The past year hasn't been kind to the stocks featured in this article. Each has tumbled to their lowest points in 12 months, leaving investors to decide whether they're witnessing fire sales or falling knives.
Price charts only tell part of the story. Our team at StockStory evaluates each company's underlying fundamentals to separate temporary setbacks from structural declines. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock poised to prove the bears wrong and two where the outlook is warranted.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Bright Horizons (BFAM)
One-Month Return: -5.6%
Founded in 1986, Bright Horizons (NYSE:BFAM) is a global provider of child care, early education, and workforce support solutions.
Why Do We Steer Clear of BFAM?
- Absence of organic revenue growth over the past two years suggests it may have to lean into acquisitions to drive its expansion
- Free cash flow margin is forecasted to grow by 1.4 percentage points in the coming year, potentially giving the company more chips to play with
- Returns on capital are increasing as management makes relatively better investment decisions
At $93.96 per share, Bright Horizons trades at 18.9x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than BFAM.
Gartner (IT)
One-Month Return: -5.4%
With over 2,500 research experts guiding organizations through complex technology landscapes, Gartner (NYSE:IT) provides research, advisory services, and conferences that help executives make better decisions about technology and other business priorities.
Why Is IT Not Exciting?
- Estimated sales growth of 2.7% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend
- Costs have risen faster than its revenue over the last five years, causing its adjusted operating margin to decline by 4.4 percentage points
- 9.3 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
Gartner’s stock price of $236.86 implies a valuation ratio of 17.7x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why IT doesn’t pass our bar.
One Stock to Buy:
CBIZ (CBZ)
One-Month Return: -17.4%
With over 120 offices across 33 states and a team of more than 6,700 professionals, CBIZ (NYSE:CBZ) provides accounting, tax, benefits, insurance brokerage, and advisory services to help small and mid-sized businesses manage their finances and operations.
Why Will CBZ Beat the Market?
- Market share has increased this cycle as its 31% annual revenue growth over the last two years was exceptional
- Projected revenue growth of 8.7% for the next 12 months suggests its momentum from the last two years will persist
- Earnings per share grew by 28.3% annually over the last two years and trumped its peers
CBIZ is trading at $43.12 per share, or 11.7x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.
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 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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.