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 March 29:
Canopy Growth Corp CGC: The cannabis company saw increased interest from investors and saw shares trade higher after Germany legalized possession and cultivation of cannabis. The country also ruled that medical cannabis will be a non-narcotic.
The news from Germany comes on the heels of cannabis stocks being volatile related to statements from Vice President Kamala Harris encouraging the DEA to reschedule marijuana.
Canopy Growth CEO David Klein said Germany's cannabis market could grow from $500 million to over $2.5 billion in the next two years.
"We think that the market has the ability to grow 10x over the next several years. Most of the revenue is going to come through the medical channel, which is where you will see the commercial benefit for Canopy," Klein said during an interview with Bloomberg.
JD.Com Inc JD: The Chinese e-commerce company saw strong interest from investors, which comes with minimal recent news. The company recently reported fourth-quarter financial results and could also be seeing increased attention from investors as Chinese stocks have shown support after the recent National People's Congress event.
Fourth-quarter revenue beat estimates from analysts and the company reported several records set during the JD Singles Day Grand Promotion in 2023. The company also showed progress in growth with its JD Health and JD Logistics segments. Several analysts raised their price targets following the fourth-quarter report.
MicroStrategy Inc MSTR: The software company and Bitcoin BTC/USD holder has been a popular investment for traders looking for exposure to the leading cryptocurrency.
MicroStrategy has been continually buying Bitcoin with its cash. In March, the company acquired an additional 9,245 Bitcoins, bringing its total holdings up to 214,246 BTC. The company acquired its Bitcoins at an average price of $35,160.
With MicroStrategy shares up 587% over the last year and Bitcoin up over 140% in the same period, short seller Kerrisdale Capital announced it is short MicroStrategy and long Bitcoin. The short seller said that Bitcoin would need to be trading at $177,000, versus a current level of around $70,000 for the premium valuation of MicroStrategy to be justified.
"We are long Bitcoin and short shares of MicroStrategy, a proxy for Bitcoin which trades at an unjustifiable premium to the digital asset that drives its value. Shares of MicroStrategy have soared amid a recent rise in the price of Bitcoin but, as is often the case with crypto, things have gotten carried away," Kerrisdale wrote.
Kerrisdale said that while MicroStrategy used to be an easy way to get exposure to Bitcoin, investors can now easily buy the cryptocurrency, including with the recently approved spot Bitcoin ETFs.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC: The movie theater company saw shares trade lower to end the week after announcing an at-the-market offering. The company's offering called for selling up to $250 million in common stock from time to time. The proceeds from the sale would go towards buying back debt, for general purposes and to bolster liquidity, the company said.
AMC also said the offering comes with a low first-quarter box office related to the Hollywood strikes in 2023. The announcement was made after the company's fourth-quarter revenue and earnings per share beat estimates from analysts.
IonQ Inc IONQ: The quantum computer company saw increased interest from investors, which could be related to several news items.
IonQ recently reported a strategic agreement with South Carolina Quantum to advance a quantum ecosystem in the state of South Carolina. IonQ also announced that industry expert Dr. Martin Roetteler has joined the team as the new head of Quantum Applications. The company said Roetteler, who previously worked at Microsoft and NEC Laboratories, brings decades of quantum industry experience.
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:
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