We recently published a list of 10 Worst Beaten Down Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) stands against other worst beaten down stocks to buy now.
In 2024, the broader financial markets and economy stood up well amidst economic uncertainty, higher interest rates, and the US presidential election, according to Edward Jones, a financial services company providing wealth management, and other services. The US economic growth was consistently above trend, households continued to spend, inflation moderated, and the broader S&P 500 saw an increase of over 20% for the 2nd consecutive year.
What Lies Ahead?
As 2025 begins, much of the positive economic momentum from 2024 is expected to continue, although the pace of economic growth and US stock market gains might cool, according to Edward Jones. The firm expects that the US GDP growth will moderate but is likely to remain positive, courtesy of a healthy consumer and labor market. The conditions for US households are expected to improve moving forward, with the US Fed cutting the rates and inflation continuing to moderate. Furthermore, wage growth is expected to remain above inflation rates, exhibiting that consumers will continue to benefit from positive real wages.
Edward Jones expects that market leadership will broaden beyond the US mega-cap technology stocks in 2025, with investors looking for investments having increased domestic exposure and potential for growth in earnings and valuation expansion. It anticipates a balance in performance between value- and growth-style stocks, which strengthens the case for portfolio diversification.
READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.
US Labor Market Trends in 2025
It seems that the main source of strength for the broader US economy is its resilient labor market. When consumers’ employment is secure, they feel confident when it comes to spending, and consumer spending accounts for ~70% of the US GDP, says Edward Jones. The firm expects that the US labor market seems to be normalizing. Just like the economic growth, it expects to witness a reacceleration of the labor market towards the end of 2025.
Notably, the reduced borrowing costs, higher use cases in AI, and potential pro-growth policies are expected to fuel hiring activity. The labor market outlook can also be influenced by the new immigration policy. In case of a significant reduction in the US labor force, there might be a supply shock. As per Edward Jones, this might force employers to increase wages, mainly in low-cost labor industries including restaurants, manufacturing, and hospitality.
Amidst such trends, investors are required to consider companies trading at low valuations and having healthy fundamentals, which strengthen the case for a positive long-term outlook.
Our Methodology
To list the 10 Worst Beaten Down Stocks to Buy Now, we used a screener and chose the stocks that were trading close to their 52-week lows. Next, we filtered out the ones that analysts see significant upside to. Finally, the stocks were arranged in ascending order of their average upside potential, as of February 20. We also mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock, as of Q4 2024.
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 363.5% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 208 percentage points (see more details here).
A data scientist sitting in front of a monitor to review the performance of AI-driven digital business solutions.
NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE)
Stock Price as of February 20: $155.3
52-week Low: $147.3
Average Upside Potential: ~38.3%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 28
NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) offers cloud platforms for AI-driven digital business solutions. The company continues to invest significantly in product innovation, with a strong focus on AI-powered solutions. It has recently introduced CXone Mpower, which is a comprehensive AI platform combining Copilot, Autopilot, and actions to orchestrate customer journeys. Therefore, this launch reflects NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE)’s commitment to staying ahead of AI-driven customer experience technologies.
The advanced AI capabilities can support the company in differentiating its offerings in a competitive market, resulting in higher win rates and larger deal sizes. Furthermore, AI-driven solutions can allow NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) to expand into adjacent markets or use cases, further enhancing its total addressable market. The company’s FY 2024 robust top-line results were aided by a 25% YoY growth in cloud revenue, which reached $2 billion.
NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE)’s Chief highlighted that AI has been revolutionizing the CX industry, and CXone Mpower’s agentic AI continues to unlock new growth levels by delivering further efficiency and healthy customer experiences. The company’s outstanding operating cash flow growth in 2024, which rose 48% YoY to $833 million, places NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) well with a significant competitive advantage to fuel future organic and inorganic expansion.
Overall, NICE ranks 3rd on our list of worst beaten down stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential of NICE as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than NICE 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 Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
