Wall Street has set ambitious price targets for the stocks in this article. While this suggests attractive upside potential, it’s important to remain skeptical because analysts face institutional pressures that can sometimes lead to overly optimistic forecasts.
At StockStory, we look beyond the headlines with our independent analysis to determine whether these bullish calls are justified. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock where Wall Street’s excitement appears well-founded and two where analysts may be overlooking some important risks.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Cisco (CSCO)
Consensus Price Target: $63.75 (20.9% implied return)
Founded in 1984 by a husband and wife team who wanted computers at Stanford to talk to computers at UC Berkeley, Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) designs and sells networking equipment, security solutions, and collaboration tools that help businesses connect their systems and secure their digital operations.
Why Should You Dump CSCO?
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Sales stagnated over the last two years and signal the need for new growth strategies
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Free cash flow margin shrank by 6.3 percentage points over the last five years, suggesting the company is consuming more capital to stay competitive
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Waning returns on capital imply its previous profit engines are losing steam
Cisco is trading at $56.13 per share, or 14.7x forward price-to-earnings. If you’re considering CSCO for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more .
G-III (GIII)
Consensus Price Target: $34.75 (21.6% implied return)
Founded as a small leather goods business, G-III (NASDAQ:GIII) is a fashion and apparel conglomerate with a diverse portfolio of brands.
Why Do We Avoid GIII?
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Products and services fail to spark excitement with consumers, as seen in its flat sales over the last two years
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Estimated sales decline of 2.4% for the next 12 months implies an even more challenging demand environment
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Underwhelming 7.8% return on capital reflects management’s difficulties in finding profitable growth opportunities
At $25.08 per share, G-III trades at 6.1x forward price-to-earnings. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than GIII .
One Stock to Watch:
Thermon (THR)
Consensus Price Target: $35 (42.2% implied return)
Creating the first packaged tracing systems, Thermon (NYSE:THR) is a leading provider of engineered industrial process heating solutions for process industries.
Why Could THR Be a Winner?
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Offerings are difficult to replicate at scale and result in a top-tier gross margin of 42.3%
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Operating profits increased over the last five years as the company gained some leverage on its fixed costs and became more efficient
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Free cash flow margin expanded by 3.2 percentage points over the last five years, providing additional flexibility for investments and share buybacks/dividends
Thermon’s stock price of $25.68 implies a valuation ratio of 12.2x forward price-to-earnings. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free .
Stocks We Like Even More
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 United Rentals (+322% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free .