3 of Wall Street’s Favorite Stocks We Steer Clear Of
Wall Street has set ambitious price targets for the stocks in this article. While this suggests attractive upside potential, it’s important to remain skeptical because analysts face institutional pressures that can sometimes lead to overly optimistic forecasts.
Unlike the investment banks, we created StockStory to provide independent analysis that helps you determine which companies are truly worth following. That said, here are three stocks where Wall Street’s estimates seem disconnected from reality and some better opportunities to consider.
Commerce (CMRC)
Consensus Price Target: $4 (23.4% implied return)
As a founding member of the MACH Alliance advocating for modern tech standards, Commerce (NASDAQ:CMRC) provides a SaaS platform that enables businesses to build and manage online stores, connect with marketplaces, and integrate with point-of-sale systems.
Why Do We Think CMRC Will Underperform?
- Offerings struggled to generate meaningful interest as its average billings growth of 3.1% over the last year did not impress
- Forecasted revenue decline of 3.2% for the upcoming 12 months implies demand will fall off a cliff
- Low free cash flow margin of 6.2% for the last year gives it little breathing room, constraining its ability to self-fund growth or return capital to shareholders
Commerce’s stock price of $3.24 implies a valuation ratio of 0.8x forward price-to-sales. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including CMRC in your portfolio.
onsemi (ON)
Consensus Price Target: $104.67 (45.8% implied return)
Spun out of Motorola in 1999 and built through a series of acquisitions, onsemi (NASDAQ:ON) is a global provider of analog chips specializing in autos, industrial applications, and power management in cloud data centers.
Why Do We Pass on ON?
- Sales tumbled by 10.8% annually over the last two years, showing market trends are working against it during this cycle
- Projected sales growth of 12.8% for the next 12 months suggests sluggish demand
- Efficiency has decreased over the last five years as its operating margin fell by 16.9 percentage points
onsemi is trading at $71.78 per share, or 19.7x forward P/E. If you’re considering ON for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.
Lucid (LCID)
Consensus Price Target: $7.61 (131% implied return)
Founded by a former Tesla Vice President, Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) designs, manufactures, and sells luxury electric vehicles with long-range capabilities.
Why Do We Think Twice About LCID?
- Negative 135% gross margin means it loses money on every sale and must pivot or scale quickly to survive
- Cash burn makes us question whether it can achieve sustainable long-term growth
- Short cash runway increases the probability of a capital raise that dilutes existing shareholders
At $3.30 per share, Lucid trades at 0.6x forward price-to-sales. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than LCID.
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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-small-cap company Exlservice (+271% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.