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.

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.

Here is a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week of May 24:

Lam Research Corporation LRCX: The semiconductor company was one of several stocks in the sector that traded higher on the heels of strong first-quarter results from Nvidia Corporation.

The company also announced a $10 billion share buyback and authorized a 10-for-1 stock split.

Lam Research CEO Doug Bettinger said the company plans to return 75% to 100% of free cash flow to shareholders via dividends and share buybacks. Lam shares are up 70% over the last year.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation MPC: The oil stock traded higher by around 1% during the week, which came after shares declined last week on an announcement that Maryann T. Mannen would become the new CEO of the company.

Shares have also moved lower after reporting quarterly earnings at the end of April. Shares of the oil company are up 61% over the last year.

TransDigm Group TDG: The aircraft components company saw increased interest from Benzinga readers during the week. This could be because the company announced it finalized its acquisition of engineered products company SEI Industries.

In early May, TransDigm announced second-quarter revenue of $1.9 billion, up 21% year-over-year. The company also raised guidance for full fiscal year sales and earnings per share. TransDigm shares are up 78% over the last year.

The company was previously highlighted in the Stock Whisper Index in April.

Costco Wholesale Corporation COST: The retailer is seeing increased interest from investors ahead of its upcoming third-quarter financial results, which are due after market close on May 30.

Data from Placer.ai showed strong gains in foot traffic for Costco in the months of February, March and April. Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan recently highlighted Walmart and Costco as retailers benefiting from a shift in lower-income households choosing these stores over others. Recent earnings from Target could suggest the retailer is losing market share to competitors.

Costco shares are up 72% over the last year and hit new 52-week highs on Friday.

Palantir Technologies PLTR: The software company saw increased interest over the week, which could be related to the stock being a popular pick for S&P 500 inclusion by investors.

Benzinga recently highlighted Palantir as a favorite bet from investors on Reddit for inclusion in the key stock market index when changes are announced in June.

Several 13F filings revealed that Palantir were added by large investors in the first quarter, including the Duquesne Family Office, run by former hedge-fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller.

Palantir stock is up 66% over the last year.

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

Read the latest Stock Whisper Index reports here: