The past year hasn’t been kind to the stocks featured in this article. Each has tumbled to its lowest point in 12 months, leaving investors to decide whether they’re witnessing fire sales or falling knives.
At StockStory, we dig beneath the surface of price movements to uncover whether a company’s fundamentals justify its current valuation or suggest hidden potential. That said, here are three stocks facing legitimate challenges and some alternatives worth exploring instead.
Shutterstock (SSTK)
One-Month Return: -57.9%
Originally featuring a library that included many of founder Jon Oringer’s photos, Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK) is now a digital platform where customers can license and use hundreds of millions of pieces of content.
Why Are We Cautious About SSTK?
- Focus on expanding its platform came at the expense of monetization as its average revenue per request fell by 87.9% annually
- Projected sales are flat for the next 12 months, implying demand will slow from its three-year trend
- Performance over the past three years shows its incremental sales were much less profitable, as its earnings per share fell by 31.2% annually
Shutterstock’s stock price of $5.94 implies a valuation ratio of 0.4x forward price-to-gross profit. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including SSTK in your portfolio.
Celsius (CELH)
One-Month Return: -3.3%
With its proprietary MetaPlus formula as the basis for key products, Celsius (NASDAQ: CELH) offers energy drinks that feature natural ingredients to help in fitness and weight management.
Why Does CELH Worry Us?
- Expenses have increased as a percentage of revenue over the last year as its operating margin fell by 1.7 percentage points
- Capital intensity has ramped up over the last year as its free cash flow margin decreased by 5.6 percentage points
- Underwhelming 8.2% return on capital reflects management’s difficulties in finding profitable growth opportunities
Celsius is trading at $28.82 per share, or 16.5x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why CELH doesn’t pass our bar.
Kroger (KR)
One-Month Return: +3.8%
With a sprawling network of over 2,400 locations offering digital pickup services, Kroger (NYSE: KR) operates supermarkets, pharmacies, and fuel centers across 35 states, offering customers groceries, household items, and private-label products.
Why Do We Pass on KR?
- Conservative approach to adding new stores shows management is focused on improving existing location performance
- Widely-available products (and therefore stiff competition) result in an inferior gross margin of 23.9% that must be offset through higher volumes
- Performance over the past three years shows each sale was less profitable, as its earnings per share fell by 20.9% annually
At $58.04 per share, Kroger trades at 10.8x forward P/E. If you’re considering KR for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.
Stocks We Like 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.
Find out which 5 stocks it’s flagging this month — FREE. Get Our Top 5 Growth Stocks for Free HERE.
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-micro-cap company Kadant (+214% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
