While the S&P 500 (^GSPC) includes industry leaders, not every stock in the index is a winner. Some companies are past their prime, weighed down by poor execution, weak financials, or structural headwinds.
Some large-cap stocks are past their peak, and StockStory is here to help you separate the winners from the laggards. Keeping that in mind, here is one S&P 500 stock that could deliver good returns and two best left off your watchlist.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Expedia (EXPE)
Market Cap: $23.79 billion
Originally founded as a part of Microsoft, Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) is one of the world’s leading online travel agencies.
Why Are We Cautious About EXPE?
- Preference for prioritizing user growth over monetization has led to 1.8% annual drops in its average revenue per booking
- Highly competitive market means it’s on the never-ending treadmill of sales and marketing spend
- Free cash flow margin dropped by 23.4 percentage points over the last few years, implying the company became more capital intensive as competition picked up
Expedia’s stock price of $186.80 implies a valuation ratio of 7.6x forward EV/EBITDA. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including EXPE in your portfolio.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
Market Cap: $820.2 billion
Tracing its roots back to 1799 when its earliest predecessor was founded by Aaron Burr, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services company offering investment banking, consumer banking, commercial banking, and asset management services globally.
Why Do We Think Twice About JPM?
- Estimated net interest income growth of 2.4% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its five-year trend
- Net interest margin of 2.6% is well below other banks, signaling its loans aren’t very profitable
- Efficiency ratio is expected to worsen by 2.6 percentage points over the next year
At $298.18 per share, JPMorgan Chase trades at 2.4x forward P/B. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why JPM doesn’t pass our bar.
One Stock to Watch:
VeriSign (VRSN)
Market Cap: $28.58 billion
While the company is not a domain registrar and does not directly sell domain names to end users, Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) operates and maintains the infrastructure to support domain names such as .com and .net.
Why Should VRSN Be on Your Watchlist?
- Billings growth has averaged 15.3% over the last year, indicating a healthy pipeline of new contracts that should drive future revenue increases
- Superior software functionality and low servicing costs are reflected in its best-in-class gross margin of 87.9%
- VRSN is a free cash flow machine with the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives or return capital to shareholders
VeriSign is trading at $286 per share, or 17.3x forward price-to-sales. Is now the right time to buy? Find out 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 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-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.
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