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.
This index layers editorial commentary to help make sense of why these stocks should be of interest and whether investors or casual readers should watch them.
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Here is a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week of May 17:
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Faraday Future FFIE: The electric vehicle (EV) company, which announced a SPAC merger back in 2021, has seen increased interest from investors. A surging share price could be the result of high short interest in the stock and the recent increased attention to meme stocks. Data from Benzinga Pro shows 85.7% of the float short, making the company one of the most shorted stocks. While the company faces financial challenges and received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq, investors appear centered on the short interest. The stock is up over 100% on Friday and now up over 8,000% over the last five days. Despite the rally, shares are down over 90% in the last year.
Vistra Corp VST: The power producer and retail energy company has seen a rise in interest in its stock over the last week according to data from Benzinga. The company recently reported mixed first-quarter financial results with revenue beating estimates and earnings per share missing estimates from analysts. Shares of the stock are up over 150% year-to-date in 2024 and up nearly 300% over the last year. Recent analyst activity saw BMO raise their price target from $79 to $109 and UBS raise their price target from $85 to $110.
Workday Inc WDAY: The human capital management company is seeing increased interest ahead of quarterly earnings. Workday will report first-quarter financial results on Thursday, May 23. Analysts expect the company to report revenue of $1.97 billion and earnings per share of $1.58 compared to $1.68 billion and $1.31 from the previous year's first quarter respectively. Workday has beaten analysts' estimates for earnings per share and revenue in each of the last seven straight quarters. Shares of Workday are up 39% over the last year, but remain down around 6% year-to-date in 2024.
Viking Therapeutics VKTX: The healthcare company has seen a rise in interest in 2024 with a current trial ongoing for a weight-loss drug. Shares of Viking were volatile over the last week with Roche reporting data from their weight-loss therapy. The company has seen a string of price target increases from analysts after reporting recent data in February on its recent weight-loss trial. Shares are up over 250% year-to-date in 2024. The company's CEO Brian Lian called the first quarter "an exception period for Viking."
"We plan to meet with regulators to discuss the path forward for both programs and expect to advance each into further development later this year," Lian said of a Phase 2 study of VK2735 in obesity and a Phase 1 study of novel tablet formulation of VK2735.
Comfort Systems USA FIX: The commercial HVAC (heating, ventilation & air conditioning) company reported financial results in April and shares could be pulling back on the week after soaring over 100% in the last year. The company's first-quarter revenue of $1.54 billion was up significantly from a total of $1.17 billion in the prior year's first quarter. The revenue beat a Street consensus estimate of $1.48 billion.
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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