Wall Street’s bearish price targets for the stocks in this article signal serious concerns. Such forecasts are uncommon in an industry where maintaining cordial corporate relationships often trumps delivering the hard truth.
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. That said, here are three stocks where the skepticism is well-placed and some better opportunities to consider.
Box (BOX)
Consensus Price Target: $36.78 (-3.2% implied return)
Founded in 2005 by Aaron Levie and Dylan Smith, Box (NYSE:BOX) provides organizations with software to securely store, share and collaborate around work documents in the cloud.
Why Are We Wary of BOX?
- 6.6% annual revenue growth over the last three years was slower than its software peers
- Projected sales growth of 7.7% for the next 12 months suggests sluggish demand
- Capital intensity will likely increase as its free cash flow margin is anticipated to drop by 1.4 percentage points over the next year
At $37.98 per share, Box trades at 4.8x forward price-to-sales. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than BOX.
The New York Times (NYT)
Consensus Price Target: $57.35 (0.4% implied return)
Founded in 1851, The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) is an American media organization known for its influential newspaper and expansive digital journalism platforms.
Why Do We Think Twice About NYT?
- Demand for its offerings was relatively low as its number of subscribers has underwhelmed
- Anticipated sales growth of 6.7% for the next year implies demand will be shaky
- Waning returns on capital imply its previous profit engines are losing steam
The New York Times is trading at $57.12 per share, or 26.6x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including NYT in your portfolio.
Greenbrier (GBX)
Consensus Price Target: $49 (8.7% implied return)
Having designed the industry’s first double-decker railcar in the 1980s, Greenbrier (NYSE:GBX) supplies the freight rail transportation industry with railcars and related services.
Why Do We Steer Clear of GBX?
- Customers postponed purchases of its products and services this cycle as its revenue declined by 1.7% annually over the last two years
- Gross margin of 13.3% is below its competitors, leaving less money to invest in areas like marketing and R&D
- Free cash flow margin shrank by 12 percentage points over the last five years, suggesting the company is consuming more capital to stay competitive
Greenbrier’s stock price of $45.07 implies a valuation ratio of 6.6x forward EV-to-EBITDA. To fully understand why you should be careful with GBX, check out our full research report (it’s free).
Stocks We Like 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 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.