Retail investors talked up five hot stocks this week (April 27 to May 1) on X and Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, driven by retail hype, Iran war, earnings, AI buzz, and corporate news flow.

• Some retail investors were appreciating AAPL’s approach of not investing heavily in AI as compared to its Magnificent 7 peers.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $193.25 to $288.62, trading around $270 to $279 per share, as of the publication of this article. It rose 27.69% over the year, but declined by 0.02% and 0.19% over the last six months and year-to-date, respectively.

• AAPL had a strong price trend in the medium, short and long term, with a poor value ranking, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

• Retail investors were highly bullish on GOOG after its stellar earnings.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $149.49 to $382.63, trading around $380 to $385 per share, as of the publication of this article. It advanced by 137.39% over the year and 35.49% in the last six months. The stock was also up 21.71% YTD.

• GOOG had a strong price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a good quality ranking as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

• Some retail investors who had bet on HOOD were disappointed by its performance following the latest earnings results.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $45.56 to $153.86, trading around $71 to $74 per share, as of the publication of this article. It advanced 48.42% over the year, but was down 47.21% in the last six months. The stock was 35.55% lower YTD.

• Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings showed that HOOD had a weak price trend in the long, short, and medium terms with a solid growth score.

• Following its massive AI capex spending announcement, some retail investors expressed that this may be an “end of META,” and “rise” of RDDT.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $520.26 to $796.25, trading around $610 to $615 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was up 11.46% over the year, down 8.19% over the last six months, and 7.30% YTD.

• META maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value score as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

• Some investors were disappointed that they did not hold a position in LLY after its blockbuster earnings.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $623.78 to $1,133.95, trading around $933 to $938 per share, as of the publication of this article. It advanced by 3.97% over the year, and 10.67% over the last six months, but LLY was down 13.03% YTD.

• According to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, LLY was maintaining a weak price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a strong growth ranking.

Retail focus blended meme-driven narrative with earnings outlook and corporate news flow, as the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq witnessed positive market action during the week.

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