Large-cap stocks are known for their staying power and ability to weather market storms better than smaller competitors. However, their sheer size makes it more challenging to maintain high growth rates as they’ve already captured significant portions of their markets.

This dynamic can trouble even the most skilled investors, but luckily for you, we started StockStory to help you navigate these trade-offs and uncover exceptional companies that break the mold. That said, here is one large-cap stock whose competitive advantages creates flywheel effects and two whose momentum may slow.

Two Large-Cap Stocks to Sell:

Mondelez (MDLZ)

Market Cap: $79.5 billion

Founded as Nabisco in 1903, Mondelez (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a packaged snacks powerhouse best known for its Oreo, Cadbury, Toblerone, Ritz, and Trident brands.

Why Is MDLZ Not Exciting?

1. Flat unit sales over the past two years imply it may need to invest in product improvements to get back on track
2. Day-to-day expenses have swelled relative to revenue over the last year as its operating margin fell by 4.7 percentage points
3. Free cash flow margin shrank by 2.3 percentage points over the last year, suggesting the company is consuming more capital to stay competitive

Mondelez is trading at $61.30 per share, or 19.1x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than MDLZ.

CME Group (CME)

Market Cap: $96.04 billion

Born from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange founded in 1898 as a butter and egg trading venue, CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) operates the world's largest derivatives marketplace where traders can buy and sell futures and options contracts across interest rates, equities, currencies, commodities, and more.

Why Are We Cautious About CME?

1. Annual revenue growth of 4.7% over the last five years was below our standards for the financials sector
2. Earnings growth underperformed the sector average over the last five years as its EPS grew by just 8.2% annually

At $267.18 per share, CME Group trades at 23.6x forward P/E. If you’re considering CME for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.

One Large-Cap Stock to Watch:

Datadog (DDOG)

Market Cap: $47.67 billion

Named after a database the founders had to painstakingly look after at their previous company, Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG) provides a software platform that helps organizations monitor and secure their cloud applications, infrastructure, and services.

Why Are We Positive On DDOG?

1. Customers view its software as mission-critical to their operations as its ARR has averaged 26% growth over the last year
2. User-friendly software enables clients to ramp up spending quickly, leading to the speedy recovery of customer acquisition costs
3. Impressive free cash flow profitability enables the company to fund new investments or reward investors with share buybacks/dividends

Datadog’s stock price of $136.90 implies a valuation ratio of 13.5x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full 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 5 Strong Momentum 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-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

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