Value investing has produced some of the world’s most famous investing billionaires, including Warren Buffett, David Einhorn, and Seth Klarman, who built their fortunes by purchasing wonderful businesses at reasonable prices. But these hidden gems are few and far between - many stocks that appear cheap often stay that way because they face structural issues.
This distinction between true value and value traps can challenge even the most skilled investors. Luckily for you, we started StockStory to help you uncover exceptional companies. Keeping that in mind, here are three value stocks with little support and some other investments you should consider instead.
Five9 (FIVN)
Forward P/S Ratio: 1.3x
Taking its name from the "five nines" (99.999%) standard for optimal service reliability in telecommunications, Five9 (NASDAQ:FIVN) provides cloud-based software that enables businesses to run their contact centers with tools for customer service, sales, and marketing across multiple communication channels.
Why Does FIVN Fall Short?
- Offerings struggled to generate meaningful interest as its average billings growth of 10.5% over the last year did not impress
- Estimated sales growth of 8.1% for the next 12 months implies demand will slow from its two-year trend
- Gross margin of 55.4% is way below its competitors, leaving less money to invest in areas like marketing and R&D
Five9 is trading at $18.99 per share, or 1.3x forward price-to-sales. To fully understand why you should be careful with FIVN, check out our full research report (it’s free).
Teleflex (TFX)
Forward P/E Ratio: 7.1x
With a portfolio spanning from vascular access catheters to minimally invasive surgical tools, Teleflex (NYSE:TFX) designs, manufactures, and supplies single-use medical devices used in critical care and surgical procedures across hospitals worldwide.
Why Does TFX Give Us Pause?
- Constant currency growth was below our standards over the past two years, suggesting it might need to invest in product improvements to get back on track
- Free cash flow margin dropped by 12.1 percentage points over the last five years, implying the company became more capital intensive as competition picked up
- Diminishing returns on capital from an already low starting point show that neither management’s prior nor current bets are going as planned
Teleflex’s stock price of $103.54 implies a valuation ratio of 7.1x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why TFX doesn’t pass our bar.
Credit Acceptance (CACC)
Forward P/E Ratio: 11.3x
Founded in 1972 by Donald Foss to serve customers overlooked by traditional lenders, Credit Acceptance (NASDAQ:CACC) provides auto financing solutions that enable car dealers to sell vehicles to consumers with limited or impaired credit histories.
Why Do We Think CACC Will Underperform?
- Annual revenue growth of 2.9% over the last five years was below our standards for the financials sector
- Performance over the past two years shows its incremental sales were much less profitable, as its earnings per share fell by 5.4% annually
- Debt-to-equity ratio of 3.9× is concerningly high, indicating excessive leverage that could limit financial flexibility
At $475.04 per share, Credit Acceptance trades at 11.3x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than CACC.
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-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.