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 is one stock poised to prove Wall Street wrong and two where the outlook is warranted.

Two Stocks to Sell:

Lamb Weston (LW)

Consensus Price Target: $66 (11.1% implied return)

Best known for its Grown in Idaho brand, Lamb Weston (NYSE: LW) produces and distributes potato products such as frozen french fries and mashed potatoes.

Why Does LW Fall Short?

1. Sales are projected to remain flat over the next 12 months as demand decelerates from its three-year trend
2. Easily substituted products (and therefore stiff competition) result in an inferior gross margin of 23.9% that must be offset through higher volumes
3. Efficiency has decreased over the last year as its operating margin fell by 5.3 percentage points

At $59.40 per share, Lamb Weston trades at 18.9x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why LW doesn’t pass our bar.

Aflac (AFL)

Consensus Price Target: $111.08 (1.4% implied return)

Known for its iconic duck mascot that has quacked "Aflac!" in commercials since 2000, Aflac (NYSE: AFL) provides supplemental health and life insurance policies that pay cash benefits directly to policyholders for expenses not covered by their primary insurance.

Why Do We Think Twice About AFL?

1. 6.2% annual declines in net premiums earned for the past five years indicates policy sales struggled this cycle
2. Earnings per share lagged its peers over the last two years as they only grew by 9.4% annually
3. Projected book value per share is flat for the next 12 months, implying profitability will slow from its two-year trend

Aflac’s stock price of $109.58 implies a valuation ratio of 2x forward P/B. To fully understand why you should be careful with AFL, check out our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members).

One Stock to Watch:

McDonald's (MCD)

Consensus Price Target: $331.20 (6.4% implied return)

With nicknames spanning Mickey D's in the U.S. to Makku in Japan, McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is a fast-food behemoth known for its convenience and broken ice cream machines.

Why Is MCD Interesting?

1. Fast expansion of new restaurants indicates an aggressive approach to attacking untapped market opportunities
2. Highly-profitable franchise model results in strong unit economics and a best-in-class gross margin of 57%
3. Impressive free cash flow profitability enables the company to fund new investments or reward investors with share buybacks/dividends, and its improved cash conversion implies it’s becoming a less capital-intensive business

McDonald's is trading at $311.17 per share, or 23.8x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free for active Edge members.

Stocks We Like Even More

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 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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 for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today

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