7 Stocks That Are About to Get Absolutely Crushed

After a rough year for investors in 2022, will it be all uphill for them in 2023? That will not necessarily be the case. As the factors driving the market lower over the past 12 months persist, plenty of stocks, including some names that have experienced huge drops from their highs, remain stocks to sell.

The valuation of some of these stocks remain quite elevated.  That’s because, although richly priced growth stocks have been particularly hard hit due to the rapid rise of interest rates. many names remain overpriced relative to their respective, future prospects.

Additionally, some stocks will drop further because their fundamentals are deteriorating. With spiking interest rates weighing on economic growth and some economists expecting GDP to contract this year, many companies that were ‘”crushing it” during the pandemic era are at risk of getting “crushed.”

Investors should unload or steer clear of these seven stocks to sell. Each one of them could get buried further in 2023.

Airbnb (ABNB)

After falling nearly 50% over the past year, Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) may already reflect the end of the “revenge travel” boom, some may argue. Yet despite the big drop of ABNB’s price, the shares are likely to drop further due to two factors that I highlighted in the introduction:  Valuation and worsening fundamentals.

Right now, ABNB stock trades for 35.5 times its earnings. That would arguably be a reasonable valuation if the company was still poised to grow rapidly.  But with analysts’ estimates calling for the firm to deliver earnings growth of just 8.1% in the next year, ABNB’s current price-earnings ratio is excessive.

Even worse, its results in the coming year could fall to meet analysts’ average estimate. At least, that’s the view of Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak. On Dec. 6, he downgraded ABNB, citing factors such as its slowing active listings growth, as well as concerns that the future increases in its occupancy rates will fall short of forecasts.

Coinbase (COIN)

After tumbling 86% last year, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) may seem at first glance to have a positive risk-reward ratio and provide investors with a good way to bet on a cryptocurrency recovery. Unfortunately, while the shares of the crypto-exchange operator are significantly cheaper today than they were at the start of 2022, there are many reasons to believe that the stock will sink further over the next 12 months.

As veteran investor and InvestorPlace contributor Louis Navellier argued in his Dec. 16 column, COIN stock will likely tumble deeper into the icy “crypto winter waters” in 2023. After cryptos had already been burned by the big, across-the-board decline of cryptocurrency prices, the recent FTX scandal has provided retail investors with yet another reason to avoid the asset class.

With many retail investors shunning cryptos, it’s difficult to imagine Coinbase’s revenue, which is expected to have dropped by more than 50% in 2022, making much of a recovery this year. With the odds of another “crypto boom” emerging in the future tiny, COIN will probably continue to crumble.

First Solar (FSLR)

In contrast to most of the other stocks to sell in this column, First Solar(NASDAQ:FSLR) was on a tear last year, jumping 72%. Its gain was thanks mostly to the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by President Biden in August.

The law provides ample tax incentives and subsidies to the renewable energy sector. Yet while the legislation is set to boost the company, it’s possible that the market has gone overboard pricing this positive catalyst into FSLR stock. Indeed, the shares today trade for 169 times its earnings.

Although many believe that First Solar’s profitability will skyrocket next year, that may not happen. As a Seeking Alpha commentator recently argued, a looming recession and tough competition suggest that the company’s profits will fall short of the Street’s outlook.

While FSLR is still a market darling now, that may not remain the case for long.

GameStop (GME)

The “meme stocks” trend is so 2021. But even in the early stages of 2023 the “meme king,” GameStop (NYSE:GME), has held onto a modest amount of its gains from the speculative frenzy that transpired nearly two years ago.

Yet while GameStop is faring better than many of its meme peers like AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), don’t assume GME will keep holding up. The shares continue to be valued primarily on the perceived potential of GameStop’s nascent e-commerce and non-fungible token (or NFT) exchange ventures.  However, the future prospects of these endeavors, which are arguably “moonshots,” are extremely murky .

Furthermore, GameStop’s core brick-and-mortar retail business continues to flounder, as the video game industry enters a slump. As the company burns through more of its $1 billion of cash, GME stock looks to be on track to keep falling steadily back to its pre-meme price levels. In other words, it’s probably going to fall below $5 per share.

Nvidia (NVDA)

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock is also partially, but not fully, pricing in the macroeconomic challenges facing companies. The chipmaker definitely “crushed it” during the pandemic era. Between its fiscal 2020 and FY22, its revenue more than doubled, while its earnings more than tripled.

However, with the demand for its CPU and GPU chips softening, analysts, on average, expect its revenue to be little changed this fiscal year compared with the last one. What’s more, analysts’ mean estimate calls for its earnings to decline 15.6%, to $3.30 per share. Not only that, but NVDA’s situation could worsen in FY23, as another “chip glut” isn’t out of the question.

Given these points, along with the fact that NVDA stock trades at a pricey 62 times its trailing earnings, the stock is unlikely to climb a great deal and is poised to sink much further.

After this year’s tech selloff, many names are now appealing, but NVDA isn’t one of them.

Tesla (TSLA)

In 2020 and 2021, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) slayed its skeptics, as the electric vehicle maker’s earnings skyrocketed, and EV stocks soared as the sector entered bubble territory.

Over the past year, though, TSLA stock, at one time seemingly unsinkable, has fallen  considerably, causing the shares’ forward price-earnings multiple to tumble.  As a result, some believethat the shares have become a steal. So is it time to go bottom fishing with Tesla? Not so fast!

Believing that TSLA (trading for 22 times forward earnings) is a buy may just be an example of giving too much value to its huge decline.

That’s because the circumstances that drove this stock to its prior, lofty highs aren’t likely to re-emerge. In fact, as it becomes clearer that Tesla is a car company which is not immune to the cyclical nature of the auto business, its valuation may sink to levels more in line with that of the incumbent automakers.

Upstart Holdings (UPST)

It may seem odd to say that Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ:UPST) still belongs in the “stocks to sell” category, since the shares of the fintech firm currently trade at levels which are light years away from their all-time high. Yet much like Tesla, the “story” behind this former “hot stock” has unraveled.

As I’ve argued previously, the market in 2021 overestimated the ability of Upstart’s AI-powered loan underwriting platform to “disrupt” the lending industry. Investors who bought UPST stock near its all-time high paid dearly for their decision, as the company’s growth screeched to a halt, and concerns about its underwriting methods spiked.

Even after UPST dropped 91% last year, it can suffer another decline of around 18%. Its unraveling can continue if its transaction volumes keep falling and its default rates rise going forward.

On the date of publication, Thomas Niel did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.