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 Jan. 19:

UnitedHealth Group UNH: The health insurance company saw increased interest from investors, which comes after fourth quarter results were reported in the previous week. The company reported group revenues up 14% year-over-year, which beat analysts' estimates. UnitedHealth also reaffirmed its fiscal year 2024 guidance. The earnings report saw analysts mixed with several price targets lowered and several price targets maintained. Also making UnitedHealth shares volatile over the past trading week was an earnings report from health insurance company Humana Inc HUM, who cut their outlook.

Plug Power Inc PLUG: The hydrogen fuel cell company saw shares hit new four-year lows after announcing an at-the-market offering of up to $1 billion in shares. The news comes after shares previously fell after quarterly earnings and a "going concern" warning was issued by the company. Plug Power will provide a business update on Jan. 23 with an update on the business and the answering of questions from investors and analysts.

KeyBanc Capital analyst Sangita Jain said the offering announcement could pressure Plug Power shares with multiple headwinds impacting its growth.

"The announcement of a potential equity offering at this juncture, while necessary to remove the ‘going concern' language from the annual 10-K filing, is unlikely to alleviate investor concerns," Jain said.

Marathon Digital Holdings MARA: The cryptocurrency sector has been volatile since the approval of Bitcoin BTC/USD ETFs. While the Bitcoin ETFs saw strong inflows, several crypto related stocks have fallen over the last week. BTIG upgraded shares of Marathon Holdings from Neutral to Buy and announced a $27 price target. A recent update from the company reported record Bitcoin production in December and for 2023. The company owns over 15,000 Bitcoin.

DatChat Inc DATS: The social network, messaging and metaverse company saw shares drop over the week and are now down over 45% in the last year. The company saw increased interest from investors after announcing a corporate update. DatChat announced it will spinoff its SmarterVerse company into a separate publicly traded company with a distribution of shares to DatChat shareholders. Shares traded lower after the company announced a $1.8 million public offering after its corporate update.

Nio Inc NIO: The electric vehicle company saw shares down 11% over the last week with several Chinese news items contributing to the decline and increased attention in the stock. Shares of Nio hit 52-week lows, which comes after analysts have been bearish in recent reports. Price cuts by Tesla in China could also be weighing on Nio as it could lead to increased competition for market share in the country. Shares of Nio traded higher Thursday with news that the Chinese government held a meeting to discuss the growth of the automotive industry in the region, which includes increased focus on electric vehicles.

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:

• Dec. 22
• Dec. 29
• Jan. 5
• Jan. 12

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