Business services providers play a critical role for enterprises, assisting them with everything from new hardware integrations to consulting and marketing. But increasing competition from AI-driven upstarts has tempered enthusiasm, and over the past six months, the industry has pulled back by 3.3%. This performance was similar to the S&P 500’s decline.

Only some companies are subject to these dynamics, however, and a handful of high-quality businesses can deliver earnings growth in any environment. With that said, here is one services stock poised to generate sustainable market-beating returns and two we’re steering clear of.

Two Business Services Stocks to Sell:

ASGN (ASGN)

Market Cap: $2.78 billion

Evolving from its roots in IT staffing to become a high-end technology consulting powerhouse, ASGN (NYSE: ASGN) provides specialized IT consulting services and staffing solutions to Fortune 1000 companies and U.S. federal government agencies.

Why Do We Think ASGN Will Underperform?

1. Annual sales declines of 5.4% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
2. Sales are projected to be flat over the next 12 months and imply weak demand
3. Sales were less profitable over the last two years as its earnings per share fell by 10.7% annually, worse than its revenue declines

At $63.02 per share, ASGN trades at 11.3x forward price-to-earnings. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including ASGN in your portfolio.

CBIZ (CBZ)

Market Cap: $4.01 billion

With over 120 offices across 33 states and a team of more than 6,700 professionals, CBIZ (NYSE: CBZ) provides accounting, tax, benefits, insurance brokerage, and advisory services to help small and mid-sized businesses manage their finances and operations.

Why Is CBZ Not Exciting?

1. Earnings per share have contracted by 22.3% annually over the last five years, a headwind for returns as stock prices often echo long-term EPS performance
2. Free cash flow margin shrank by 7.9 percentage points over the last five years, suggesting the company is consuming more capital to stay competitive
3. 10× net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio makes lenders less willing to extend additional capital, potentially necessitating dilutive equity offerings

CBIZ’s stock price of $75.86 implies a valuation ratio of 2.5x trailing 12-month price-to-sales. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why CBZ doesn’t pass our bar.

One Business Services Stock to Buy:

Pure Storage (PSTG)

Market Cap: $14.43 billion

Founded in 2009 as a pioneer in enterprise all-flash storage technology, Pure Storage (NYSE: PSTG) provides all-flash data storage hardware and software that helps organizations manage their data more efficiently across on-premises and cloud environments.

Why Is PSTG a Top Pick?

1. ARR growth averaged 24.8% over the past two years, showing customers are willing to take multi-year bets on its offerings
2. Incremental sales over the last five years have been highly profitable as its earnings per share increased by 46.4% annually, topping its revenue gains
3. Strong free cash flow margin of 16% enables it to reinvest or return capital consistently, and its rising cash conversion increases its margin of safety

Pure Storage is trading at $44.27 per share, or 25.1x forward price-to-earnings. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

With rates dropping, inflation stabilizing, and the elections in the rearview mirror, all signs point to the start of a new bull run - and we’re laser-focused on finding the best stocks for this upcoming cycle.

Put yourself in the driver’s seat by checking out 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 175% over the last five years.

Stocks that made our list in 2019 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+2,183% between December 2019 and December 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like Comfort Systems (+751% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.