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.
But not every company with momentum is a long-term winner, and plenty of investors have lost money betting on short-term fads. Keeping that in mind, here are two stocks with lasting competitive advantages and one not so much.
One Stock to Sell:
Brookdale (BKD)
One-Month Return: +7.8%
With a network of over 650 communities serving approximately 59,000 residents across 41 states, Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) operates senior living communities across the United States, offering independent living, assisted living, memory care, and continuing care retirement communities.
Why Is BKD Not Exciting?
- Annual sales declines of 3.8% for the past five years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
- ROIC of -0.5% reflects management’s challenges in identifying attractive investment opportunities
Brookdale is trading at $7.77 per share, or 4x forward EV-to-EBITDA. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than BKD.
Two Stocks to Buy:
Cal-Maine (CALM)
One-Month Return: +5.8%
Known for brands such as Egg-Land’s Best and Land O’ Lakes, Cal-Maine (NASDAQ: CALM) produces, packages, and distributes eggs.
Why Will CALM Beat the Market?
- Annual revenue growth of 33.9% over the last three years was superb and indicates its market share is rising
- Incremental sales over the last three years have been highly profitable as its earnings per share increased by 110% annually, topping its revenue gains
- Impressive free cash flow profitability enables the company to fund new investments or reward investors with share buybacks/dividends, and its improved cash conversion implies it’s becoming a less capital-intensive business
At $114 per share, Cal-Maine trades at 8.1x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
First BanCorp (FBP)
One-Month Return: +6.3%
Tracing its roots back to 1948 in San Juan, First BanCorp (NYSE: FBP) is a bank holding company that provides commercial banking, consumer financing, mortgage services, and insurance products across Puerto Rico, the U.S. mainland, and the Caribbean.
Why Are We Backing FBP?
- Differentiated product suite results in a Strong performance of its loan book results in a High-yielding loan book and low cost of funds lead to a stellar net interest margin of 4.4%
- Non-interest operating profits and efficiency rose over the last four years as it benefited from some fixed cost leverage
- Share buybacks catapulted its annual earnings per share growth to 9.1%, which outperformed its revenue gains over the last two years
First BanCorp’s stock price of $21.95 implies a valuation ratio of 1.9x forward P/B. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself 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 6 Stocks for this week. 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.
StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.
