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.

Hyatt Hotels (H)

Consensus Price Target: $176.45 (5.1% implied return)

Founded in 1957, Hyatt Hotels (NYSE: H) is a global hospitality company with a portfolio of 20 premier brands and over 950 properties across 65 countries.

Why Should You Sell H?

1. Revenue per room has underperformed over the past two years, suggesting it may need to develop new facilities
2. Operating margin of 4.8% falls short of the industry average, and the smaller profit dollars make it harder to react to unexpected market developments
3. Lacking free cash flow generation means it has few chances to reinvest for growth, repurchase shares, or distribute capital

Hyatt Hotels’s stock price of $167.94 implies a valuation ratio of 56.4x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with H, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Choice Hotels (CHH)

Consensus Price Target: $106.07 (-1.1% implied return)

With almost 100% of its properties under franchise agreements, Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) is a hotel franchisor known for its diverse brand portfolio including Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, and Clarion.

Why Do We Avoid CHH?

1. Softer revenue per room over the past two years suggests it might have to invest in new amenities such as restaurants and bars to attract customers
2. Ability to fund investments or reward shareholders with increased buybacks or dividends is restricted by its weak free cash flow margin of 8.3% for the last two years
3. Diminishing returns on capital from an already low starting point show that neither management’s prior nor current bets are going as planned

Choice Hotels is trading at $107.21 per share, or 15.1x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than CHH.

Ingersoll Rand (IR)

Consensus Price Target: $89.77 (3.2% implied return)

Started with the invention of the steam drill, Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR) provides mission-critical air, gas, liquid, and solid flow creation solutions.

Why Does IR Worry Us?

1. Core business is underperforming as its organic revenue has disappointed over the past two years, suggesting it might need acquisitions to stimulate growth
2. Estimated sales growth of 5.7% for the next 12 months is soft and implies weaker demand
3. Underwhelming 5.6% return on capital reflects management’s difficulties in finding profitable growth opportunities

At $87.01 per share, Ingersoll Rand trades at 25.4x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including IR in your portfolio.

Stocks We Like More

If your portfolio success hinges on just 4 stocks, your wealth is built on fragile ground. You have a small window to secure high-quality assets before the market widens and these prices disappear.

Don’t wait for the next volatility shock. Check out our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. 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-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.