We recently published a list of 11 Oversold NASDAQ Stocks to Buy Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) stands against other oversold NASDAQ stocks to buy right now.
On April 28, Darrell Cronk, Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management CIO, appeared on CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street’ to discuss market outlooks and what investors should look at in the current market circumstances. He opined that it is growth that investors should be worried about, not inflation. Cronk was of the view that the market will likely see better buying/entry opportunities in the coming weeks, and so it is essential to be careful when chasing equities too hard. There is a growing divide between sentiment and positioning, as we live in a geopolitical-first world where the rules of the game can change with stunning speed.
Cronk further opined that many people overlook a key fact about tariffs, solely focusing on their inflationary nature. While tariffs are inflationary, they are blunt-force resets in prices and are not sustained inflationary. So, although companies need to be able to absorb the blunt force reset of prices and impact of margins, it’s not like one continues to see the rate of change of inflation move meaningfully higher up from years one to two, three, and four. This trend only emerges when tariffs move meaningfully higher up over a period of time.
READ ALSO: Recession Resistant Investing: 10 Best Grocery Stocks To Buy Now and 10 Best Stocks That Will Always Grow.
Are Rate Cuts a Good Idea?
Cronk also talked about how the president has been screaming at the Fed to slash interest rates. But it’s not just the president; the bond market is doing the same. Fed cuts over a period of time are essential. However, according to Cronk, if the Fed shows up tomorrow and announces an emergency cut of sorts, markets wouldn’t perceive it so well. The markets would take it as the Fed knowing something they do not, and the growth scare would grow more pervasive and problematic. This is why the Fed has to be careful about how they act.
The Fed appears to be more concerned about inflation, and it has been consistent in that. If they switched to more growth concerns than inflation concerns, the markets would perceive them as more dovish. He said that we just saw the Fed’s president saying that June could be on the table for a possible rate cut. The Fed is thus starting to lay the groundwork, and we would have to see how that narrative turns out. If it takes a more dovish approach, markets would perceive that in a well-timed, thoughtful way.
Since April 1, nine of the eleven S&P gig sectors have revised their guidance lower. The problem is that out of the 20%- 25% of the reported earnings that the market has seen right now, less than 20% of them have been willing to give forward guidance. Therefore, Cronk highlighted that the guidance suspension is obviously problematic and important here. The market thus needs consumer discretionary stocks and industrials to hold up and tech to deliver.
Our Methodology
We used stock screeners to compile a list of NASDAQ stocks that experienced significant YTD performance declines. We then selected the 11 stocks with the highest analyst upside potential as of April 29, 2025. We also added the number of hedge fund holders for these stocks as of Q4 2024, sourcing hedge fund data from Insider Monkey’s database. The list is sorted in ascending order of the upside potential.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 363.5% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 208 percentage points (see more details here).
A team of engineers in hardhats drilling for oil, clouds of smoke in the air.
Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD)
Perf YTD: -41.20%
Analyst Upside: 82.81%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 36
Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) provides services and equipment to the natural gas and oil exploration and production industry. The company has operations in the Drilling and Evaluation (DRE), Well Construction and Completions (WCC), and Production and Intervention (PRI) segments. The WCC segment includes liner hangers, tubular running services, cementation products, well services, and completions, while the DRE segment offers drilling services, drilling fluids, wireline, and managed pressure drilling. The company’s PRI segment manages pressure pumping services, production automation and software, artificial life, sub-sea intervention, and more.
On April 23, analyst James Rollyson from Raymond James maintained a Buy rating on Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD), reducing the price target to $69.00 from $73.00. The analyst stuck to a Buy rating due to the company’s future growth potential. He opined that while Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) is facing challenges such as asset divestitures and weaker market conditions, it has demonstrated resilience by focusing on maintaining a strong balance sheet, free cash flow conversion, and shareholder returns. These strategic priorities support the company’s favorable market standing in the face of downturns, positioning it in the fifth spot on our list of oversold NASDAQ stocks to buy right now.
The analyst further said that Weatherford International plc (NASDAQ:WFRD) surpassed expectations with its latest financial performance, with revenues exceeding its guidance’s midpoint and adjusted EBITDA following closely behind. Its initiatives to streamline its operations, such as the sale of some businesses, have slashed capital intensity and brought in significant proceeds, supporting the Buy rating.
Overall, WFRD ranks 5th on our list of oversold NASDAQ stocks to buy right now. While we acknowledge the potential for WFRD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WFRD but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
