Investors looking for hidden gems should keep an eye on small-cap stocks because they’re frequently overlooked by Wall Street. Many opportunities exist in this part of the market, but it is also a high-risk, high-reward environment due to the lack of reliable analyst price targets.

Luckily for you, our mission at StockStory is to help you make money and avoid losses by sorting the winners from the losers. Keeping that in mind, here is one small-cap stock that could amplify your portfolio’s returns and two that may have trouble.

Two Small-Cap Stocks to Sell:

The New York Times (NYT)

Market Cap: $7.81 billion

Founded in 1851, The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) is an American media organization known for its influential newspaper and expansive digital journalism platforms.

Why Should You Dump NYT?

1. Performance surrounding its subscribers has lagged its peers

2. Estimated sales growth of 6% for the next 12 months is soft and implies weaker demand

3. Waning returns on capital imply its previous profit engines are losing steam

The New York Times is trading at $47.82 per share, or 23x forward price-to-earnings. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including NYT in your portfolio, it’s free .

Corcept (CORT)

Market Cap: $5.79 billion

Focusing on the powerful stress hormone that affects everything from metabolism to immune function, Corcept Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CORT) develops and markets medications that modulate cortisol to treat endocrine disorders, cancer, and neurological diseases.

Why Are We Hesitant About CORT?

1. Smaller revenue base of $675 million means it hasn’t achieved the economies of scale that some industry juggernauts enjoy

2. Efficiency has decreased over the last five years as its adjusted operating margin fell by 15.9 percentage points

3. Capital intensity has ramped up over the last five years as its free cash flow margin decreased by 13.6 percentage points

At $54.50 per share, Corcept trades at 25.5x forward price-to-earnings. To fully understand why you should be careful with CORT, check out our full research report (it’s free) .

One Small-Cap Stock to Buy:

Semrush (SEMR)

Market Cap: $1.36 billion

Started by Oleg Shchegolev while still in university, Semrush (NYSE:SEMR) is a software-as-a-service platform that helps companies optimize their search engine and content marketing efforts.

Why Is SEMR a Top Pick?

1. Average billings growth of 23.2% over the last year enhances its liquidity and shows there is steady demand for its products

2. Sales outlook for the upcoming 12 months implies the business will stay on its desirable three-year growth trajectory

3. Software is difficult to replicate at scale and results in a top-tier gross margin of 82.6%