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1 Unpopular Stock That Deserves a Second Chance and 2 We Avoid

QLYS Cover Image

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.

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 where you should be greedy instead of fearful and two where the skepticism is well-placed.

Two Stocks to Sell:

Qualys (QLYS)

Consensus Price Target: $141.31 (1.3% implied return)

Originally developed to address the growing complexity of IT security in the cloud era, Qualys (NASDAQ: QLYS) provides a cloud-based platform that helps organizations identify, manage, and protect their IT assets from cyber threats across on-premises, cloud, and mobile environments.

Why Does QLYS Worry Us?

  1. Underwhelming ARR growth of 10.1% over the last year suggests the company faced challenges in acquiring and retaining long-term customers
  2. Estimated sales growth of 8% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend
  3. Operating margin improvement of 2.3 percentage points over the last year demonstrates its ability to scale efficiently

Qualys is trading at $139.50 per share, or 7.4x forward price-to-sales. If you’re considering QLYS for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

KB Home (KBH)

Consensus Price Target: $64.67 (9.4% implied return)

The first homebuilder to be listed on the NYSE, KB Home (NYSE: KB) is a homebuilding company targeting the first-time home buyer and move-up buyer markets.

Why Should You Sell KBH?

  1. Sales pipeline suggests its future revenue growth won’t meet our standards as its backlog averaged 20.4% declines over the past two years
  2. Falling earnings per share over the last two years has some investors worried as stock prices ultimately follow EPS over the long term
  3. Eroding returns on capital suggest its historical profit centers are aging

At $59.13 per share, KB Home trades at 10.3x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why KBH doesn’t pass our bar.

One Stock to Watch:

Amgen (AMGN)

Consensus Price Target: $318.51 (-6.6% implied return)

Founded in 1980 during the early days of the biotechnology revolution, Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, and manufactures innovative medicines to treat serious illnesses like cancer, osteoporosis, and autoimmune diseases.

Why Are We Fans of AMGN?

  1. Solid 15.8% annual revenue growth over the last two years indicates its offering’s solve complex business issues
  2. $35.97 billion in revenue gives its scale, which leads to bargaining power with customers because there are few trusted alternatives
  3. AMGN is a free cash flow machine with the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives or return capital to shareholders, and its improved cash conversion implies it’s becoming a less capital-intensive business

Amgen’s stock price of $341.20 implies a valuation ratio of 16x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free for active Edge members.

Stocks We Like Even More

Your portfolio can’t afford to be based on yesterday’s story. The risk in a handful of heavily crowded stocks is rising daily.

The names generating the next wave of massive growth are right here in 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 for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today

StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.

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