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.
However, not all companies with momentum are long-term winners, and many investors have lost money by following short-term trends. All that said, here is one stock we think lives up to the hype and two not so much.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Five9 (FIVN)
One-Month Return: +34.5%
Taking its name from the "five nines" (99.999%) standard for optimal service reliability in telecommunications, Five9 (NASDAQ: FIVN) provides cloud-based software that enables businesses to run their contact centers with tools for customer service, sales, and marketing across multiple communication channels.
Why Are We Bearish on FIVN?
- Customers had second thoughts about committing to its platform over the last year as its average billings growth of 9.1% underwhelmed
- Demand will likely be soft over the next 12 months as Wall Street’s estimates imply tepid growth of 10.5%
- Gross margin of 54.9% is way below its competitors, leaving less money to invest in areas like marketing and R&D
Five9 is trading at $34.18 per share, or 1.8x forward price-to-sales. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why FIVN doesn’t pass our bar.
Ibotta (IBTA)
One-Month Return: +24.8%
Originally launched as a way to make grocery shopping more rewarding for budget-conscious consumers, Ibotta (NYSE: IBTA) is a mobile shopping app that allows consumers to earn cash back on everyday purchases by completing tasks and submitting receipts.
Why Is IBTA Not Exciting?
- Products and services are facing significant end-market challenges during this cycle as sales have declined by 1.3% annually over the last two years
- Modest revenue base of $343.2 million gives it less fixed cost leverage and fewer distribution channels than larger companies
- Earnings per share have dipped by 22.3% annually over the past two years, which is concerning because stock prices follow EPS over the long term
Ibotta’s stock price of $38.53 implies a valuation ratio of 22.3x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including IBTA in your portfolio.
One Stock to Watch:
Zebra (ZBRA)
One-Month Return: +37.9%
Taking its name from the black and white stripes of barcodes, Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA) provides barcode scanners, mobile computers, RFID systems, and other data capture technologies that help businesses track assets and optimize operations.
Why Are We Positive on ZBRA?
- Core business can prosper without any help from acquisitions as its organic revenue growth averaged 13.8% over the past two years
- Share buybacks catapulted its annual earnings per share growth to 49.8%, which outperformed its revenue gains over the last two years
- Free cash flow margin expanded by 4.8 percentage points over the last five years, providing additional flexibility for investments and share buybacks/dividends
At $375.87 per share, Zebra trades at 17.6x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free.
High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions
WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. The best stocks don’t just beat the market once. They do it again. And again. Robust revenue growth, rising free cash flow, returns on capital that leave their competition in the dust. The market has already rewarded these businesses.
But our AI platform says the party isn’t over. Find out which 9 stocks made the cut this week — FREE. Get Our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks for Free HERE.
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,552% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
