Although American International Group has underperformed the broader Nasdaq Composite over the past year, Wall Street analysts remain moderately optimistic about the stock’s prospects.
Copper prices eased from their recent record level as indications of weakening seasonal demand in China began to alleviate concerns about a tightening global supply outlook.
Database platform company MongoDB (NASDAQ:MDB) reported Q3 CY2025 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 18.7% year on year to $628.3 million. On top of that, next quarter’s revenue guidance ($667.5 million at the midpoint) was surprisingly good and 6.5% above what analysts were expecting. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.32 per share was 66.2% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Tech stocks could see another year of double-digit gains, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who predicts another rally led by advances in artificial intelligence.
As an AI cloud provider that has been backed by investments from Nvidia, CoreWeave's stock is still up an impressive +90% since launching its IPO earlier in the year.
Although Copart has lagged the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average over the past year, analysts maintain a measuredly positive view on the stock’s prospects.
Having outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index over the past year, General Motors continues to draw cautiously optimistic sentiment from Wall Street analysts.
Apple is reshaping its AI leadership as longtime chief John Giannandrea plans to retire in spring 2026, Amar Subramanya takes over as VP of AI, and CEO Tim Cook intensifies his focus on AI innovation amid strong financial performance and active succession planning.
So far, several companies have posted robust results, reflecting positive business momentum. Let’s take a closer look at what drove the strong results.
Analog Devices delivered a quarter that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, with management attributing these results to robust demand across all key end markets, particularly industrial, automotive, and communications. CEO Vincent Roche cited the company’s focus on research and development and success in capturing value from new products as core contributors to the performance. Roche highlighted that “AI, automation, and the drive for efficient energy management” were among the most powerful forces behind growth, with industrial and data center segments performing especially well.
Zscaler's third quarter results were met with a negative market reaction despite the company exceeding Wall Street's expectations for both revenue and adjusted earnings per share. Management highlighted the acceleration of growth across its three key pillars—AI security, Zero Trust Everywhere, and Data Security Everywhere. CEO Jay Chaudhry attributed the quarter’s performance to robust demand for the company’s AI-focused offerings and the rapid adoption of its Zero Trust platform. He emphasized that “ARR from these three growth pillars accelerated in the quarter,” underlining their importance to Zscaler’s ongoing momentum.
Workday’s third quarter saw management attribute growth to continued adoption of its AI-driven products, robust customer wins across key industries, and expansion into international markets. Despite exceeding Wall Street’s revenue and profit expectations, the market responded negatively, which management linked to investor concerns about the durability of subscription growth and the integration of recent acquisitions. CEO Carl Eschenbach highlighted that over three-quarters of net new deals included AI capabilities and that momentum in large enterprise and public sector wins was a primary driver of the quarter’s results.
Abercrombie & Fitch’s third quarter results were met with a positive market reaction, driven by strong momentum at Hollister and resilient performance across core categories despite margin compression. Management credited double-digit growth in the Hollister brand, successful brand collaborations, and disciplined inventory management as key drivers. CEO Fran Horowitz noted, “Our traffic is positive. Our customer file continues to grow. We're seeing nice engagement in our digital and stores channels.” The company also highlighted the effectiveness of targeted marketing and product launches, particularly in women’s and seasonal categories.
Dell’s third quarter was characterized by robust demand for AI servers and continued operational discipline, with management highlighting accelerated order momentum and improved profitability in key segments. CEO Jeff Clarke pointed to an "all-time high in AI server orders" and emphasized the company's ability to deploy large-scale AI infrastructure rapidly. Growth in the Infrastructure Solutions Group and stable performance in commercial PCs contributed to the overall results, while improved storage margins and double-digit international growth in commercial PCs further supported performance.
Petco’s third quarter drew a positive market response, reflecting management’s focus on operational discipline and foundational improvements. CEO Joel Anderson credited enhanced retail fundamentals and disciplined expense management for driving better profitability, despite a year-on-year sales decline. The company’s strategy to streamline operations included shifting away from unprofitable sales and strengthening in-store execution. CFO Sabrina Simmons highlighted an expanding operating margin and improved cash flow, stating, “Savings were achieved across the board, in especially in G&A areas,” while also noting that marketing spend remained flat. This disciplined approach supported a notable increase in adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow.
Urban Outfitters delivered a robust third quarter, with management citing broad-based sales growth across all its brands and geographies as key drivers. Strong store and digital traffic, particularly at the Urban Outfitters and Free People brands, fueled higher transaction volumes and improved profitability. Co-President Frank Conforti attributed the performance to lower markdowns, effective marketing investments, and notable momentum in the Nuuly rental business, which saw subscriber growth of over 40%. CEO Dick Hayne emphasized that "all brands produced positive comps across all geographies this quarter," underscoring the strength of the company’s diversified business model.
Dick’s Sporting Goods’ third quarter was marked by a combination of robust results in its core business and underperformance from the newly acquired Foot Locker segment. While sales and comparable store growth at Dick’s banners continue to benefit from strong product assortment and omnichannel execution, management acknowledged that Foot Locker’s operational missteps and excess inventory weighed heavily on profitability. Executive Chairman Ed Stack described Foot Locker’s situation as “straying from retail 101,” emphasizing the need for aggressive cleanup and store portfolio optimization to stabilize the business.
