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.
Navigating these stocks isn’t easy, which is why StockStory helps you find Comfort In Chaos. That said, here are three volatile stocks to steer clear of and a few better alternatives.
Vicor (VICR)
Rolling One-Year Beta: 2.15
Founded by a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vicor (NASDAQ: VICR) provides electrical power conversion and delivery products for a range of industries.
Why Does VICR Give Us Pause?
- Sales pipeline suggests its future revenue growth may not meet our standards as its average backlog growth of 1.2% for the past two years was weak
- Expenses have increased as a percentage of revenue over the last five years as its operating margin fell by 8.6 percentage points
- Waning returns on capital imply its previous profit engines are losing steam
Vicor is trading at $92.17 per share, or 46.3x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with VICR, check out our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members).
MasTec (MTZ)
Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.62
Involved in the 1996 Olympic Games MasTec (NYSE: MTZ) is an infrastructure construction company that specializes in the telecommunications, energy, and utility industries.
Why Is MTZ Not Exciting?
- High input costs result in an inferior gross margin of 12.9% that must be offset through higher volumes
- Subpar operating margin of 3.1% has withered over the last five years as it prioritized growth over profits
- Capital intensity has ramped up over the last five years as its free cash flow margin decreased by 4.2 percentage points
MasTec’s stock price of $197.41 implies a valuation ratio of 26x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including MTZ in your portfolio.
Pitney Bowes (PBI)
Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.33
With a century-long history dating back to 1920 and processing over 15 billion pieces of mail annually, Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) provides shipping, mailing technology, logistics, and financial services to businesses of all sizes.
Why Does PBI Fall Short?
- Customers postponed purchases of its products and services this cycle as its revenue declined by 10.5% annually over the last five years
- Projected sales decline of 3.4% over the next 12 months indicates demand will continue deteriorating
- Low free cash flow margin of 3.7% for the last five years gives it little breathing room, constraining its ability to self-fund growth or return capital to shareholders
At $9.42 per share, Pitney Bowes trades at 7.1x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with PBI, check out our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members).
Stocks We Like More
Fresh US-China trade tensions just tanked stocks—but strong bank earnings are fueling a sharp rebound. Don’t miss the bounce.
Don’t let fear keep you from great opportunities and take a look at Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 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 for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today
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