The Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) is home to some of the biggest success stories in tech and growth investing. However, certain stocks in the index face challenges like profitability concerns, rising costs, or shifts in market trends.
With rapid innovation comes rapid change, and StockStory is here to help you identify which Nasdaq 100 stocks are still worth your money. That said, here are two Nasdaq 100 stocks that could lead the market and one best left off your watchlist.
One Stock to Sell:
Cisco (CSCO)
Market Cap: $421.7 billion
Founded in 1984 by a husband and wife team who wanted computers at Stanford to talk to computers at UC Berkeley, Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) designs and sells networking equipment, security solutions, and collaboration tools that help businesses connect their systems and secure their digital operations.
Why Are We Wary of CSCO?
- Large revenue base makes it harder to increase sales quickly, and its annual revenue growth of 4.9% over the last five years was below our standards for the business services sector
- 4.6 percentage point decline in its free cash flow margin over the last five years reflects the company’s increased investments to defend its market position
- Shrinking returns on capital suggest that increasing competition is eating into the company’s profitability
At $106.73 per share, Cisco trades at 20.8x forward P/E. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including CSCO in your portfolio.
Two Stocks to Buy:
Datadog (DDOG)
Market Cap: $92.25 billion
Named after a database the founders had to painstakingly look after at their previous company, Datadog (NASDAQ:DDOG) provides a software platform that helps organizations monitor and secure their cloud applications, infrastructure, and services.
Why Is DDOG a Good Business?
- Customers view its software as mission-critical to their operations as its ARR has averaged 31.3% growth over the last year
- Revenue outlook for the upcoming 12 months is outstanding and shows it’s on track to gain market share
- Software platform has product-market fit given the rapid recovery of its customer acquisition costs
Datadog’s stock price of $257.46 implies a valuation ratio of 18.9x forward price-to-sales. Is now a good time to buy? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it’s free.
Seagate (STX)
Market Cap: $206 billion
One of two remaining major hard drive manufacturers after decades of industry consolidation, Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) manufactures hard disk drives and solid state drives that store data in data centers, cloud systems, and consumer devices.
Why Will STX Outperform?
- Impressive 36.4% annual revenue growth over the last two years indicates it’s winning market share this cycle
- Operating margin improvement of 16.8 percentage points over the last five years demonstrates its ability to scale efficiently
- Free cash flow margin expanded by 14.5 percentage points over the last five years, providing additional flexibility for investments and share buybacks/dividends
Seagate is trading at $906.50 per share, or 25.7x 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 (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+214% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.