Autodesk’s third quarter saw notable outperformance, with results surpassing Wall Street’s expectations and a positive market reaction. Management attributed this performance to robust customer adoption across architecture, engineering, construction, and manufacturing, especially amid ongoing investment in data centers and infrastructure projects. CEO Andrew Anagnost credited the company’s ongoing transition to cloud-based platforms and the growing integration of artificial intelligence as key contributors, stating that Autodesk is “building a platform with a vibrant third-party ecosystem that will make our solutions more valuable, enable new monetization opportunities, and make Autodesk more efficient.” Strong execution in the Autodesk store and improved billings linearity also supported the quarterly results.
NetApp’s third quarter results were met with a positive market reaction, reflecting management’s focus on high-margin segments and operational efficiency. CEO George Kurian pointed to the company’s unified data platform and strong momentum in all-flash arrays and public cloud services as key contributors. He also highlighted that AI-driven infrastructure deals nearly doubled year over year, and that recent product launches—such as AFX and the AI Data Engine—helped address growing customer demand for scalable, secure storage solutions. Kurian emphasized, “Customers are choosing NetApp for our unified data platform that delivers exceptional value and operational efficiencies, fueling our success in the face of the ongoing macro environment.”
Kohl’s third quarter results were well received by the market, underpinned by improved performance in proprietary brands and progress on digital initiatives. Management highlighted a more balanced product assortment and increased engagement with Kohl’s core customer base, especially through targeted marketing and changes to coupon eligibility. CEO Michael Bender noted that digital sales grew and that proprietary brands, such as Lauren Conrad and FLX, contributed to an uptick in transactions, particularly among Kohl’s cardholders. While same-store sales and total revenue declined year over year, management emphasized that operational changes and a customer-centric strategy were beginning to yield benefits.
HP’s third quarter results drew a negative market reaction as investors focused on soft profitability despite revenue coming in slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations. Management attributed revenue growth to strength in Personal Systems, particularly commercial PCs and high-value devices, while Print continued to struggle with declining demand. CEO Enrique Lores noted, “We have driven sequential profit improvement the last two quarters,” but acknowledged that higher memory costs and a weak print hardware market weighed on overall margins. The company also referenced ongoing supply chain investments to mitigate these headwinds and highlighted recent leadership transitions as part of its evolving strategy.
Movado’s third quarter results were met with a positive market reaction, as investors responded to margin improvements and steady top-line growth. Management credited the quarter’s performance to innovation across brands, with CEO Efraim Grinberg pointing to new product launches and expanded digital marketing as key demand drivers. The company also highlighted a shift in consumer trends benefiting both women’s and men’s collections, as well as direct-to-consumer channels. Grinberg noted, “Innovation in new shapes, and sizes and growing interest from women and younger consumers” supported category momentum.
PagerDuty’s third quarter results for 2025 were met with a negative market reaction, as management acknowledged ongoing headwinds in customer retention and seat-based license reductions, particularly among large enterprise clients undergoing major reorganizations. CEO Jennifer Tejada described the quarter’s retention outcome as “unsatisfying,” explaining that while fewer customers left the platform, those who did downgrade tended to make larger cuts tied to widespread layoffs and budget caution. Management also pointed to increased adoption of usage-based products and operational efficiency improvements, but these were not enough to offset the contraction from seat license compression.
J. M. Smucker’s third quarter results met Wall Street’s revenue and profit expectations, but the market responded negatively, reflecting investor concerns about ongoing cost pressures and segment-level volatility. Management attributed the quarter’s stable performance to improved volumes across key categories, especially Sweet Baked Snacks and coffee, as well as successful SKU rationalization efforts. CEO Mark Smucker highlighted the company’s progress in streamlining its baked goods portfolio and the relaunch of SuzyQs, while CFO Tucker Marshall pointed to higher marketing investment and operational transition costs, particularly in the bakery network, as factors impacting margins in the quarter.
Best Buy’s third quarter results were well received by the market, with revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share both coming in ahead of Wall Street expectations. Management attributed the outperformance to robust sales in computing, gaming, and mobile phones, along with successful back-to-school campaigns and improved omnichannel experiences. CEO Corie Barry noted, “Customers remain resilient, but deal focused,” crediting the company’s broad assortment and expert service for driving continued momentum, particularly in product upgrade cycles like Windows transitions and new gaming launches.
Employment seems to be growing very slowly, if not shrinking, while output (measured with lots of noise) seems to be rising, into Q3. Would NBER ever determine a recession occurred when GDP was rising?
The White House released a memo on Trump's previously undisclosed MRI exam which showed normal results. Trump, 79, underwent the scan as part of an advanced physical. His physician confirmed no evidence of health concerns. Public curiosity and vague comments from Trump led to the release.
Wall Street’s bearish price targets for the stocks in this article signal serious concerns.
Such forecasts are uncommon in an industry where maintaining cordial corporate relationships often trumps delivering the hard truth.
Free cash flow is one of the most reliable indicators of financial durability.
These businesses not only generate cash but reinvest intelligently to sustain momentum.
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.
Market swings can be tough to stomach, and volatile stocks often experience exaggerated moves in both directions.
While many thrive during risk-on environments, many also struggle to maintain investor confidence when the ride gets bumpy.
The low valuation multiples for value stocks provide a margin of safety that growth stocks rarely offer.
However, the challenge lies in determining whether these cheap assets are genuinely undervalued or simply on sale due to their potentially deteriorating business models.
Wall Street has issued downbeat forecasts for the stocks in this article.
These predictions are rare - financial institutions typically hesitate to say bad things about a company because it can jeopardize their other revenue-generating business lines like M&A advisory.
Investors looking for hidden gems should keep an eye on small-cap stocks because they’re frequently overlooked by Wall Street.
Many opportunities exist in this part of the market, but it is also a high-risk, high-reward environment due to the lack of reliable analyst price targets.
