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  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
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1 Unpopular Stock That Deserves Some Love and 2 Facing Challenges

By: StockStory

MCD 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.

Whatever the consensus opinion may be, our team at StockStory cuts through the noise by conducting independent analysis to determine a company’s long-term prospects. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock where Wall Street’s pessimism is creating a buying opportunity and two facing legitimate challenges.

Two Stocks to Sell:

Brookdale (BKD)

Consensus Price Target: $8.30 (7.2% implied return)

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 Are We Wary of BKD?

  1. Annual sales declines of 3.8% for the past five years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
  2. ROIC of -0.5% reflects management’s challenges in identifying attractive investment opportunities

At $7.74 per share, Brookdale trades at 4x forward EV-to-EBITDA. To fully understand why you should be careful with BKD, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Veritex Holdings (VBTX)

Consensus Price Target: $33.20 (-3.4% implied return)

Founded during the 2009 financial crisis when many banks were failing, Veritex Holdings (NASDAQGM:VBTX) operates Veritex Community Bank, providing commercial and retail banking services to small and medium-sized businesses and professionals in Texas.

Why Do We Think Twice About VBTX?

  1. Products and services are facing significant end-market challenges during this cycle as sales have declined by 1.1% annually over the last two years
  2. Estimated net interest income growth of 2.6% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its four-year trend
  3. Earnings per share decreased by more than its revenue over the last two years, showing each sale was less profitable

Veritex Holdings is trading at $34.37 per share, or 1.1x forward P/B. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than VBTX.

One Stock to Watch:

McDonald's (MCD)

Consensus Price Target: $335.41 (7% implied return)

With nicknames spanning Mickey D's in the U.S. to Makku in Japan, McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is a fast-food behemoth known for its convenience and broken ice cream machines.

Why Does MCD Catch Our Eye?

  1. Rapidly increasing restaurant base reflects a desire to sell in new markets and scale quickly
  2. Asset-lite franchise model is reflected in its superior unit economics and a best-in-class gross margin of 57%
  3. MCD is a free cash flow machine with the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives or return capital to shareholders

McDonald’s stock price of $313.39 implies a valuation ratio of 24.5x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

Trump’s April 2025 tariff bombshell triggered a massive market selloff, but stocks have since staged an impressive recovery, leaving those who panic sold on the sidelines.

Take advantage of the rebound by checking out our 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.

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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