Each stock in this article is trading near its 52-week high. These elevated prices usually indicate some degree of investor confidence, business improvements, or favorable market conditions.

But not every company with momentum is a long-term winner, and plenty of investors have lost money betting on short-term fads. Keeping that in mind, here is one stock with lasting competitive advantages and two best left ignored.

Two Industrials Stocks to Sell:

Cummins (CMI)

One-Month Return: -2.9%

With more than half of the heavy-duty truck market using its engines at one point, Cummins (NYSE: CMI) offers engines and power systems.

Why Is CMI Not Exciting?

1. Flat sales over the last two years suggest it must find different ways to grow during this cycle
2. Gross margin of 24.7% is below its competitors, leaving less money to invest in areas like marketing and R&D
3. Diminishing returns on capital suggest its earlier profit pools are drying up

Cummins’s stock price of $662.53 implies a valuation ratio of 22.4x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with CMI, check out our full research report (it’s free).

Crown Holdings (CCK)

One-Month Return: +19.9%

Formerly Crown Cork & Seal, Crown Holdings (NYSE: CCK) produces packaging products for consumer marketing companies, including food, beverage, household, and industrial products.

Why Does CCK Fall Short?

1. Scale is a double-edged sword because it limits the company’s growth potential compared to its smaller competitors, as reflected in its below-average annual revenue increases of 1.4% for the last five years
2. High input costs result in an inferior gross margin of 20.3% that must be offset through higher volumes
3. Earnings per share lagged its peers over the last five years as they only grew by 3.8% annually

At $113.28 per share, Crown Holdings trades at 13.7x forward P/E. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than CCK.

One Industrials Stock to Buy:

ATI (ATI)

One-Month Return: +2.8%

With its materials flying in nearly every commercial and military aircraft in service today, ATI (NYSE: ATI) produces highly specialized materials and components for aerospace, defense, medical, and energy applications using advanced metallurgy and manufacturing processes.

Why Will ATI Outperform?

1. Impressive 11.1% annual revenue growth over the last five years indicates it’s winning market share this cycle
2. Share buybacks catapulted its annual earnings per share growth to 24.8%, which outperformed its revenue gains over the last two years
3. Free cash flow margin expanded by 21.7 percentage points over the last five years, providing additional flexibility for investments and share buybacks/dividends

ATI is trading at $185 per share, or 41.8x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.

Stocks We Like Even More

WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. The best stocks don’t just beat the market once. They do it again. And again. Robust revenue growth, rising free cash flow, returns on capital that leave their competition in the dust. The market has already rewarded these businesses.

But our AI platform says the party isn’t over. Find out which 9 stocks made the cut this week — FREE. Get Our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks for Free HERE.

Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.