Investors looking for hidden gems should keep an eye on small-cap stocks because they’re frequently overlooked by Wall Street. Many opportunities exist in this part of the market, but it is also a high-risk, high-reward environment due to the lack of reliable analyst price targets.

These trade-offs can cause headaches for even the most seasoned professionals, which is why we started StockStory - to help you separate the good companies from the bad. Keeping that in mind, here are three small-cap stocks to swipe left on and some alternatives you should look into instead.

Oxford Industries (OXM)

Market Cap: $966.6 million

The parent company of Tommy Bahama, Oxford Industries (NYSE:OXM) is a lifestyle fashion conglomerate with brands that embody outdoor happiness.

Why Should You Sell OXM?

1. Weak same-store sales trends over the past two years suggest there may be few opportunities in its core markets to open new locations
2. Sales are projected to remain flat over the next 12 months as demand decelerates from its two-year trend
3. Low free cash flow margin of 6.7% for the last two years gives it little breathing room, constraining its ability to self-fund growth or return capital to shareholders

At $61.11 per share, Oxford Industries trades at 8.1x forward price-to-earnings. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including OXM in your portfolio, it’s free.

Amdocs (DOX)

Market Cap: $10.01 billion

Powering the digital experiences of approximately 400 communications companies worldwide, Amdocs (NASDAQ:DOX) provides software and services that help telecommunications and media companies manage customer relationships, monetize services, and automate network operations.

Why Should You Dump DOX?

1. Backlog growth averaged a weak 2.5% over the past two years, suggesting it may need to tweak its product roadmap or go-to-market strategy
2. Estimated sales decline of 6.6% for the next 12 months implies a challenging demand environment
3. Free cash flow margin dropped by 5.5 percentage points over the last five years, implying the company became more capital intensive as competition picked up

Amdocs is trading at $89.14 per share, or 12.4x forward price-to-earnings. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than DOX.

Concentrix (CNXC)

Market Cap: $2.97 billion

With a team of approximately 450,000 employees across 75 countries, Concentrix (NASDAQ:CNXC) designs and delivers customer experience solutions that help global brands manage their customer interactions across digital channels and contact centers.

Why Does CNXC Give Us Pause?

1. Sales are projected to remain flat over the next 12 months as demand decelerates from its two-year trend
2. Performance over the past two years shows its incremental sales were less profitable as its earnings per share were flat
3. Low returns on capital reflect management’s struggle to allocate funds effectively, and its falling returns suggest its earlier profit pools are drying up

Concentrix’s stock price of $46.03 implies a valuation ratio of 3.8x forward price-to-earnings. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why CNXC doesn’t pass our bar.

Stocks We Like More

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