Benzinga's 'Stock Whisper' Index: 5 Stocks Investors Are Secretly Monitoring But Not Talking About Yet
Investors are on the hunt for undervalued, underfollowed and emerging stocks and retail traders have countless methods at their disposal to uncover new information. For some, this may be overwhelming.
Benzinga’s Stock Whisper Index uses a combination of proprietary data and pattern recognition to showcase five stocks each week that are just under the surface and warrant attention.
The index layers editorial commentary to help make sense of why these stocks should be of interest and whether investors and casual readers should watch them.
Here is a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week of May 11, 2023.
CTI Biopharma Corp (NASDAQ:CTIC): Shares of biopharmaceutical company CTI rocketed higher this week on news the company would be acquired for $1.7 billion by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (OTC:BIOVF).
The deal will see CTIC shares valued at $9.10 each in the acquisition. Shares trade at $8.94 on Thursday, hitting a new 52-week high and trading slightly lower than the buyout price.
Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, also known as Sobi, sees the move helping its commercial footprint in the U.S. Investors could see the strong interest in the stock after the buyout news as a sign that investors are looking at attractive biotech stocks that could be buyout targets.
Related Link: Exclusive: Top 10 Most Searched Tickers On Benzinga Pro In April
Shengfeng Development Limited (NASDAQ:SFWL): Chinese logistics company Shengfeng Development went public in late March and saw shares become highly volatile. The company offered 2.4 million shares for $4 each in its public offering.
Similar to other low float Chinese companies, shares soared in their first few days of trading and have been highly volatile. Shares were halted earlier this week and trade at $6.71 on Thursday.
Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR): Software company Palantir reported quarterly results on Monday after market close. Shares rose as the company beat analyst estimates for revenue and earnings per share.
The company highlighted U.S. customers growing by 50% year-over-year and U.S. revenue growing 23% year-over-year. Profitability was also a key takeaway from the company.
Palantir highlighted its Artificial Intelligence Platform, which is seeing strong engagement and demand.
Profits from the company were essential for CNBC host Jim Cramer to reverse his take on the company.
PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW): Regional banking company PacWest saw shares fall Thursday, the latest in a string of bank stocks under pressure. The company reported that deposits fell 9.5% last week as the company made headlines for exploring talks with potential investors.
“The news headlines increased our customers' fears of the safety of their deposits,” PacWest said.
The company said it made up for deposit declines with on-hand liquidity. The company updated its liquidity with $15 billion available compared to uninsured deposits of $5.2 billion.
Two regional banks in First Horizon and Western Alliance made the Stock Whisper Index last week as bank stocks continue to be among the most searched for and traded by investors in recent months.
Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB): Online marketplace for home rentals Airbnb saw strong interest from traders after reporting first quarter financial results.
The company beat consensus estimates from analysts for revenue and earnings per share. Guidance for the second quarter likely spooked investors and analysts with the company saying it would be up against an unfavorable comparable time period from 2022 that saw pent-up demand after the COVID omicron variant.
The company sees growth in nights and experiences to be lower than revenue growth in the second quarter.
Many analysts kept their ratings targets on Airbnb shares but lowered price targets given the unfavorable comparable time period coming up.
That’s a wrap for this edition of the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index.
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