When Wall Street turns bearish on a stock, it’s worth paying attention. These calls stand out because analysts rarely issue grim ratings on companies for fear their firms will lose out in other business lines such as M&A advisory.

At StockStory, we look beyond the headlines with our independent analysis to determine whether these bearish calls are justified. Keeping that in mind, here are three stocks where the skepticism is well-placed and some better opportunities to consider.

Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC)

Consensus Price Target: $63.08 (-4.7% implied return)

A global leader in its category, Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ: LSCC) is a semiconductor designer specializing in customer-programmable chips that enhance CPU performance for intensive tasks such as machine learning.

Why Do We Think Twice About LSCC?

1. Annual sales declines of 17.8% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
2. Costs have risen faster than its revenue over the last five years, causing its operating margin to decline by 15 percentage points
3. Earnings growth over the last five years fell short of the peer group average as its EPS only increased by 5.2% annually

Lattice Semiconductor is trading at $66.20 per share, or 52.9x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including LSCC in your portfolio.

Best Buy (BBY)

Consensus Price Target: $79.29 (7.4% implied return)

With humble beginnings as a stereo equipment seller, Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) now sells a broad selection of consumer electronics, appliances, and home office products.

Why Are We Cautious About BBY?

1. Poor same-store sales performance over the past two years indicates it’s having trouble bringing new shoppers into its brick-and-mortar locations
2. Widely-available products (and therefore stiff competition) result in an inferior gross margin of 22.4% that must be offset through higher volumes
3. Operating margin of 3.1% falls short of the industry average, and the smaller profit dollars make it harder to react to unexpected market developments

At $73.84 per share, Best Buy trades at 11.5x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than BBY.

Helios (HLIO)

Consensus Price Target: $57.40 (4.6% implied return)

Founded on the principle of treating others as one wants to be treated, Helios (NYSE: HLIO) designs, manufactures, and sells motion and electronic control components for various sectors.

Why Do We Think HLIO Will Underperform?

1. Organic revenue growth fell short of our benchmarks over the past two years and implies it may need to improve its products, pricing, or go-to-market strategy
2. Incremental sales over the last five years were much less profitable as its earnings per share fell by 2.9% annually while its revenue grew
3. Diminishing returns on capital from an already low starting point show that neither management’s prior nor current bets are going as planned

Helios’s stock price of $54.86 implies a valuation ratio of 25.2x forward EV-to-EBITDA. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why HLIO doesn’t pass our bar.

High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions

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Don’t let fear keep you from great opportunities and take a look at 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).

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