Large-cap stocks have the power to shape entire industries thanks to their size and widespread influence. With such vast footprints, however, finding new areas for growth is much harder than for smaller, more agile players.
These trade-offs can cause headaches for even the most seasoned professionals, which is why we started StockStory - to help you find high-quality companies that can grow their earnings no matter what. That said, here is one large-cap stock with attractive long-term potential and two whose existing offerings may be tapped out.
Two Large-Cap Stocks to Sell:
PepsiCo (PEP)
Market Cap: $196.4 billion
With a history that goes back more than a century, PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) is a household name in food and beverages today and best known for its flagship soda.
Why Are We Wary of PEP?
- Falling unit sales over the past two years show it’s struggled to move its products and had to rely on price increases
- Estimated sales growth of 4.2% for the next 12 months is soft and implies weaker demand
- Costs have risen faster than its revenue over the last year, causing its operating margin to decline by 1.2 percentage points
PepsiCo’s stock price of $140.03 implies a valuation ratio of 16.2x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why PEP doesn’t pass our bar.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
Market Cap: $78.72 billion
Starting as an energy trading platform in 2000 before acquiring the iconic New York Stock Exchange in 2013, Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) operates global financial exchanges, clearing houses, and provides data services and mortgage technology solutions to financial institutions and corporations.
Why Are We Cautious About ICE?
Intercontinental Exchange is trading at $126.31 per share, or 16.3x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than ICE.
One Large-Cap Stock to Buy:
ServiceNow (NOW)
Market Cap: $106.3 billion
Built on a single code base that processes more than 80 billion workflows and 6.5 trillion transactions annually, ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) provides a cloud-based platform that helps organizations automate and digitize workflows across departments, from IT and HR to customer service and security.
Why Should You Buy NOW?
- ARR growth averaged 21.8% over the last year, showing customers are willing to take multi-year bets on its software
- Software platform has product-market fit given the rapid recovery of its customer acquisition costs
- NOW is a free cash flow machine with the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives or return capital to shareholders
At $89.92 per share, ServiceNow trades at 5.8x forward price-to-sales. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free.
Stocks We Like Even 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 (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
