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 that are just under the surface and deserve 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 of information to uncover new opportunities and understand why certain stocks should be of interest.

Here's a look at the Benzinga Stock Whisper Index for the week ending Jan. 17:

Applovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP): The mobile app technology company was one of the top-performing stocks in 2024 with shares up over 700%. The stock is following up the strong year with a surge in the early days of 2025 and momentum led by several analyst ratings in January. Wells Fargo maintained an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $360 to $366. Benchmark initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and $375 price target. JPMorgan maintained a Neutral rating and raised the price target from $200 to $325. Jefferies maintained a Buy rating and raised the price target from $400 to $425. The company will report fourth-quarter financial results on Feb. 12, which could be an early indictor of how investors feel about the company's future growth. Analysts expect earnings per share to hit $1.24, up from $0.49 in last year's fourth quarter and revenue to hit $1.26 billion, up from $953.2 million in last year's fourth quarter. The company has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in six straight quarters and revenue estimates in seven of the last eight quarters.

The stock was up nearly 10% over the last five days, as shown on the Benzinga Pro chart below.

Quantum Computing Inc (NASDAQ:QUBT): One of the hottest sectors in 2024 and early 2025 for investors has been quantum computing. After a strong performance in 2024, Quantum Computing Inc saw shares fall on comments from NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and a short report. The Capybara Research alleges Quantum Computing is using misleading press releases that exaggerate the company's businesses.

"Quantum Deception. QUBT Is a rampant fraud. We are short and think shareholders will be left with nothing when all is done," Capybara Research said.

Huang sent shares of stocks in the sector lower recently when he said that quantum computing applications could be 20 years away. Nvidia later announced its first-ever quantum computing day and a Microsoft executive shared positive commentary on businesses preparing to be "quantum ready" by 2025.

In a recent Benzinga reader poll, Quantum Computing ranked second among four stocks in the sector that investors would most want to buy for 2025 with 24% of the vote. Beating Quantum Computing was Rigetti Computing Inc. with 33% of the vote.

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN): Interest in Coinbase is surging over the last week and it could be related to company announcements and the pending inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20. Coinbase announced new Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) loans where users can borrow up to $100,000 USDC (CRYPTO: USDC) and access cash without having to sell their cryptocurrency. Coinbase and other cryptocurrency-related companies could benefit from the new White House administration with Trump indicating that he could make Bitcoin a national priority and create a strategic reserve. The price of Bitcoin is trading higher ahead of Trump's inauguration and Coinbase shares are up over 20% in the last five days.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM): The specialty grocery retailer returns to the Stock Market Index after an appearance back in November. The company, which has over 400 stores in 23 states, will report fourth-quarter financial results likely in February. Analysts expect the company to show earnings per share and revenue growth on a year-over-year basis. The company has beaten analyst estimates for both earnings per share and revenue in three straight quarters. Investors may be looking to the specialty retailer as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could become the next leader of the Department of Health and Human Services under Trump's administration. Kennedy could push for healthier food options for consumers, which could benefit retailers specializing in healthy food options like Sprouts.

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA): The media company saw strong interest from readers during the week, which comes as the company has some good news and could also be on watch as an enemy of Trump. Comcast broadcast one of the opening round games of the 2024 NFL Playoffs with the match between the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers having an average of 29 million viewers. Comcast will also air the second-round matchup of the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m. ET. Comcast and its stock could also be drawing attention with the death of net neutrality, which could benefit the company.

Comcast also caught the attention of Trump recently with the incoming president threatening the company after late-night talk show host Seth Meyers criticized him.

"Comcast should pay a BIG price," Trump said, as reported by Deadline.

Trump blasted Comcast previously and threatened to pull their FCC license. Trump's appointee to lead the FCC is Brendan Carr, who is considering challenging networks like Comcast's NBC for featuring Kamala Harris in a "Saturday Night Live" episode and not providing equal time to Trump.