When Wall Street turns bearish on a stock, it’s worth paying attention. These calls stand out because analysts rarely issue grim ratings on companies for fear their firms will lose out in other business lines such as M&A advisory.
At StockStory, we look beyond the headlines with our independent analysis to determine whether these bearish calls are justified. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock where Wall Street’s pessimism is creating a buying opportunity and two where the skepticism is well-placed.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Monro (MNRO)
Consensus Price Target: $17.67 (-3.4% implied return)
Started as a single location in Rochester, New York, Monro (NASDAQ: MNRO) provides common auto services such as brake repairs, tire replacements, and oil changes.
Why Do We Avoid MNRO?
- Ongoing store closures and lackluster same-store sales indicate sluggish demand and a focus on consolidation
- Poor same-store sales performance over the past two years indicates it’s having trouble bringing new shoppers into its brick-and-mortar locations
- Below-average returns on capital indicate management struggled to find compelling investment opportunities, and its shrinking returns suggest its past profit sources are losing steam
Monro’s stock price of $18.29 implies a valuation ratio of 33.1x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than MNRO.
Brighthouse Financial (BHF)
Consensus Price Target: $66.14 (0.7% implied return)
Spun off from MetLife in 2017 to focus specifically on retail financial products, Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ: BHF) provides annuity contracts and life insurance products designed to help individuals protect wealth, generate income, and transfer assets.
Why Is BHF Risky?
- Insurance offerings face significant market challenges this cycle as net premiums earned contracted by 1.4% annually over the last five years
- Book value per share tumbled by 11.1% annually over the last five years, showing insurance sector trends are working against its favor during this cycle
- Elevated debt-to-equity ratio of 1.3× suggests the firm is overleveraged and may struggle to secure additional financing
Brighthouse Financial is trading at $65.69 per share, or 0.8x forward P/B. To fully understand why you should be careful with BHF, check out our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members).
One Stock to Watch:
Incyte (INCY)
Consensus Price Target: $93.82 (-7.4% implied return)
Founded in 1991 and evolving from a genomics research firm to a commercial-stage drug developer, Incyte (NASDAQ: INCY) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes proprietary therapeutics for cancer and inflammatory diseases.
Why Are We Fans of INCY?
- Annual revenue growth of 15.5% over the last two years beat the sector average and underscores the unique value of its offerings
- Performance over the past five years was turbocharged by share buybacks, which enabled its earnings per share to grow faster than its revenue
- Free cash flow margin expanded by 5.5 percentage points over the last five years, providing additional flexibility for investments and share buybacks/dividends
At $101.33 per share, Incyte trades at 13.4x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free for active Edge members .
High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions
Your portfolio can’t afford to be based on yesterday’s story. The risk in a handful of heavily crowded stocks is rising daily.
The names generating the next wave of massive growth are right here in our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% 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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