3 of Wall Street’s Favorite Stocks with Questionable Fundamentals

September 01, 2025 at 00:31 AM EDT

RAMP Cover Image

Wall Street has set ambitious price targets for the stocks in this article. While this suggests attractive upside potential, it’s important to remain skeptical because analysts face institutional pressures that can sometimes lead to overly optimistic forecasts.

Luckily for you, we at StockStory have no conflicts of interest - our sole job is to help you find genuinely promising companies. That said, here are three stocks where Wall Street may be overlooking some important risks and some alternatives with better fundamentals.

LiveRamp (RAMP)

Consensus Price Target: $39.63 (41.9% implied return)

Serving as the digital middleman in an increasingly privacy-conscious world, LiveRamp (NYSE: RAMP) provides technology that helps companies securely share and connect their customer data with trusted partners while maintaining privacy compliance.

Why Is RAMP Not Exciting?

11.5% annual revenue growth over the last three years was slower than its software peers
Customers were hesitant to make long-term commitments to its software as its 8.9% average ARR growth over the last year was sluggish
Estimated sales growth of 7.8% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its three-year trend

LiveRamp is trading at $27.92 per share, or 2.3x forward price-to-sales. If you’re considering RAMP for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

Vestis (VSTS)

Consensus Price Target: $5.74 (25.1% implied return)

Operating a network of more than 350 facilities with 3,300 delivery routes serving customers weekly, Vestis (NYSE: VSTS) provides uniform rentals, workplace supplies, and facility services to over 300,000 business locations across the United States and Canada.

Why Do We Avoid VSTS?

Annual sales declines of 1.5% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
Free cash flow margin dropped by 9.8 percentage points over the last four years, implying the company became more capital intensive as competition picked up
High net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 5× increases the risk of forced asset sales or dilutive financing if operational performance weakens

At $4.59 per share, Vestis trades at 13.4x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than VSTS.

Icahn Enterprises (IEP)

Consensus Price Target: $12 (40.5% implied return)

Founded in 1987, Icahn Enterprises (NASDAQ: IEP) is a diversified holding company primarily engaged in investment and asset management across various sectors.

Why Are We Cautious About IEP?

Customers postponed purchases of its products and services this cycle as its revenue declined by 9.8% annually over the last two years
High input costs result in an inferior gross margin of 8.5% that must be offset through higher volumes
Unfavorable liquidity position could lead to additional equity financing that dilutes shareholders

Icahn Enterprises’s stock price of $8.54 implies a valuation ratio of 0.4x forward price-to-sales. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why IEP doesn’t pass our bar.

Stocks We Like More

When Trump unveiled his aggressive tariff plan in April 2025, 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 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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

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3 of Wall Street’s Favorite Stocks with Questionable Fundamentals

LiveRamp (RAMP)

Vestis (VSTS)

Icahn Enterprises (IEP)

Stocks We Like More

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