Each stock in this article is trading near its 52-week high. These elevated prices usually indicate some degree of investor confidence, business improvements, or favorable market conditions.
While momentum can be a leading indicator, it has burned many investors as it doesn’t always correlate with long-term success. All that said, here is one stock with the fundamentals to back up its performance and two not so much.
Two Stocks to Sell:
Tutor Perini (TPC)
One-Month Return: +69.6%
Known for constructing the Philadelphia Eagles’ Stadium, Tutor Perini (NYSE: TPC) is a civil and building construction company offering diversified general contracting and design-build services.
Why Does TPC Give Us Pause?
- Sales stagnated over the last five years and signal the need for new growth strategies
- High input costs result in an inferior gross margin of 6.1% that must be offset through higher volumes
- Waning returns on capital from an already weak starting point displays the inefficacy of management’s past and current investment decisions
Tutor Perini’s stock price of $38.61 implies a valuation ratio of 18.5x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with TPC, check out our full research report (it’s free).
Labcorp (LH)
One-Month Return: +3.1%
With over 600 million tests performed annually and involvement in 90% of FDA-approved drugs in 2023, Labcorp (NYSE: LH) provides laboratory testing services and drug development solutions to doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and patients worldwide.
Why Does LH Worry Us?
- Core business is underperforming as its organic revenue has disappointed over the past two years, suggesting it might need acquisitions to stimulate growth
- Expenses have increased as a percentage of revenue over the last five years as its adjusted operating margin fell by 13.3 percentage points
- Eroding returns on capital suggest its historical profit centers are aging
At $254.37 per share, Labcorp trades at 15.4x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why LH doesn’t pass our bar.
One Stock to Watch:
Urban Outfitters (URBN)
One-Month Return: +31.5%
Founded as a purveyor of vintage items, Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) now largely sells new apparel and accessories to teens and young adults seeking on-trend fashion.
Why Do We Watch URBN?
- Locations open for at least a year are seeing increased demand as same-store sales have averaged 4.2% growth over the past two years
- Projected revenue growth of 8% for the next 12 months indicates demand will rise above its six-year trend
- Earnings per share grew by 46.7% annually over the last five years and trumped its peers
Urban Outfitters is trading at $70.60 per share, or 15.8x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.
Stocks We Like Even More
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs.
While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like 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-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.
