A highly volatile stock can deliver big gains - or just as easily wipe out a portfolio if things go south. While some investors embrace risk, mistakes can be costly for those who aren’t prepared.
At StockStory, our job is to help you avoid costly mistakes and stay on the right side of the trade. That said, here is one volatile stock with massive upside potential and two that could just as easily collapse.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Marriott (MAR)
Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.07
Founded by J. Willard Marriott in 1927, Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global hospitality company with a portfolio of over 7,000 properties and 30 brands, spanning 130+ countries and territories.
Why Should You Dump MAR?
- Revenue per room has underperformed over the past two years, suggesting it may need to develop new facilities
- Poor expense management has led to an operating margin of 15.4% that is below the industry average
- Capital intensity will likely increase as its free cash flow margin is anticipated to drop by 5.4 percentage points over the next year
Marriott’s stock price of $355.52 implies a valuation ratio of 31.3x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why MAR doesn’t pass our bar.
Ocular Therapeutix (OCUL)
Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.14
Pioneering a drug delivery platform that can eliminate the need for monthly eye injections, Ocular Therapeutix (NASDAQ: OCUL) develops sustained-release treatments for eye diseases using its proprietary ELUTYX bioresorbable hydrogel technology that gradually releases medication.
Why Are We Out on OCUL?
- Customers postponed purchases of its products and services this cycle as its revenue declined by 5.7% annually over the last two years
- Expenses have increased as a percentage of revenue over the last five years as its adjusted operating margin fell by 340.5 percentage points
- 264.1 percentage point decline in its free cash flow margin over the last five years reflects the company’s increased investments to defend its market position
At $6.94 per share, Ocular Therapeutix trades at 28x forward price-to-sales. To fully understand why you should be careful with OCUL, check out our full research report (it’s free).
One Stock to Buy:
Oscar Health (OSCR)
Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.04
Founded in 2012 to simplify the notoriously complex American healthcare system, Oscar Health (NYSE: OSCR) is a technology-focused health insurance company that offers individual and small group health plans through its cloud-native platform.
Why Are We Backing OSCR?
- Annual revenue growth of 41.2% over the last two years was superb and indicates its market share increased during this cycle
- Adjusted operating profits increased over the last five years as the company gained some leverage on its fixed costs and became more efficient
- Free cash flow margin expanded by 16.7 percentage points over the last five years, providing additional flexibility for investments and share buybacks/dividends
Oscar Health is trading at $13.78 per share, or 34.3x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
Stocks We Like Even More
The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in 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 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-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
