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1 Hated Stock that Deserves Some Love and 2 to Think Twice About

MDLZ Cover Image

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

Two Stocks to Sell:

Mondelez (MDLZ)

Consensus Price Target: $72.71 (8.9% implied return)

Founded as Nabisco in 1903, Mondelez (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a packaged snacks powerhouse best known for its Oreo, Cadbury, Toblerone, Ritz, and Trident brands.

Why Does MDLZ Fall Short?

  1. Costs have risen faster than its revenue over the last year, causing its operating margin to decline by 7 percentage points
  2. Capital intensity has ramped up over the last year as its free cash flow margin decreased by 1.3 percentage points
  3. Underwhelming 8% return on capital reflects management’s difficulties in finding profitable growth opportunities

Mondelez’s stock price of $66.75 implies a valuation ratio of 22x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why MDLZ doesn’t pass our bar.

Jabil (JBL)

Consensus Price Target: $164.76 (7% implied return)

With manufacturing facilities spanning the globe from China to Mexico to the United States, Jabil (NYSE: JBL) provides electronics design, manufacturing, and supply chain solutions to companies across various industries, from healthcare to automotive to cloud computing.

Why Does JBL Give Us Pause?

  1. Sales tumbled by 11.6% annually over the last two years, showing market trends are working against its favor during this cycle
  2. Flat earnings per share over the last two years lagged its peers
  3. Ability to fund investments or reward shareholders with increased buybacks or dividends is restricted by its weak free cash flow margin of 3.1% for the last five years

Jabil is trading at $153.98 per share, or 16.1x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with JBL, check out our full research report (it’s free).

One Stock to Buy:

Monster (MNST)

Consensus Price Target: $60.37 (-0.8% implied return)

Founded in 2002 as a natural soda and juice company, Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST) is a pioneer of the energy drink category, and its Monster Energy brand targets a young, active demographic.

Why Should You Buy MNST?

  1. Disciplined cost controls and effective management resulted in a strong two-year operating margin of 27.3%
  2. Strong free cash flow margin of 22% enables it to reinvest or return capital consistently, and its growing cash flow gives it even more resources to deploy
  3. Market-beating returns on capital illustrate that management has a knack for investing in profitable ventures

At $60.86 per share, Monster trades at 32.5x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

Stocks That Overcame Trump’s 2018 Tariffs

Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs.

While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 176% over the last five years.

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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