The stock market’s first four months of 2025 were marked by sharp swings, but momentum has since turned positive, with the S&P 500 now up ~8.5% for the year. Even so, some stocks have yet to catch up – and for investors, those laggards could hold an intriguing comeback potential.
Elevate Your Investing Strategy:
- Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence.
The trick is spotting companies at or near the bottom of their cycle. Sure, every seasoned advisor will tell you that “timing the market” is impossible – and they’re right – but timing still matters. Buying low is the name of the game, and that means recognizing when a stock’s price is depressed and presents investors with an opportunity.
That’s where Wall Street’s pros can lend a hand. Lately, Piper Sandler analysts have been busy flagging stocks that are hovering near their lows and could be primed for a rebound.
Using the TipRanks database, we dug into two of their top rebound candidates. Both have tumbled more than 30% this year, but Piper Sandler sees each as having the potential to turn things around. Here’s a closer look – along with the analysts’ take on what could spark that recovery.
HubSpot (HUBS)
The first stock we’ll look at here is HubSpot, the well-known marketing software platform. The company was founded in 2006, and over the past two decades has turned itself into the ‘go-to’ software stop for online marketing teams. HubSpot’s software provides a set of marketing tools, based on a unified platform and designed to solve the day-to-day problems and issues that arise in CRM, social media management, content management, and SEO. The platform has proven popular with direct marketers, inbound sales experts, and customer service teams.
HubSpot’s product line includes tools for a wide range of functions, from ad placement to Google ad optimization, to content writing, to marketing automation, to newsletter building, to email marketing, to building chatbots. It’s a long list, with something to meet every conceivable need in digital marketing. The company has built a reputation for innovation, and in recent years, HubSpot has integrated AI technology into its software offerings.
HubSpot was quick to realize that AI can enhance digital marketing in myriad ways. The company’s Breeze AI gives marketers a toolkit of AI-powered applications, including both generative and agentic AI in the mix. These can be used to enhance a customer’s existing set of HubSpot tools, or set up a new AI-powered marketing suite. The system is designed to operate independently, based on the human operator’s instructions and preferences. Since introducing Breeze AI last year, HubSpot claims that users have seen significant gains – on the order of 40% to 50% – in ticket and customer contact resolutions.
HubSpot works on the proven ‘freemium’ model. That is, the company offers a basic set of tools and services to all users, free of charge – with more options, more sophisticated tools, and more in-depth service available through paid subscription packages. The model has proven successful in the world of software-as-a-service, and HubSpot has used it to build a $23 billion company, that has generated $2.8 billion in revenue over the last 12 months, and can boast some 268,000 customers.
In its last reported financial results, for 2Q25, HubSpot’s quarterly revenue came to $760.9 million, for a 19% year-over-year gain, and beat the forecast by $20.8 million. Subscription revenue, red meat for a SaaS company, grew 19% year-over-year to hit $744.5 million. At the bottom line, the company reported non-GAAP earnings of $2.19 per share, 7 cents per share better than had been anticipated. The company finished Q2 with deep pockets; it had $1.9 billion in cash and other liquid assets available as of June 30 this year.
Despite all of this, HUBS shares are down 35% for the year-to-date. Piper Sandler’s Brent Bracelin has an idea what’s behind the downbeat stock action and thinks the scene is set for a rebound. He writes, “Q2 was better-than-feared evident by the $22M top-line beat, especially against a backdrop of negative investor sentiment across PLG SaaS models that pressured HUBS shares… Skeptics may still point to the ~$5M FX tailwind that contributed to ~23% of the Q2 beat and 2H guide that implies cc growth slows to 16% (vs. 18%). However, we argue that below the surface there are early signs that HUBS is at the forefront of a product-driven growth+margin rebound… We upgrade to Overweight on a potential 2026 growth+margin recovery and favorable risk-reward after the sell-off. Next catalyst: 9/3 analyst day.”
Bracelin’s Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating is accompanied by a $675 price target that implies a 50% upside potential in the next 12 months. (To watch Bracelin’s track record, click here)
Like many tech stocks, HubSpot has picked up plenty of Wall Street attention. The 29 recent analyst reviews include 25 to Buy against just 4 to Hold, for a Strong Buy consensus rating, while the $686.59 average price target points toward a one-year gain of 53% from the current trading price of $449.72. (See HUBS stock forecast)
GoDaddy (GDDY)
The second stock we’ll look at here is GoDaddy, an internet company offering both domain hosting and website building services. The company was founded in 1997, during the tech expansion that led to the dot.com bubble, and in the years since then this proven tech survivor has built itself into an $19 billion player in the industry.
GoDaddy is best known for hosting domain names. Customers can register names with the service, locking in their ownership of the name, and to date, GoDaddy boasts that it hosts some 81 million domain names. In addition, GoDaddy allows prospective customers to search for or generate unique domain names, and allows investors to appraise name values and enter domain auctions. On the website side, the company offers website design and building services, with a free trial website builder available. GoDaddy also provides web hosting, and can even host sites built through WordPress.
GoDaddy offers plenty of additional services. These include web security services, including SSL certificates, and marketing services, such as a logo maker and a content and photo creator. The company even offers professional email hosting, through Microsoft 365, with several pricing packages available.
Over the past year, GoDaddy has seen its revenues take a modest upward trend, but the stock is down 32% since the start of the year. The drop in share price came primarily in two large steps, one in February, when the company missed expectations in its 4Q24 earnings report, and again last week, when the 2Q25 report showed a beat vs. the profit forecast – but by less than investors had hoped.
In the quarter, GoDaddy’s total revenue came to $1.2 billion. This was up 8% year-over-year and in-line with expectations. The company reported a GAAP EPS of $1.41, which represented year-over-year growth of 40 cents per share and was 3 cents per share over the estimates. GoDaddy’s cash and liquid asset holdings at the end of the quarter came to $1.09 billion, and the free cash flow of $391.5 million was up 21% from the prior-year period.
This stock has caught the eye of Piper Sandler analyst Clarke Jeffries, who takes particular notice of the sharp decline in the share price that we noted above. Jeffries says of GoDaddy, “We believe shares have entered oversold territory. GoDaddy is a remarkably consistent business, but a 32% retreat in shares since the Q4 print would have you believe otherwise. Sitting today, GDDY is valued at ~12x CY26 FCF (8% FCF yield) encroaching on the multiple the business carried prepandemic despite demonstrative progress on AI product packaging, margins & shareholder return focused capital allocation. We believe GDDY is well on the path to $13 FCF/share in 2026 – easily justifying in our minds $180+ per share. On a more tactical level, cash conversion improvement has driven a sizable raise in FCF growth from 11% FY FCF growth entering the year to now 18% growth with 2H NEBITDA expansion looking very conservative. It’s time to revisit GDDY in our view.”
Jeffries gives GDDY shares an Overweight (Buy) rating, which he complements with a $182 price target, suggesting a 36.5% one-year upside for the stock. (To watch Jeffries’s track record, click here)
The 16 recent analyst reviews of GDDY break down to 11 Buys and 4 Holds, for a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The stock is selling for $133.35 and its $193.79 average price target implies a gain of 45% in the year ahead. (See GDDY stock forecast)
To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.