3 Reasons to Sell COMP and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

Compass has had an impressive run over the past six months as its shares have beaten the S&P 500 by 20.2%. The stock now trades at $9.31, marking a 37% gain. This was partly due to its solid quarterly results, and the run-up might have investors contemplating their next move.

Is there a buying opportunity in Compass, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Get the full stock story straight from our expert analysts, it's free.

We're glad investors have benefited from the price increase, but we don't have much confidence in Compass. Here are three reasons why COMP doesn't excite us, plus one stock we'd rather own.

A company's long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Over the last five years, Compass grew its sales at a 14% compounded annual growth rate. Although this growth is acceptable on an absolute basis, it fell short of our standards for the consumer discretionary sector, which enjoys a number of secular tailwinds.

Operating margin is a key measure of profitability. Think of it as net income - the bottom line - excluding the impact of taxes and interest on debt, which are less connected to business fundamentals.

Compass's operating margin has shrunk over the last 12 months and averaged negative 2% over the last two years. Unprofitable consumer discretionary companies with falling margins deserve extra scrutiny because they're spending loads of money to stay relevant, an unsustainable practice.

If you've followed StockStory for a while, you know we emphasize free cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end, cash is king, and you can't use accounting profits to pay the bills.

Compass has shown poor cash profitability relative to peers over the last two years, giving the company fewer opportunities to return capital to shareholders. Its free cash flow margin averaged 1.6%, below what we'd expect for a consumer discretionary business.

Compass doesn't pass our quality test. With its shares beating the market recently, the stock trades at 9.7× forward P/E (or $9.31 per share). While this valuation is optically cheap, the potential downside is huge given its shaky fundamentals. There are better stocks to buy right now. We'd suggest looking at the most entrenched endpoint security platform on the market.

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