My "three stocks to avoid" column last week proved timely, as all three investments I figured would be in for a rough few trading days declined. The three names I figured were going to move lower for the week -- Coca-Cola, Blue Apron, and Tencent Music Entertainment -- finished down 7%, 16%, and 1%, respectively, averaging out to a 8% decline.
The S&P 500 declined 3% for the week, so the stocks I figured would move even lower actually did fare worse. I was right, and I have now been right in 22 of the past 31 weeks.
I see Alibaba (BABA -1.14%), Tesla (TSLA -1.06%), and Nordstrom (JWN 1.35%) as stocks you may want to consider steering clear of this week. Let's go over my near-term concerns with all three investments.
Image source: Getty Images.
Alibaba
One of the larger companies reporting earnings this week is Alibaba. China's leader in e-commerce and provider of many other online services will discuss its quarterly results on Thursday morning.
Alibaba has been one of the market's strongest growth stocks over the years, but it's looking pretty mortal these days. Revenue rose a mere 9.7% in its previous quarter, the first time in its publicly traded history that it has failed to produce double-digit top-line growth. The outlook for Thursday's report is even worse. Analysts see year-over-year revenue gains slowing to a 2% pace with earnings per share contracting sharply.
Is Wall Street too pessimistic on Alibaba? Growth investors can hope that the market's wrong, but if anything analysts have been too generous with Alibaba. The company has fallen short of market profit targets in half of the last four quarters, and analysts are whittling down their near-term projections. Pandemic-related Shanghai lockdowns are starting to gradually ease up, but the situation was rough through the first three months of this calendar year. Alibaba should bounce back in the future, but there are a lot of ways this week's report can disappoint the market.
Tesla
I love my Tesla, and I have a small position in the stock. Both served me well last year, but Tesla stock has been driving in reverse lately. Tesla hit a 10-month low on Friday, and it has shed nearly half of its value since peaking in November.
Elon Musk is a brilliant soul, but he's been biting off a bit more than he can chew these days. He's been more polarizing than usual on the socials, and now he has a scandal on his hands. There's obviously a lot more to Tesla than just Musk, but I bet most investors can't name someone else who works at the fast-growing maker of electric vehicles. He's the face, voice, and social media poster of the company, and if his reputation takes a hit the brand will be stung in the process.
Tesla has done a great job of popularizing electric cars. Even now -- with legacy auto manufacturers cranking out impressive gas-free vehicles -- Tesla still accounts for the vast majority of electric car sales in this country. The stock's lofty valuation is a testament to Tesla's growth and commanding lead in its niche, but there's also a premium priced into the stock because of Musk. His bigger-than-life persona seems to be backfiring lately. I have short-term concerns when it comes to Tesla, but obviously not long-term ones because I'm still an investor.
Nordstrom
The high-end department store chain is ready for its close-up. Nordstrom reports financial results for its fiscal first quarter after Tuesday's close. It could prove to be a problematic update.
We saw mass market retailers take a hit last week after posting disappointing quarterly results. If the discounters aren't doing so hot -- with sales growth shifting to low-margin essentials over the high-margin aspirational merchandise -- you have to think Nordstrom is going to struggle.
It's fair to point out that Nordstrom shares soared 38% the day after the company posted blowout results two months ago for its holiday quarter. However, sentiment has started to sour on retail stocks in recent months. Nordstrom had also fallen short in two of the three previous quarters before hitting it out of the park last time.
It's going to be a bumpy road for some of these investments. If you're looking for safe stocks, you aren't likely to find them in Alibaba, Nordstrom, or Nordstorm this week.
