Mid-cap stocks have the best odds of scaling into $100 billion corporations thanks to their tested business models and large addressable markets. But the many opportunities in front of them attract significant competition, spanning from industry behemoths with seemingly infinite resources to small, nimble players with chips on their shoulders.
Luckily for you, our mission at StockStory is to help you make money and avoid losses by sorting the winners from the losers. That said, here are two mid-cap stocks with long growth runways and one best left ignored.
One Mid-Cap Stock to Sell:
Builders FirstSource (BLDR)
Market Cap: $9.58 billion
Headquartered in Irving, TX, Builders FirstSource (NYSE: BLDR) is a construction materials manufacturer that offers a variety of lumber and lumber-related building products.
Why Are We Out on BLDR?
- Annual sales declines of 5.7% for the past two years show its products and services struggled to connect with the market during this cycle
- Earnings per share decreased by more than its revenue over the last two years, showing each sale was less profitable
- Eroding returns on capital suggest its historical profit centers are aging
Builders FirstSource is trading at $87.14 per share, or 15.3x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with BLDR, check out our full research report (it’s free).
Two Mid-Cap Stocks to Buy:
The Trade Desk (TTD)
Market Cap: $11.21 billion
Built as an alternative to "walled garden" advertising ecosystems, The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) provides a cloud-based platform that helps advertisers and agencies plan, manage, and optimize digital advertising campaigns across multiple channels and devices.
Why Is TTD a Top Pick?
- Annual revenue growth of 22% over the last two years was superb and indicates its market share is rising
- Software platform has product-market fit given the rapid recovery of its customer acquisition costs
- Highly efficient business model is illustrated by its impressive 20.3% operating margin, and it turbocharged its profits by achieving some fixed cost leverage
At $23.53 per share, The Trade Desk trades at 3.7x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? Find out in our full research report, it’s free.
United Therapeutics (UTHR)
Market Cap: $23.24 billion
Founded by a mother seeking treatment for her daughter's pulmonary arterial hypertension, United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR) develops and commercializes medications for chronic lung diseases and other life-threatening conditions, with a focus on pulmonary hypertension treatments.
Why Will UTHR Outperform?
- Annual revenue growth of 16.9% over the past two years was outstanding, reflecting market share gains this cycle
- UTHR is a free cash flow machine with the flexibility to invest in growth initiatives or return capital to shareholders, and its rising cash conversion increases its margin of safety
- Improving returns on capital reflect management’s ability to monetize investments
United Therapeutics’s stock price of $530.20 implies a valuation ratio of 19.5x forward P/E. Is now the right time to buy? See for yourself in our full research report, it’s free.
High-Quality Stocks for All Market Conditions
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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-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
