Beware of stepping on landmines! US stock analysts have selected 10 "bear stocks" for next year.

For successful US stock investors, in addition to selecting stocks with superior performance, choosing appropriate defensive measures is also essential - that is, avoiding the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 index. Wall Street analysts have already identified these stocks.

Analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSmith shows that analysts expect Seagate Technology (STX.US), Robert Half International (RHI.US), Intel (INTC.US), and other 10 S&P 500 constituents to be among the 10 worst-performing stocks in the next 12 months.

During this period, the expected decline for all of these stocks is above 8.2%. In comparison, FactSet analyst John Butters stated that analysts expect the S&P 500 index to achieve a strong increase of over 10% by 2024. Zehrid Osmani, Senior Portfolio Manager at Martin Currie Global Long-Term Unconstrained, stated that as we enter 2024, there are many reasons to remain cautious. Currie said, "We expect slow and weak corporate profit growth to continue by 2024, and the risk of profit downgrades persists due to optimistic forecasts."

Analysts predict that the S&P 500 index will perform quite robustly in 2024. However, they also see some areas that may weaken. Butters stated that the real estate industry is still a focus of analysts' attention. From an industry perspective, this is not a disaster. Analysts still expect the entire industry to rise by 5.3% in 2024. However, this is only half of the expected increase in the S&P 500 index.

However, there is a significant difference in estimates. The list of the 10 worst-performing stocks in 2024 provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence does not include any real estate stocks. However, the list compiled by FactSet last week shows that Crown Castle International (CCI.US), a real estate company, ranks ninth among the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 index in the next 12 months. Analysts surveyed by FactSet believe that the stock price of this mobile signal tower operator will fall by more than 10% next year.

Seagate Technology is the most bearish among the S&P 500 index constituent analysts surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence for the next 12 months. They expect the stock price of this computer storage company to decline by 16.5% in the next 12 months. If accurate, this decline will wipe out the significant gain of 56% for the stock this year. The analysts' negative attitude seems to be a comment on the company's overvaluation. The current stock price of the company is 432 times the expected profit of 19 cents per share for the adjusted fiscal year 2023. However, on the bright side, it is expected that the profit for the fiscal year 2024 will increase by nearly 90%, and further increase by 1086% for the fiscal year 2025.

Secondly, among the analysts surveyed by Standard & Poor's Global Market Intelligence, Ruo Zhihengfu is ranked second on the bearish list of stocks in the S&P 500 index, and is also one of the stocks that analysts surveyed by FactSet are not optimistic about. Analysts predict that the stock price of this recruitment company will fall by more than 14% in the next 12 months. If accurate, this decline will wipe out the 13.6% increase in the stock price so far this year. The company's profit for this year is expected to decline by nearly 36%. More importantly, analysts believe that the company's profit will only recover by 1.8% in 2024.