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3 Hyped Up Stocks with Questionable Fundamentals

AEIS Cover Image

The stocks in this article are all trading near their 52-week highs. This strength often reflects positive developments such as new product launches, favorable industry trends, or improved financial performance.

While momentum can be a leading indicator, it has burned many investors as it doesn’t always correlate with long-term success. On that note, here are three stocks getting more buzz than they deserve and some you should buy instead.

Advanced Energy (AEIS)

One-Month Return: +16.2%

Pioneering technologies for radio frequency power delivery, Advanced Energy (NASDAQ: AEIS) provides power supplies, thermal management systems, and measurement and control instruments for various manufacturing processes.

Why Should You Dump AEIS?

  1. Annual sales declines of 5.9% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
  2. Performance over the past two years shows each sale was less profitable as its earnings per share dropped by 9.9% annually, worse than its revenue
  3. Eroding returns on capital suggest its historical profit centers are aging

Advanced Energy’s stock price of $198.44 implies a valuation ratio of 33x forward P/E. If you’re considering AEIS for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

Ducommun (DCO)

One-Month Return: +10.4%

California’s oldest company, Ducommun (NYSE: DCO) is a provider of engineering and manufacturing services for high-performance products primarily within the aerospace and defense industries.

Why Does DCO Fall Short?

  1. Backlog growth averaged a weak 3.8% over the past two years, suggesting it may need to tweak its product roadmap or go-to-market strategy
  2. Ability to fund investments or reward shareholders with increased buybacks or dividends is restricted by its weak free cash flow margin of 1.4% for the last five years
  3. Underwhelming 4.5% return on capital reflects management’s difficulties in finding profitable growth opportunities

At $99.88 per share, Ducommun trades at 24.9x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why DCO doesn’t pass our bar.

MGIC Investment (MTG)

One-Month Return: -3.8%

Founded in 1957 when the modern mortgage insurance industry was in its infancy, MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) provides private mortgage insurance that protects lenders when homebuyers default on their loans, enabling borrowers to purchase homes with smaller down payments.

Why Do We Think Twice About MTG?

  1. 1.3% annual declines in net premiums earned for the past five years indicates policy sales struggled this cycle
  2. Operational productivity has decreased over the last two years as its combined ratio worsened by 10.7 percentage points
  3. Earnings per share lagged its peers over the last two years as they only grew by 6.1% annually

MGIC Investment is trading at $27.43 per share, or 1.2x forward P/B. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than MTG.

Stocks We Like 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 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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).

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