Whether you see them or not, industrials businesses play a crucial part in our daily activities. Their momentum is also rising as lower interest rates have incentivized higher capital spending. As a result, the industry has posted a 23.6% gain over the past six months, beating the S&P 500 by 15.9 percentage points.
Regardless of these results, investors should tread carefully. The diversity of companies in this space means that not all are created equal or well-positioned for the inescapable downturn. Taking that into account, here are two resilient industrials stocks at the top of our wish list and one we’re swiping left on.
One Industrials Stock to Sell:
Array (ARRY)
Market Cap: $1.70 billion
Going public in October 2020, Array (NASDAQ: ARRY) is a global manufacturer of ground-mounting tracking systems for utility and distributed generation solar energy projects.
Why Do We Avoid ARRY?
- Annual sales declines of 9.8% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
- Earnings per share have dipped by 9.7% annually over the past two years, which is concerning because stock prices follow EPS over the long term
- Eroding returns on capital from an already low base indicate that management’s recent investments are destroying value
Array’s stock price of $11.16 implies a valuation ratio of 15.8x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including ARRY in your portfolio.
Two Industrials Stocks to Watch:
Installed Building Products (IBP)
Market Cap: $9.01 billion
Founded in 1977, Installed Building Products (NYSE: IBP) is a company specializing in the installation of insulation, waterproofing, and other complementary building products for residential and commercial construction.
Why Could IBP Be a Winner?
- Market share has increased this cycle as its 13% annual revenue growth over the last five years was exceptional
- Share repurchases over the last five years enabled its annual earnings per share growth of 22.4% to outpace its revenue gains
- ROIC punches in at 21.5%, illustrating management’s expertise in identifying profitable investments, and its returns are growing as it capitalizes on even better market opportunities
Installed Building Products is trading at $334.28 per share, or 31.3x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
First Solar (FSLR)
Market Cap: $24.44 billion
Headquartered in Arizona, First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) specializes in manufacturing solar panels and providing photovoltaic solar energy solutions.
Why Will FSLR Beat the Market?
- Annual revenue growth of 26.4% over the past two years was outstanding, reflecting market share gains this cycle
- Incremental sales over the last two years have been highly profitable as its earnings per share increased by 71.6% annually, topping its revenue gains
- Free cash flow turned positive over the last five years, showing the company has crossed a key inflection point
At $227.72 per share, First Solar trades at 10.3x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it’s free.
High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions
The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in 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 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
