As earnings season kicks off in earnest, Goldman Sachs warns that investors should stay away from certain names. This week is a big one for second-quarter earnings, with 35 stocks in the S & P 500 — or around 7% of the index — on the docket to report their latest results. The big banks — including JPMorgan , Citigroup , Wells Fargo , BlackRock , Bank of America , Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — are on the schedule. This week’s headliners also include Johnson & Johnson , United Airlines , PepsiCo , Netflix and 3M . Earnings season will further ramp up next week. As the reporting season begins, Goldman Sachs says buyers should beware against owning certain names. In a recent note, the bank published “a list of sell-rated names with at least 5% downside to price target with risk of an earnings miss (GS 2025E estimates are at least 2% below consensus).” The list included the following names: Candy maker Hershey was one name on the list. Shares have slipped 3% this year, but Goldman Sachs’ price target implies there is an additional downside of 10% ahead. Shares of Hershey slipped earlier this month after the company announced Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner will succeed Michele Buck as CEO. Buck is retiring after nearly 20 years at Hershey, with eight spent at the helm. “Kirk is a proven, high-impact leader in the food and beverage industry with a great combination of customer and consumer passion, commercial acumen and operational scale,” said Mary Kay Haben, director and chair of Hershey’s CEO search committee, in a press release accompanying the announcement. “His deep experience in snacks, beverages, M & A and innovation — combined with public company CEO and board roles — makes him well suited to lead Hershey into the future.” Tanner will take the reins effective Aug. 18. Victoria’s Secret is another name Goldman Sachs has a bearish view on. The bank foresees the lingerie retailer falling an additional 14%. Shares of Victoria’s Secret have already sunk 54% in 2025. In late April, Wells Fargo downgraded the name to an underweight rating from equal weight. “While VSCO has recently seen an improvement in trends following the hiring of a new management team and the implementation of product and marketing improvements, we are sidelined on the name given 1) non-essential undergarments are a historically more recession-sensitive space, and we anticipate a larger headwind to revenues vs. our retail universe, and 2) the brand has not proven an ability to sustain/hold pricing (which will be critical in the near future),” Wells Fargo analyst Ike Boruchow wrote. Boruchow’s updated price target of $12, down from $25, corresponds to a downside of 37% from the stock’s Monday close. Goldman Sachs also has a pessimistic view on eBay . The e-commerce company has popped 25% this year, but the bank believes it could stumble 29% over the next 12 months. Also in late April, Bernstein downgraded the name to a market perform rating from outperform. Analyst Nikhil Devnani lowered his price target by $5 to $65. That implies about 16% downside from Monday’s closing price. “China-sourced inventory has been a core area of growth (e.g., Motor P & A), and the channel could see disruption until tariff policies get finalized. Offsets would be alternative sellers and secondhand [gross merchandise volume] that may accelerate, but EBAY’s category mix broadly skews discretionary,” he wrote in a note to clients. “Too many moving parts, which makes us less comfortable with an active call.” Other names on the list included Lazard , Super Micro Computer and American Airlines .
