StockStory has identified three S&P 500 constituents that it advises investors to avoid due to specific operational and financial weaknesses. The digital asset research platform cites slowing growth, declining margins, and increased competition as primary factors in its screening of these large-cap companies.
The first company on the list is Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM), which holds a market capitalization of $13.27 billion. Akamai operates a global distributed cloud platform with over 4,100 points of presence in nearly 130 countries. StockStory points to the company's average billings growth of 5.7% over the last year as subpar, suggesting potential difficulties in pushing software without price reductions. The firm also highlights Akamai's gross margin of 57.5%, which it describes as one of the worst among software companies due to steep infrastructure costs. Furthermore, StockStory forecasts a 95 percentage point shrink in Akamai's free cash flow margin in the coming year, indicating increased capital consumption to remain competitive. Akamai shares are currently trading at $91.63, representing a 3x forward price-to-sales multiple.
Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), formerly known as American Cable Systems, is the second company flagged by StockStory. With a market cap of $77.25 billion, the telecommunications firm faces relatively low demand for its offerings, evidenced by underwhelming domestic broadband customer numbers. The platform projects a 3.7 percentage point decline in Comcast's free cash flow margin next year, attributing this to plans for increased investments to defend its market position. StockStory also notes eroding returns on capital from an already low base, suggesting that recent management investments are destroying value. Comcast trades at $21.73 per share, or 6x forward P/E.
MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) rounds out the list of stocks StockStory advises against. The hospitality and entertainment company, which operates properties on the Las Vegas Strip, has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion. StockStory cites MGM's annual sales growth of 2% over the last two years as lagging behind consumer discretionary peers, a trend it links to the difficulty of generating incremental demand from a large revenue base. The firm observes diminishing returns on capital from a low starting point, indicating that management's current and prior bets are not performing as planned. MGM Resorts shares are priced at $29.52, implying a valuation ratio of 18.8x forward P/E.
In addition to these three stocks, StockStory promotes its AI platform for identifying momentum stocks. The company references past successes from its 2020 list, including Nvidia, which rose 1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025, and Tecnoglass, which increased 1,552% over the same period.