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.

At StockStory, we look beyond the headlines with our independent analysis to determine whether these bearish calls are justified. That said, here is one stock poised to prove Wall Street wrong and two facing legitimate challenges.

Two Stocks to Sell:

Amazon (AMZN)

Consensus Price Target: $246.71 (10% implied return)

Founded by Jeff Bezos after quitting his stock-picking job at D.E. Shaw, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is the world’s largest online retailer and provider of cloud computing services.

Why Do We Think Twice About AMZN?

1. Amazon revolutionized the way consumers shop. But its capital-intensive online retail business caps its profitability, leading to margins that lag behind its Magnificent 7 peers.
2. Although Amazon Web Services is a gold mine producing mission-critical infrastructure, its outsized scale limits its growth rate compared to smaller peers such as Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.
3. Returns on invested capital are well below their pre-COVID peak as the company is in the middle of an investment cycle. Will Amazon ever harvest profits or keep pushing them to the future?

Amazon is trading at $224.33 per share, or 35.1x forward price-to-earnings. If you’re considering AMZN for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

First Bancorp (FBNC)

Consensus Price Target: $49.19 (3.1% implied return)

Founded during the Great Depression in 1934 and originally known as Montgomery Bancorp, First Bancorp (NASDAQ: FBNC) is a community-oriented commercial bank providing a wide range of financial services to businesses and individuals in North and South Carolina.

Why Does FBNC Fall Short?

1. Sales tumbled by 5% annually over the last two years, showing market trends are working against its favor during this cycle
2. Concessions to defend its market share have ramped up over the last two years as its net interest margin decreased by 28.3 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point)
3. Earnings per share decreased by more than its revenue over the last two years, showing each sale was less profitable

At $47.70 per share, First Bancorp trades at 1.3x forward P/B. To fully understand why you should be careful with FBNC, check out our full research report (it’s free).

One Stock to Watch:

ResMed (RMD)

Consensus Price Target: $269.49 (5.1% implied return)

Founded in 1989 to address the then-underdiagnosed condition of sleep apnea, ResMed (NYSE: RMD) develops cloud-connected medical devices and software solutions that treat sleep apnea, COPD, and other respiratory disorders for home and clinical use.

Why Do We Like RMD?

1. Average constant currency growth of 12% over the past two years demonstrates its ability to grow internationally despite currency fluctuations
2. Incremental sales significantly boosted profitability as its annual earnings per share growth of 15.7% over the last five years outstripped its revenue performance
3. Free cash flow margin increased by 7.1 percentage points over the last five years, giving the company more capital to invest or return to shareholders

ResMed’s stock price of $256.42 implies a valuation ratio of 25.3x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

When Trump unveiled his aggressive tariff plan in April 2024, 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 5 Growth Stocks for this month. 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).

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-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% 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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