Wall Street has issued downbeat forecasts for the stocks in this article. These predictions are rare - financial institutions typically hesitate to say bad things about a company because it can jeopardize their other revenue-generating business lines like M&A advisory.
Whatever the consensus opinion may be, our team at StockStory cuts through the noise by conducting independent analysis to determine a company’s long-term prospects. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock where you should be greedy instead of fearful and two where the outlook is warranted.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Mondelez (MDLZ)
Consensus Price Target: $66.92 (13.6% implied return)
Founded as Nabisco in 1903, Mondelez (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a packaged snacks powerhouse best known for its Oreo, Cadbury, Toblerone, Ritz, and Trident brands.
Why Are We Cautious About MDLZ?
- Shrinking unit sales over the past two years show it’s struggled to move its products and had to rely on price increases
- Expenses have increased as a percentage of revenue over the last year as its operating margin fell by 8.2 percentage points
- Earnings per share were flat over the last three years while its revenue grew, showing its incremental sales were less profitable
Mondelez is trading at $58.91 per share, or 19.3x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than MDLZ.
Scholastic (SCHL)
Consensus Price Target: $36 (11% implied return)
Creator of the legendary Scholastic Book Fair, Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL) is an international company specializing in children's publishing, education, and media services.
Why Is SCHL Risky?
- Annual revenue growth of 4.9% over the last five years was below our standards for the consumer discretionary sector
- Poor free cash flow margin of 1% for the last two years limits its freedom to invest in growth initiatives, execute share buybacks, or pay dividends
- Waning returns on capital from an already weak starting point displays the inefficacy of management’s past and current investment decisions
Scholastic’s stock price of $32.44 implies a valuation ratio of 22.1x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with SCHL, check out our full research report (it’s free).
One Stock to Watch:
Confluent (CFLT)
Consensus Price Target: $30.89 (0.6% implied return)
Built by the original creators of Apache Kafka, the popular open-source messaging system, Confluent (NASDAQ: CFLT) provides a data infrastructure platform that enables organizations to connect their applications, systems, and data layers around real-time data streams.
Why Could CFLT Be a Winner?
- Billings have averaged 24.2% growth over the last year, showing it’s securing new contracts that could potentially increase in value over time
- Estimated revenue growth of 17.2% for the next 12 months implies its momentum over the last two years will continue
- Gross margin of 74.3% provides the financial cushion needed to invest in marketing and develop new products
At $30.71 per share, Confluent trades at 7.9x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions
If your portfolio success hinges on just 4 stocks, your wealth is built on fragile ground. You have a small window to secure high-quality assets before the market widens and these prices disappear.
Don’t wait for the next volatility shock. Check out our Top 5 Strong Momentum 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 Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
