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.
At StockStory, we look beyond the headlines with our independent analysis to determine whether these bearish calls are justified. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock where Wall Street’s pessimism is creating a buying opportunity and two facing legitimate challenges.
Two Stocks to Sell:
The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE)
Consensus Price Target: $65.47 (3.9% implied return)
Celebrated for its delicious (and free) brown bread, gigantic portions, and delectable desserts, Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) is an iconic American restaurant chain that also owns and operates a portfolio of separate restaurant brands.
Why Does CAKE Fall Short?
- Weak same-store sales trends over the past two years suggest there may be few opportunities in its core markets to open new restaurants
- Poor expense management has led to an operating margin of 4.5% that is below the industry average
- High net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 6× increases the risk of forced asset sales or dilutive financing if operational performance weakens
The Cheesecake Factory’s stock price of $63 implies a valuation ratio of 15.8x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including CAKE in your portfolio.
NetApp (NTAP)
Consensus Price Target: $115.07 (14.6% implied return)
Founded in 1992 as a pioneer in networked storage technology, NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) provides data storage and management solutions that help organizations store, protect, and optimize their data across on-premises data centers and public clouds.
Why Are We Hesitant About NTAP?
- Sales trends were unexciting over the last two years as its 1.6% annual growth was below the typical business services company
- Customers had second thoughts about committing to its products over the past two years as its average billings growth of 3% underwhelmed
- Anticipated sales growth of 2.7% for the next year implies demand will be shaky
At $100.39 per share, NetApp trades at 13.1x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than NTAP.
One Stock to Watch:
Itron (ITRI)
Consensus Price Target: $145.90 (18.2% implied return)
Founded by a small group of engineers who wanted to build a more efficient way to read utility meters, Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) offers energy and water management products for the utility industry, municipalities, and industrial customers.
Why Are We Positive On ITRI?
- Efficiency rose over the last five years as its Operating margin increased by 10.3 percentage points
- Additional sales over the last two years increased its profitability as the 74.4% annual growth in its earnings per share outpaced its revenue
- Historical investments are beginning to pay off as its returns on capital are growing
Itron is trading at $123.40 per share, or 22.6x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.
Stocks We Like Even More
When Trump unveiled his aggressive tariff plan in April 2025, markets tanked as investors feared a full-blown trade war. But those who panicked and sold missed the subsequent rebound that’s already erased most losses.
Don’t let fear keep you from great opportunities and take a look at 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 Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.
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