Hot or Not, Stock Market Edition: 11/21/2025

Hey you. Here’s what’s hot and what’s not today:

• Hot: UiPath (PATH) isn’t just an NVDA sympathy play; Royalty Pharma (RPRX) raises guidance (and expectations)
• Not: e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) looks to be in freefall; Equitable Holdings (EQH) struggles to find its footing

P.S. For more stocks making moves, check out our Zen Ratings Upgrades & Downgrades screener.

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🔥 HOT: Biotech royalty specialist Royalty Pharma (RPRX) just got a major vote of confidence from Wall Street thanks to raised guidance and robust quarterly results. With a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), it’s in a class of stocks that have historically averaged 32.52% annual returns; digging into the Component Grades to find specific strengths, you’ll find the company scores particularly well on Value, Safety, and Momentum metrics, earning B grades in each category.  On the Street, sentiment has shifted decidedly positive, with analysts noting that the business fundamentals remain intact despite broader biotech volatility. For investors seeking exposure to pharma without the binary risk of drug development, this is worth adding to your watchlist.

🥶 NOT: Equitable Holdings (EQH) is struggling to find its footing. The Life Insurance industry isn’t the strongest to begin with right now, thanks to a trifecta of headwinds: Rising rates, higher payouts, and lower policy demand. The industry only earns a C grade from our Zen Ratings system — and EQH is a particularly weak pick within it, ranked #14 out of 14 stocks we track in the niche. It has a Zen Rating of D (Sell), reflecting deep structural challenges that come into focus when you look at the Component Grades, where D ratings for Growth and Sentiment highlight anemic expansion prospects. The Financials grade (find more financially sound stocks) of C suggests operational headwinds, and the technical indicators are uniformly weak, with RSI at 29 and MACD deeply negative. The Zen Rating downgrade from Hold to Sell is the final nail, confirming that analysts see limited upside and meaningful downside risk. Life insurance is a tough sector right now, and EQH appears to be losing ground to better-capitalized competitors.

🔥 HOT: Yesterday, several stocks jumped after Nvidia (NVDA) posted better-than-expected earnings. UiPath (PATH) was one of them. But the automation software leader isn’t just a sympathy play. It was just recognized as the Leader and Star Performer in the Everest Group's Intelligent Process Automation Platform assessment for 2025, a credential that carries serious weight in enterprise software. The stock has also caught the eye of Alphabet's investment team, signaling institutional confidence in the company's long-term trajectory. Perhaps more important, its A (Strong Buy) Zen Rating (in the 95th percentile of stocks we track) suggests that the stock has what it takes to sustain its trajectory. With an exceptional A grade for Growth and above-average B grades for Financials and Sentiment grade of B, the fundamentals support the bullish narrative around AI-driven automation demand. UiPath's leadership position in automation, combined with AI tailwinds and institutional backing, positions it well for the near term.

🥶 NOT:  e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) looks to be in freefall. It’s trading in the high $60s and low $70s, a far cry from its 52-week high in the $150 range. While the company has some bright spots like its NWSL partnership and international expansion through Ulta, these initiatives aren't enough to offset concerns about slowing growth and margin pressure in the competitive beauty market (Industry Grade: D). The recent downgrade from Hold to a Zen Rating of D (13th percentile of stocks we track) reflects broad weakness across the board, with middling C grades for just about every Component. The bottom line? ELF's combination of technical breakdown, analyst downgrades, and weak fundamentals suggests further downside risk. Wait for stabilization before considering a re-entry.

What to Do Next?

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