While profitability is essential, it doesn’t guarantee long-term success. Some companies that rest on their margins will lose ground as competition intensifies — as Jeff Bezos said, “Your margin is my opportunity”.
Not all profitable companies are created equal, and that’s why we built StockStory - to help you find the ones that truly shine bright. That said, here are two profitable companies that balance growth and profitability and one that may struggle to keep up.
One Stock to Sell:
Angi (ANGI)
Trailing 12-Month GAAP Operating Margin: 3.5%
Created by IAC’s mergers of Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor, ANGI (NASDAQ: ANGI) operates the largest online marketplace for home services in the US.
Why Is ANGI Not Exciting?
- Intense competition is diverting traffic from its platform as its service requests fell by 19.2% annually
- Forecasted revenue decline of 3.6% for the upcoming 12 months implies demand will fall even further
- Expensive marketing campaigns hurt its profitability and make us wonder what would happen if it let up on the gas
At $5 per share, Angi trades at 4.1x forward EV/EBITDA. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than ANGI.
Two Stocks to Watch:
HubSpot (HUBS)
Trailing 12-Month GAAP Operating Margin: 1.9%
Born from the idea that traditional interruptive marketing was becoming less effective, HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) provides an integrated platform that helps businesses attract, engage, and manage customer relationships through marketing, sales, service, and content management tools.
Why Does HUBS Stand Out?
- Winning new contracts that can potentially increase in value as its billings growth has averaged 22.3% over the last year
- Prominent and differentiated software leads to a top-tier gross margin of 83.7%
- User-friendly software enables clients to ramp up spending quickly, leading to the speedy recovery of customer acquisition costs
HubSpot is trading at $176.61 per share, or 2.4x forward price-to-sales. Is now the right time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
AbbVie (ABBV)
Trailing 12-Month GAAP Operating Margin: 24.4%
Born from a 2013 spinoff of Abbott Laboratories' pharmaceutical business, AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and markets medications for autoimmune diseases, cancer, neurological disorders, and other complex health conditions.
Why Are We Positive on ABBV?
- Massive revenue base of $62.82 billion in a highly regulated sector makes the company difficult to replace, giving it meaningful negotiating power
- Impressive free cash flow profitability enables the company to fund new investments or reward investors with share buybacks/dividends
- ROIC punches in at 17.5%, illustrating management’s expertise in identifying profitable investments
AbbVie’s stock price of $216.98 implies a valuation ratio of 14.5x 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
ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively.
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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 Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
