2 Surging Stocks on Our Buy List and 1 We Turn Down

September 08, 2025 at 08:26 AM EDT

The stocks featured in this article have all approached their 52-week highs. When these price levels hit, it typically signals strong business execution, positive market sentiment, or significant industry tailwinds.

But not every company with momentum is a long-term winner, and plenty of investors have lost money betting on short-term fads. Keeping that in mind, here are two stocks with lasting competitive advantages and one not so much.

One Stock to Sell:

Brookdale (BKD)

One-Month Return: +7.8%

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 Is BKD Not Exciting?

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
ROIC of -0.5% reflects management’s challenges in identifying attractive investment opportunities

Brookdale is trading at $7.77 per share, or 4x forward EV-to-EBITDA. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than BKD.

Two Stocks to Buy:

Cal-Maine (CALM)

One-Month Return: +5.8%

Known for brands such as Egg-Land’s Best and Land O’ Lakes, Cal-Maine (NASDAQ: CALM) produces, packages, and distributes eggs.

Why Will CALM Beat the Market?

Annual revenue growth of 33.9% over the last three years was superb and indicates its market share is rising
Incremental sales over the last three years have been highly profitable as its earnings per share increased by 110% annually, topping its revenue gains
Impressive free cash flow profitability enables the company to fund new investments or reward investors with share buybacks/dividends, and its improved cash conversion implies it’s becoming a less capital-intensive business

At $114 per share, Cal-Maine trades at 8.1x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

First BanCorp (FBP)

One-Month Return: +6.3%

Tracing its roots back to 1948 in San Juan, First BanCorp (NYSE: FBP) is a bank holding company that provides commercial banking, consumer financing, mortgage services, and insurance products across Puerto Rico, the U.S. mainland, and the Caribbean.

Why Are We Backing FBP?

Differentiated product suite results in a Strong performance of its loan book results in a High-yielding loan book and low cost of funds lead to a stellar net interest margin of 4.4%
Non-interest operating profits and efficiency rose over the last four years as it benefited from some fixed cost leverage
Share buybacks catapulted its annual earnings per share growth to 9.1%, which outperformed its revenue gains over the last two years

First BanCorp’s stock price of $21.95 implies a valuation ratio of 1.9x forward P/B. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

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 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-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.

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