3 Out-of-Favor Stocks That Concern Us

Barchart·04/01/2026 05:02:16

The past year hasn't been kind to the stocks featured in this article. Each has tumbled to their lowest points in 12 months, leaving investors to decide whether they're witnessing fire sales or falling knives.

Price charts only tell part of the story. Our team at StockStory evaluates each company's underlying fundamentals to separate temporary setbacks from structural declines. Keeping that in mind, here are three stocks facing legitimate challenges and some alternatives worth exploring instead.

Zillow (ZG)

One-Month Return: -5.2%

Founded by Expedia co-founders Lloyd Frink and Rich Barton, Zillow (NASDAQ:ZG) is the leading U.S. online real estate marketplace.

Why Should You Dump ZG?

1. Sales tumbled by 5% annually over the last five years, showing consumer trends are working against its favor
2. Lacking free cash flow generation means it has few chances to reinvest for growth, repurchase shares, or distribute capital
3. Improving returns on capital suggest management is identifying more profitable investments

Zillow’s stock price of $41.44 implies a valuation ratio of 18.3x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including ZG in your portfolio.

WeightWatchers (WW)

One-Month Return: -38%

Known by many for its old cable television commercials, WeightWatchers (NASDAQ:WW) is a wellness company offering a range of products and services promoting weight loss and healthy habits.

Why Should You Sell WW?

1. Annual revenue declines of 12.4% over the last five years indicate problems with its market positioning
2. Cash-burning history makes us doubt the long-term viability of its business model
3. Waning returns on capital from an already weak starting point displays the inefficacy of management’s past and current investment decisions

At $13.51 per share, WeightWatchers trades at 4x forward EV-to-EBITDA. If you’re considering WW for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

Waters Corporation (WAT)

One-Month Return: -3.1%

Founded in 1958 and pioneering innovations in laboratory analysis for over six decades, Waters (NYSE:WAT) develops and manufactures analytical instruments, software, and consumables for liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis used in scientific research and quality testing.

Why Are We Hesitant About WAT?

1. Absence of organic revenue growth over the past two years suggests it may have to lean into acquisitions to drive its expansion
2. Efficiency has decreased over the last two years as its adjusted operating margin fell by 13.7 percentage points
3. Shrinking returns on capital suggest that increasing competition is eating into the company’s profitability

Waters Corporation is trading at $297.80 per share, or 20.6x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than WAT.

Stocks We Like More

ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively.

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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-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

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