Of course, the primary goal of betting in the equities sector is to make money, not to create a list of stocks to sell for tax losses. Nevertheless, stuff happens – it happens a lot. No matter who you are or how many credentials you leverage, you’re bound to get hit by the red ink.
It’s what you do next that may mitigate the damage, bringing us to tax-loss stocks. With 2023 soon coming to a close, the concept of tax loss harvesting becomes that much more attractive. Basically, this strategy involves offsetting your capital gains with capital losses. That way, you may potentially reduce your net tax liability.
Even if you don’t have much capital gains to offset in 2023, in general, you can carry capital losses forward indefinitely; hence, the phrase tax loss harvesting. And let’s not forget the added benefit of stocks to sell for tax losses. By cutting off the pain now, you can prevent further damage associated with particularly troublesome enterprises.
Still, none of this should be considered tax advice because I’m not a tax professional. Rather, I’m just some dude on the internet bringing some ideas to possibly consider.
Barclays (BCS)
When discussing stocks to sell for tax losses, British universal bank Barclays (NYSE:BCS) should be on your radar for dubious but important reasons. Primarily, the company reported third-quarter earnings results that disappointed analysts and investors. Specifically, its net income slipped 16% year-over-year to $1.61 billion. That said, it did record an increase in revenue. Yet that also raised eyebrows regarding the bottom-line underperformance.
Since dropping heavily, BCS did manage to pop up, although it could be a dead-cat bounce. Earlier, management discussed the need for more restructuring to offset income pressure. In addition, investment bank income slid on muted market activity. This last point is concerning because it seemingly contradicts the return-of-the-bull-market thesis.
In addition, when Barclays fell following its Q3 disclosure, it sparked sector-wide weakness in the financial space. Yes, BCS is technically undervalued but that could turn into a value trap if the broader economy doesn’t cooperate.
Plus, analysts rate shares a moderate sell. That’s about as clear of a signal as you can get for tax-loss stocks.
T. Rowe Price (TROW)
Among the tax-loss stocks, T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW) personally stinks for me because I earlier thought it may have a chance to rise above the muck. Sure, the sudden surge in investor participation due to meme stocks represented an odd but welcome sight. But once that phenomenon faded, entities like T. Rowe simply failed to reignite the fire.
It’s not that TROW is truly awful. Since the start of the year, shares dipped 11%. Over the trailing 52 weeks, they’re down almost 20%. These aren’t encouraging performances but they’re not the worst case of red ink I’ve seen. However, for the longest time, TROW just went sideways. While I’m sure speculators don’t mind picking up the 5% forward yield, the payout ratio of 73.15% is fairly steep.
Now, over the past month, TROW gained 8%, probably on the anticipation of short covering. Per Fintel’s options flow screener, institutional traders sold near-expiry calls with a $100 strike price. So, it’s possible that TROW could pop near term.
However, T. Rowe failed to excite investors, leading to a moderate sell assessment among analysts. With that, TROW might be better off as one of the stocks to sell for tax losses.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
At first glance, British multinantional pharmaceutical and biotechnology firm GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) doesn’t initially seem a candidate for tax-loss stocks. Since the start of the year, GSK gained about 1%, which is neither hot nor cold, just disappointing. In the past 52 weeks, the security inched up almost 6%. So, what would be the tax loss implications here?
For one thing, GSK is incredibly choppy. So, in the past 365 days, if you had bought shares in early December 2022, early April of this year and on Sept. 20, you’d be looking at some red ink. Second and more critically, GlaxoSmithKline could be losing momentum. Sure, it posted a strong boost in sales in the third quarter. However, on a trailing-12-month basis (TTM), revenue sits at around $36.57 billion.
That’s far lower than the $44.24 billion in sales the biotech rang up in 2019. Sure enough, analysts rate shares a moderate sell, which obviously doesn’t provide much confidence. Also, Stifel Nicolaus anticipates a 41% decline in GSK. If so, you might be better off cutting your losses early rather than sticking it out.
On the date of publication, Josh Enomoto did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
