Benzinga's 'Stock Whisper' Index: 5 Stocks Investors Are Secretly Monitoring, But Not Yet Talking About

Investors are on the hunt for undervalued, underfollowed and emerging stocks to spot opportunities. 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 are of interest and whether they broach an area for investors and casual readers to watch.

Here is a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week of March 2, 2023.

China Jo-Jo Drugstores Holdings Inc CJJD: China Jo-Jo is a leading online and offline pharmaceutical retailer and distributor in China.

The company places high on the Stock Whisper Index with increased chatter among Benzinga’s proprietary data.

China Jo-Jo was recently highlighted by Benzinga as a potential short squeeze using data from Fintel. The stock ranked third on the weekly short squeeze leaderboard with 10.7% of the float short and a cost to borrow of 38.7%, moving up five positions.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc BBBY: Retailer Bed Bath & Beyond ranks high for the week amongst Benzinga data, which could signal continued popularity and volatility of the meme stock. The stock has fallen over 90% in the last year and is down 32% year-to-date in 2023.

The drop comes after the stock saw huge interest from retail traders and the belief that the company would stave off bankruptcy. Analysts see bankruptcy as a closer possibility, but the stock is still among the most searched on Benzinga.

Related Link: Exclusive: Top 10 Most Searched Tickers On Benzinga Pro In February 

Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc RETA: Shares of Reata have soared over 80% in the last month on the heels of the company announcing FDA approval of SKYCLARYS for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia. The company said it anticipates the drug being available in the second quarter of 2023.

While shares of Reata are up significantly on the heels of approval, there may be more upside to the current share price of $85. Analysts poured in with new price targets after the approval, including $121 from Cantor Fitzgerald, $120 from Citigroup, $185 from Goldman Sachs and $90 from Barclays.

OncoSec Medical Inc ONCS: Gene therapeutics company OncoSec saw shares fall 88% in the last year. A recent announcement that the company withdrew a share offering has put life back into the micro-cap company.

Shares are now up 26% year-to-date in 2023 after a 100% gain in the last five days.

Lumen Technologies Inc LUMN: Shares of communications company Lumen are hitting new 52-week lows this week. The stock is seeing increased interest from traders across Benzinga, which could suggest investors looking to see if the bottom is in or if more pain is ahead.

Citigroup downgraded shares to sell and lowered the price target in February, which sent shares down after earnings. The company could have several updates coming with appearances set for conferences by Morgan Stanley and Raymond James on March 6 and March 7, respectively.

That’s it for this edition of the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index.

Click on the latest in the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index stocks to watch here:

Week of Feb. 2

Week of Feb. 16

Week of Feb. 23 

Stay tuned for next week’s report and follow along with Benzinga Pro for all the latest headlines and top market-moving stories here.