EXCLUSIVE: The Benzinga Moneymaker Series, 5 Emerging Stocks For Investors To Watch

Investors are on the hunt for undervalued, underfollowed and emerging stocks to spot opportunities. The rise of social media and retail traders gave way to countless methods to uncover new information. For some, this is overwhelming.

Benzinga’s Moneymaker 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 the investor and casual reader to watch.

Here is a look at the Benzinga Moneymaker Index for the week of Dec. 15, 2022.

SoFi Technologies: Leading fintech company SoFi Technologies SOFI saw a boost in the share price this week with news that company CEO Anthony Noto had purchased $5 million worth of shares. The news comes as the company has faced headwinds like a federal student loan payments pause and scrutiny over the company’s cryptocurrency trading platform. Shares of SoFi are up 6% in the last five days compared to a 71% drop year-to-date in 2022.

Avidity Biosciences: Results of a Phase 1/2 trial sent shares of Avidity Biosciences RNA higher and led to a spike in searches for the ticker. The company’s AOC 1001 lead clinical program showed the first-ever successful targeted delivery of RNA into muscle and could help the company launch additional trials in the future. Shares of the company are up 86% over the last five days and up 19% year-to-date in 2022.

Icosovax Inc: Clinical stage biotechnology company Icosovax Inc ICVX saw shares trade higher Thursday after announcing a six-month update of a Phase 1/1b trial for the company’s treatment against RSV. Benzinga reported on an analyst who said the treatment from Icosovax could be better than a vaccine from Pfizer Inc PFE.

Mullen Automotive: Electric vehicle company Mullen Automotive MULN announced a purchase order Thursday that sent shares higher. The purchase order from Randy Marion Automotive Group is for 6,000 Class 1 electric cargo vans and valued at $200 million. Mullen shares are up 48% over the last five days compared to a 95% drop year-to-date. Mullen has generated strong support from retail traders and across social media. In the month of November, Mullen was the tenth-most searched ticker on Benzinga Pro.

Netflix: Streaming leader Netflix Inc NFLX hit several milestones for hit shows.

“Wednesday” passed the 1 billion hours viewed milestone after three weeks and broke the single week viewing record for an English language series on the platform. The company’s docuseries “Harry & Meghan” also was the most watched docuseries in company history on a weekly basis.

Despite the recent hits, shares of Netflix traded down on Thursday on reports that its highly anticipated ad-support platform could be underperforming initial projections and leading to advertisers wanting their money back.

That’s it for this third edition of the Benzinga Moneymaker Index. The five stocks mentioned above all saw a large amount of volume across Benzinga over the past week. Stay tuned for next week’s report and follow along with Benzinga Pro for all the latest headlines and top market-moving stories here.

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