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 May 23:

Halozyme Therapeutics HALO: The biotech company saw increased interest from readers during the week, which comes a couple weeks after first-quarter financial results. The company beat analyst estimates for both earnings per share and revenue in the quarter. Halozyme also announced a new $250 million share buyback and raised full-year guidance. The company highlighted three blockbuster brands and four recently launched products. The company sees several growth catalysts coming in the future months through owned drugs and partnerships. Analysts were mixed on the stock after financial results with Morgan Stanley downgrading the stock and Wells Fargo raising the price target. The stock was up around 5% over the last week, as shown on the Benzinga Pro chart below.

Tradeweb Markets Inc TW: The fixed income trading company saw increased interest from readers during the week. The company reported April metrics recently with average daily volume for the month hitting $2.7 trillion, up 38.6% year-over-year. Tradeweb saw several records in the month including average daily volume for US government bonds, municipal bonds, US ETFs and more. Tradeweb analysts have raised the price targets on the stock and this one could be one to watch in June with the company presenting at the Piper Sandler conference on June 5. The company's next quarterly results could see strong results and raised guidance if the trends from April continue.

AMETEK Inc AME: The autonomous industrial company saw strong interest during the week, likely due to a recently announced acquisition and quarterly financial results. AMETEK's first quarter saw earnings per share beat analyst estimates, marking more than 10 straight quarters of beats, while sales just missed analyst estimates. The company said it was pleased with the first quarter and despite headwinds like macro uncertainties and tariffs, sees a strong fiscal year. The company also announced it will acquire FARO Technologies FARO at an enterprise value of $920 million. The acquisition will be done using stock and cash and is expected to boost its precision segment. Faro has annual sales of around $340 million. The earnings and acquisition saw interest increase in the company, which puts this one on the watchlist as its operations with autonomous tools could be one of the fast-growing segments.

Alliant Energy LNT: The utility company reported first-quarter financial results on May 8 with earnings per share and revenue beating analyst estimates, marking three straight quarters of double beats. The company also reaffirmed its full-year guidance and announced new details on financing plans. The company owns Interstate Power and Light Company and Wisconsin Power and Light Company, providing electric to around one million customers and natural gas to around 430,000 customers in the Midwest. Jeffries upgraded the stock from Hold to Buy after the financial results.

Ares Acquisition Corporation II AACT: Several SPACs saw increased interest from readers during the week and higher share prices. Ares Acquisition announced a merger with autonomous trucking company Kodiak Robotics. Increased interest for the SPAC could be due to the autonomous space seeing a boost from a recent test drive from Aurora and anticipation for Tesla's robotaxi launch in June. Kodiak says it has logged over 2.6 million autonomous driving miles in "real-world conditions." Investors in the company and SPAC merger deal includes Ares, Soros Fund Management and Ark Investments. The merger is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025.