Laser Focus World is an industry bedrock—first published in 1965 and still going strong. We publish original articles about cutting-edge advances in lasers, optics, photonics, sensors, and quantum technologies, as well as test and measurement, and the shift currently underway to usher in the photonic integrated circuits, optical interconnects, and copackaged electronics and photonics to deliver the speed and efficiency essential for data centers of the future.

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Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

1 Unpopular Stock That Deserves Some Love and 2 We Brush Off

PATH Cover Image

Wall Street has issued downbeat forecasts for the stocks in this article. These predictions are rare - financial institutions typically hesitate to say bad things about a company because it can jeopardize their other revenue-generating business lines like M&A advisory.

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 poised to prove Wall Street wrong and two where the outlook is warranted.

Two Stocks to Sell:

UiPath (PATH)

Consensus Price Target: $13.40 (2.6% implied return)

Starting with robotic process automation (RPA) and evolving into a comprehensive automation powerhouse, UiPath (NYSE: PATH) provides an AI-powered business automation platform that enables organizations to create software robots that mimic human actions to streamline repetitive tasks and processes.

Why Is PATH Not Exciting?

  1. Flat billings over the last year suggest it may need to improve its products, pricing, or go-to-market strategy to reinvigorate demand
  2. Estimated sales growth of 9.6% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend
  3. Suboptimal cost structure is highlighted by its history of operating margin losses

UiPath is trading at $13.06 per share, or 4.3x forward price-to-sales. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than PATH.

Seagate Technology (STX)

Consensus Price Target: $199.35 (-23.3% implied return)

The developer of the original 5.25inch hard disk drive, Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) is a leading producer of data storage solutions, including hard drives and Solid State Drives (SSDs) used in PCs and data centers.

Why Are We Wary of STX?

  1. Sales tumbled by 2.8% annually over the last five years, showing market trends are working against its favor during this cycle
  2. High input costs result in an inferior gross margin of 30.4% that must be offset through higher volumes
  3. Low free cash flow margin of 9.5% for the last two years gives it little breathing room, constraining its ability to self-fund growth or return capital to shareholders

At $260 per share, Seagate Technology trades at 26.1x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including STX in your portfolio.

One Stock to Buy:

FB Financial (FBK)

Consensus Price Target: $59.67 (6.5% implied return)

Founded in 1906 and operating through more than a century of economic cycles, FB Financial (NYSE: FBK) operates FirstBank, providing commercial and consumer banking services across Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and North Georgia.

Why Do We Love FBK?

  1. Market share has increased this cycle as its 14.4% annual net interest income growth over the last five years was exceptional
  2. Exciting net interest income outlook for the upcoming 12 months calls for 32.6% growth, an acceleration from its five-year trend
  3. Earnings growth has trumped its peers over the last two years as its EPS has compounded at 6% annually

FB Financial’s stock price of $56 implies a valuation ratio of 1.5x forward P/B. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even 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-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% 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

StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.

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