upstarts eager to disrupt the status quo.

This is precisely where StockStory comes in - we do the heavy lifting to identify companies with solid fundamentals so you can invest with confidence. Keeping that in mind, here are three mid-cap stocks to swipe left on and some alternatives you should look into instead.

F5 (FFIV)

Market Cap: $15.48 billion

Initially started as a hardware appliances company in the late 1990s, F5 (NASDAQ:FFIV) makes software that helps large enterprises ensure their web applications are always available by distributing network traffic and protecting them from cyberattacks.

Why Is FFIV Not Exciting?

1. 3.5% annual revenue growth over the last three years was slower than its software peers
2. ARR has dropped by 8.3% over the last year, suggesting it lost long-term deals and renewals
3. Demand will likely be soft over the next 12 months as Wall Street’s estimates imply tepid growth of 3.6%

F5 is trading at $267 per share, or 5.2x forward price-to-sales. To fully understand why you should be careful with FFIV, check out our full research report (it’s free).

McCormick (MKC)

Market Cap: $20.2 billion

The classic red Heinz ketchup bottle’s competitor, McCormick (NYSE:MKC) sells food-flavoring products like condiments, spices, and seasoning mixes.

Why Does MKC Worry Us?

1. Organic revenue growth fell short of our benchmarks over the past two years and implies it may need to improve its products, pricing, or go-to-market strategy
2. Anticipated sales growth of 2.2% for the next year implies demand will be shaky
3. 5.4 percentage point decline in its free cash flow margin over the last year reflects the company’s increased investments to defend its market position

At $75.30 per share, McCormick trades at 24.1x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than MKC.

NetApp (NTAP)

Market Cap: $18.94 billion

Founded in 1992 as a pioneer in networked storage technology, NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) provides data storage and management solutions that help organizations store, protect, and optimize their data across on-premises data centers and public clouds.

Why Do We Think NTAP Will Underperform?

1. Sales were flat over the last two years, indicating it’s failed to expand this cycle
2. Offerings struggled to generate interest as its billings were flat over the past two years
3. Anticipated sales growth of 3.8% for the next year implies demand will be shaky

NetApp’s stock price of $93.09 implies a valuation ratio of 12x forward P/E. If you’re considering NTAP for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

Stocks That Overcame Trump’s 2018 Tariffs

Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs.

While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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 Sterling Infrastructure (+1,096% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.