We recently published a list of 12 Worst Depressed Stocks To Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) stands against other worst depressed stocks to buy now.
Will the “Fed Put” Come into Play?
With the recent pressure on the equity market from tariffs the market has been wondering if the Fed Put will come into play. On March 20, Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanley CIO, and Chief U.S. equity strategist, joined CNBC to discuss the likelihood of interest rate cuts during the year and the overall market outlook. Morgan Stanley expects the year 2025 to have only a single rate cut, however, if the market slows down more than expected then the Fed Put will come into play with another rate cut. Wilson noted that the Fed is going to respond to lower growth, however, the question that remains unanswered is how will the Fed measure this growth. According to Wilson, the labor market is one of the indicators that the reserve is watching closely. Currently, most of the weakness in the labor market is in the government sector as the government is trying to shrink the sector. Wilson noted that if this move spills over to the private sector then there is no doubt that the Fed will respond to that with another rate cut.
Wilson further elaborated that investors are not concerned about the next 12 months, rather they are more curious to know the current market situation. He noted that Morgan Stanley’s view of the market coming into 2025 was that the first half would be tougher due to the high expectations and the government sequencing its policies. One other reason behind this was that market expectations were too high whereas the reality was somewhat different. Wilson noted that we entered this year when the Fed was cutting rates and the valuations were high, so the current market slowdowns are partly due to the much-needed market correction as well. He also noted that there is a growth deceleration going on with the AI capital expenditure as well, which Wilson believes is good as now the expectations are more aligned with reality. He elaborated that these are the reasons why the firm believes that the 5,500 for the S&P 500 is a good level.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, Wilson acknowledged potential tailwinds from growth-positive policy changes like tax cuts, deregulation, and lower yields. However, he argued that these are too distant for markets to price in currently. He also emphasized that while a “Trump put” may not exist, the “Fed put” remains active but would likely require worsening conditions in labor markets or credit and funding markets, scenarios that would initially be negative for equities.
Our Methodology
To curate the list of 12 worst depressed stocks to buy now we used the Finviz stock screener, Yahoo Finance, and CNN. Using the screener we aggregated a list of stocks that have fallen more than 15% over the past 12 months and are currently trading within 0% to 3% of their 52-week lows. Next, from this aggregated list we shortlisted stocks with more than 20% analyst upside potential. Lastly, we ranked the stocks in descending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them (from best to worst), as of Q4 2024. Please note that the data was recorded on March 19, 2025.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A long line of trucks transporting goods across the open road, symbolizing the long-distance transportation services of the company.
Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA)
52 Week Range: 345.77 – 624.55
Current Share Price: $349.29
Analyst Upside Potential: 53.17%
1-Year Performance: -37.63%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 31
Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) is another less-than-truckload trucking company specializing in freight transportation services. It provides regional and national services for shipments between 100 and 10,000 pounds, including time-definite and expedited options.
On March 6, Benchmark Co. analyst Christopher Kuhn maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $560. The analyst noted that the company has shown robust growth in its less-than-truckload segment, supported by strategic terminal openings and an improved business mix. This growth is reflected in better-than-expected increases in tonnage per workday during January and February 2025. Moreover, despite challenges in the freight environment, Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA) has effectively enhanced its service offerings and optimized operations. It has also successfully increased shipments and weight per shipment, contributing to overall revenue growth. However, the challenges in the freight environment have led to a price drop of over 37% during the past 12 months resulting in the stock trading close to its 52-week low. It is one of the worst depressed stocks to buy now.
Overall, SAIA ranks 3rd on our list of worst depressed stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential of SAIA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than SAIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
