Many investors pay attention to mid-cap stocks because they have established business models and expansive market opportunities. However, their paths to becoming $100 billion corporations are ripe with competition, ranging from giants with vast resources to agile upstarts eager to disrupt the status quo.
Luckily for you, our mission at StockStory is to help you make money and avoid losses by sorting the winners from the losers. That said, here is one mid-cap stock with a long growth runway and two best left ignored.
Two Mid-Cap Stocks to Sell:
BJ's (BJ)
Market Cap: $11.94 billion
Appealing to the budget-conscious individual shopping for a household, BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) is a membership-only retail chain that sells groceries, appliances, electronics, and household items, often in bulk quantities.
Why Are We Cautious About BJ?
- Large revenue base makes it harder to increase sales quickly, and its annual revenue growth of 4% over the last three years was below our standards for the consumer retail sector
- Widely-available products (and therefore stiff competition) result in an inferior gross margin of 18.5% that must be offset through higher volumes
- Subpar operating margin of 3.8% constrains its ability to invest in process improvements or effectively respond to new competitive threats
BJ's is trading at $93.89 per share, or 20x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with BJ, check out our full research report (it’s free).
Charles River Laboratories (CRL)
Market Cap: $13.43 billion
Named after the Massachusetts river where it was founded in 1947, Charles River Laboratories (NYSE: CRL) provides non-clinical drug development services, research models, and manufacturing support to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Why Is CRL Risky?
- Organic sales performance over the past two years indicates the company may need to make strategic adjustments or rely on M&A to catalyze faster growth
- Incremental sales over the last five years were less profitable as its earnings per share were flat while its revenue grew
- Diminishing returns on capital from an already low starting point show that neither management’s prior nor current bets are going as planned
At $284.51 per share, Charles River Laboratories trades at 23.1x forward P/E. If you’re considering CRL for your portfolio, see our FREE research report to learn more.
One Mid-Cap Stock to Watch:
Advanced Energy (AEIS)
Market Cap: $13.2 billion
Pioneering technologies for radio frequency power delivery, Advanced Energy (NASDAQ: AEIS) provides power supplies, thermal management systems, and measurement and control instruments for various manufacturing processes.
Why Does AEIS Stand Out?
- Impressive 16.3% annual revenue growth over the last two years indicates it’s winning market share this cycle
- Market share is on track to rise over the next 12 months as its 36.6% projected revenue growth implies demand will accelerate from its two-year trend
- Earnings per share grew by 46.8% annually over the last two years and trumped its peers
Advanced Energy’s stock price of $336.30 implies a valuation ratio of 24.8x forward P/E. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full 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 (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+271% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
