Benzinga examined the prospects for many investors' favorite stocks over the last week — here's a look at some of our top stories.

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ and $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ just had their best week since November, rising 2.7% and 4.2% respectively, ending their recent streaks of losses. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ also increased slightly by 0.7%.

Tech stocks, represented by the $Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ.US)$, saw their strongest performance of 2024 after four weeks of declines, boosted by easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and strong corporate earnings.

However, U.S. economic growth decelerated in the first quarter and unexpected rises in key inflation metrics have postponed discussions on potential interest rate cuts.

Benzinga provides daily reports on the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.

The Bulls

"$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ Q3 Shines Light On 'AI Innovation Cycle': Analysts See 'Plenty Of Runway For Growth'", by Chris Katje, reports that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) exceeded third-quarter financial expectations, with analysts optimistic about its AI-driven growth potential, especially in Azure, and forecasting substantial future revenue.

"Trader Who Turned $15K Into $5M Predicts These 4 Meme Coins To Emulate The Success Of DOGE, SHIB, FLOKI", by Khyathi Dalal, describes cryptocurrency influencer Crash's forecast that Brett (BRETT), Bobo (BOBO), Pepe (CRYPTO: PEPE) and Resistance Dog (REDO) could match the past successes of $Dogecoin (DOGE.CC)$ (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) in the meme coin market.

"$Palantir (PLTR.US)$'s 'Rock Concert' AI Sales Strategy Is Rapidly Boosting Commercial Sales: 'We Can't Do Enough Of Them'", by Adam Eckert, explains how Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) is innovatively using boot camps, reminiscent of rock concerts, to dramatically increase its commercial sales without a traditional sales team, as described by CEO Alex Karp.

The Bears

"Crypto 'Greed Almost At All-Time High, But Prices Are Not' Warns Trader: 'This Cycle Is Kinda Cooked'", by Khyathi Dalal, details a trader's observation that despite the greed index reaching near record levels, the actual market prices for cryptocurrencies like $Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ (CRYPTO: BTC) have not escalated, hinting at potential market instability.

"Stock Manipulation In $Trump Media & Technology (DJT.US)$ Group Stock? CEO Devin Nunes Urges House GOP Leaders To Investigate", by Nabaparna Bhattacharya, reports that Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (NASDAQ:DJT), has requested a Congressional investigation into potential stock manipulation, citing unusually high costs and questionable trading practices involving DJT shares.

"Tesla 'Is Now Enron, Folks:' Facebook Co-Founder Claims Musk's EV Giant Is Cooking Up Some FSD Data", by Shanthi Rexaline, reports that Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder of Facebook (now Meta), has accused Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and CEO Elon Musk of misrepresenting Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities, likening the company's situation to the infamous Enron scandal.

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This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.