The past year hasn't been kind to the stocks featured in this article. Each has tumbled to their lowest points in 12 months, leaving investors to decide whether they're witnessing fire sales or falling knives.

Price charts only tell part of the story. Our team at StockStory evaluates each company's underlying fundamentals to separate temporary setbacks from structural declines. That said, here are three stocks where the outlook is warranted and some alternatives with better fundamentals.

Brown-Forman (BF.B)

One-Month Return: -12.8%

Best known for its Jack Daniel’s whiskey, Brown-Forman (NYSE: BF.B) is an alcoholic beverage company with a broad portfolio of brands in wines and spirits.

Why Does BF.B Give Us Pause?

1. Absence of organic revenue growth over the past two years suggests it may have to lean into acquisitions to drive its expansion
2. Sales are projected to tank by 2.9% over the next 12 months as demand evaporates further
3. Expenses have increased as a percentage of revenue over the last year as its operating margin fell by 6 percentage points

Brown-Forman’s stock price of $28.97 implies a valuation ratio of 14.8x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than BF.B.

TreeHouse Foods (THS)

One-Month Return: -3.5%

Whether it be packaged crackers, broths, or beverages, Treehouse Foods (NYSE: THS) produces a wide range of private-label foods for grocery and food service customers.

Why Should You Dump THS?

1. Declining unit sales over the past two years show it’s struggled to move its products and had to rely on price increases
2. Easily substituted products (and therefore stiff competition) result in an inferior gross margin of 16.5% that must be offset through higher volumes
3. Low returns on capital reflect management’s struggle to allocate funds effectively

TreeHouse Foods is trading at $21.24 per share, or 10.9x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with THS, check out our full research report (it’s free).

ASGN (ASGN)

One-Month Return: -1.1%

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 Pass on ASGN?

1. Annual sales declines of 6.7% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
2. Incremental sales over the last five years were less profitable as its earnings per share were flat while its revenue grew
3. Capital intensity has ramped up over the last five years as its free cash flow margin decreased by 5.1 percentage points

At $52.20 per share, ASGN trades at 10.3x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why ASGN doesn’t pass our bar.

Stocks We Like More

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 6 Stocks for this week. 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 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