Benzinga's 'Stock Whisper' Index: 5 Stocks Investors Secretly Monitor But Don't Talk About Yet
Each week, Benzinga's Stock Whisper Index uses a combination of proprietary data and pattern recognition to showcase five stocks just under the surface and warrant attention.
Investors are constantly on the hunt for undervalued, under-followed and emerging stocks. With countless methods available to retail traders, the challenge often lies in sifting through the abundance to uncover new information and making sense of why these stocks should be of interest.
Here’s a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week of July 12:
QuantumScape Corp (NYSE:QS): The solid-state lithium-metal battery developer saw shares jump after announcing an agreement with leading automotive company Volkswagen Group (OTC:VWAGY).
The agreement will see Volkwagen's battery unit PowerCo industrialize QuantumScape's technology with a license to mass-produce battery cells. QuantumScape will receive royalty payments as part of the non-exclusive deal.
Volkswagen is the largest shareholder in QuantumScape, which announced a SPAC merger in 2020 to go public. At the time of its SPAC merger, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Jack Ma, Michael Bloomberg and Jeff Bezos were also investors in the company.
QuantumScape shares are up 46% over the last five days as seen in the Benzinga Pro chart below.
Pure Storage Inc (NYSE:PSTG): The enterprise data storage company saw strong interest from Benzinga readers and continues to rank high on the Stock Whisper Index.
Shares of the company were down 1% over the last five days but remain up over 70% in the past year. The company recently announced new capabilities for its platform that could help with growth in the IT sector.
UBS analyst David Vogt downgraded shares from Neutral to Sell recently, while raising the price target from $44 to $47.
SoundHound AI Inc (NASDAQ:SOUN): The voice AI company has seen strong interest from Benzinga readers in recent weeks, including over the past trading week.
Shares jumped Wednesday after the company announced its ChatGPT-integrated voice assistant is now part of Peugeot, Opel and Vauxhall vehicles in Europe.
The voice assistant is live in the vehicle models in 11 European countries. The company said it expects to have the product in 17 markets by the end of July. The platform allows hands-free voice control for items like navigation, making calls and asking questions with the voice assistant.
"Our collaboration with Stellantis has put both companies right at the cutting edge of innovation in the automotive sector, bringing the driver experience into a new and exciting era," SoundHound AI COO Michael Zagorsek said.
SoundHound shares were up 30% over the last five trading days, as viewed in the Benzinga Pro chart below.
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Comcast Corp (NASDAQ:CMCSA): The media company saw strong interest from readers over the past week and could in the future with several upcoming catalysts.
Comcast is expected to win a portion of a new 11-year media rights deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA). The deal will see weekly NBA nationally televised games on NBC and a weekly game exclusive to the Peacock streaming platform. NBC last aired NBA games from 1990 to 2002 and will gain another key sports league for its future growth.
Comcast also kicks off 2024 Summer Olympics coverage later this month in a move that could lead to a boost in Peacock subscribers in the current quarter.
The media company also saw recent box office success with "Despicable Me 4" grossing $122.6 million domestically in its first five days in theaters and $229.5 million worldwide.
Comcast stock is flat over the past week, as seen in the Benzinga Pro chart below, but second-quarter earnings on July 23 could mark the beginning of several upcoming catalysts.
Kazia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:KZIA): The last stock on this week's Stock Whisper Index is the smallest and one that investors should watch has a small $37 million market capitalization.
The biotech stock soared during the week after announcing Phase II/III trial results for a treatment of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer. The results showed an increase in overall survival compared to the current standard of care.
Kazia CEO John Friend said the company is looking forward to discussing accelerated approval paths with the FDA. HC Wainwright reiterated a Buy rating and $2 price target on the stock.
Kazia shares are up over 500% in the last week, as seen in the chart below.
Stay tuned for next week's report, and follow Benzinga Pro for all the latest headlines and top market-moving stories here.
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