2 Hated Stocks that Should Get More Attention and 1 to Be Wary Of

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.

Accurately determining a company’s long-term prospects isn’t easy, especially when sentiment is weak. That’s where StockStory comes in - to help you find attractive investment candidates backed by unbiased research. Keeping that in mind, here are two stocks where you should be greedy instead of fearful and one where the outlook is warranted.

One Stock to Sell:

Polaris (PII)

Consensus Price Target: $35.45 (2.4% implied return)

Founded in 1954, Polaris (NYSE:PII) designs and manufactures high-performance off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, and motorcycles.

Why Do We Avoid PII?

1. Products and services have few die-hard fans as sales have declined by 11.6% annually over the last two years
2. Earnings per share fell by 17.2% annually over the last five years while its revenue was flat, showing each sale was less profitable
3. Eroding returns on capital suggest its historical profit centers are aging

Polaris is trading at $34.61 per share, or 22.6x forward P/E. If you’re considering PII for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

Two Stocks to Watch:

VeriSign (VRSN)

Consensus Price Target: $265.33 (-6.9% implied return)

While the company is not a domain registrar and does not directly sell domain names to end users, Verisign (NASDAQ:VRSN) operates and maintains the infrastructure to support domain names such as .com and .net.

Why Is VRSN on Our Radar?

1. Winning new contracts that can potentially increase in value as its billings growth has averaged 15.6% over the last year
2. Superior software functionality and low servicing costs result in a best-in-class gross margin of 87.8%
3. Impressive free cash flow profitability enables the company to fund new investments or reward investors with share buybacks/dividends

At $285 per share, VeriSign trades at 16.5x forward price-to-sales. Is now the right time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

McDonald's (MCD)

Consensus Price Target: $331.35 (5% implied return)

With nicknames spanning Mickey D's in the U.S. to Makku in Japan, McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) is a fast-food behemoth known for its convenience and broken ice cream machines.

Why Should MCD Be on Your Watchlist?

1. Customers are lining up to eat at its restaurants as the company’s same-store sales growth averaged 2.8% over the past two years
2. Asset-lite franchise model is reflected in its superior unit economics and a best-in-class gross margin of 56.9%
3. Robust free cash flow margin of 27.3% gives it many options for capital deployment

McDonald’s stock price of $315.51 implies a valuation ratio of 25.3x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

The market surged in 2024 and reached record highs after Donald Trump’s presidential victory in November, but questions about new economic policies are adding much uncertainty for 2025.

While the crowd speculates what might happen next, we’re homing in on the companies that can succeed regardless of the political or macroeconomic environment. Put yourself in the driver’s seat and build a durable portfolio by checking out 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 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 Comfort Systems (+751% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.