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.

But not every company with momentum is a long-term winner, and plenty of investors have lost money betting on short-term fads. On that note, here are three stocks getting more buzz than they deserve and some you should buy instead.

Wayfair (W)

One-Month Return: +13.7%

Founded in 2002 by Niraj Shah, Wayfair (NYSE: W) is a leading online retailer of mass-market home goods in the US, UK, Canada, and Germany.

Why Are We Hesitant About W?

1. Struggled with new customer acquisition as its active customers averaged 1.8% declines
2. Estimated sales growth of 5.2% for the next 12 months is soft and implies weaker demand
3. High servicing costs result in an inferior gross margin of 30.2% that must be offset through higher volumes

Wayfair is trading at $115.65 per share, or 22.4x forward EV/EBITDA. To fully understand why you should be careful with W, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Brookdale (BKD)

One-Month Return: +13.1%

With a network of over 650 communities serving approximately 59,000 residents across 41 states, Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) operates senior living communities across the United States, offering independent living, assisted living, memory care, and continuing care retirement communities.

Why Is BKD Not Exciting?

1. Customers postponed purchases of its products and services this cycle as its revenue declined by 2.6% annually over the last five years
2. Sales are projected to tank by 6.1% over the next 12 months as demand evaporates
3. 12× net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio makes lenders less willing to extend additional capital, potentially necessitating dilutive equity offerings

At $12.20 per share, Brookdale trades at 16.6x forward EV-to-EBITDA. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than BKD.

Viking (VIK)

One-Month Return: -5.1%

From a single river cruise offering to a fleet of 96 vessels across multiple continents, Viking (NYSE: VIK) operates a fleet of small luxury cruise ships offering river, ocean, and expedition voyages focused on cultural enrichment and destination immersion.

Why Should You Sell VIK?

1. Annual revenue growth of 17.1% over the last two years was below our standards for the consumer discretionary sector
2. Poor expense management has led to an operating margin of 21.1% that is below the industry average
3. Low free cash flow margin of 18% for the last two years gives it little breathing room, constraining its ability to self-fund growth or return capital to shareholders

Viking’s stock price of $69.56 implies a valuation ratio of 22.2x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including VIK in your portfolio.

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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.