3 Reasons to Sell HAYW and 1 Stock to Buy Instead Anthony Lee Wed, October 7, 2026 at 11:28 AM EDT 3 min read ^GSPC -0.35% HAYW -3.96% Trade HAYW on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Over the past six months, Hayward's shares (currently trading at $12.31) have posted a disappointing 9.1% loss, well below the S&P 500's 17.5% gain. This might have investors contemplating their next move.
Even though the stock has become cheaper, we're sitting this one out for now. Here are three reasons you should be careful with HAYW, plus one stock we'd rather own.
A company's long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. Unfortunately, Hayward struggled to consistently increase demand as its $1.17 billion of sales for the trailing 12 months was close to its revenue five years ago. This wasn't a great result and signals it's a lower quality business.
Operating margin is an important measure of profitability as it shows the portion of revenue left after accounting for all core expenses — everything from the cost of goods sold to advertising and wages. It's also useful for comparing profitability across companies with different levels of debt and tax rates because it excludes interest and taxes.
Analyzing the trend in its profitability, Hayward's operating margin decreased by 3.1 percentage points over the last five years. Even though its historical margin was healthy, shareholders will want to see Hayward become more profitable in the future. Its operating margin for the trailing 12 months was 21.1%.
We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) because it highlights whether a company's growth is profitable.
Sadly for Hayward, its EPS declined by 22.8% annually over the last five years while its revenue was flat. This tells us the company struggled because its fixed cost base made it difficult to adjust to choppy demand.
Hayward isn't a terrible business, but it doesn't pass our quality test. Following the recent decline, the stock trades at 13.5× forward P/E (or $12.31 per share). While this valuation is fair, the upside isn't great compared to the potential downside. We're fairly confident there are better investments elsewhere. Let us point you toward one of our top digital advertising picks.
ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively.
Find out which 5 stocks it's flagging this month — FREE. Get Our Top 5 Growth Stocks for Free HERE.
Stocks that have made our list 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 Tecnoglass (+1,552% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
