These are the best stock performers that nobody is talking about

These are some of Wall Street's best-kept secrets.

Stocks such as Cadence Design Systems, Global Payments and American Tower are surging this year and leading the S&P 500, but generate little chatter on the Street.

One of those wallflower names could be worth a second glance, according to Todd Gordon, founder of TradingAnalysis.com.

"Global Payments ... very hot right now," Gordon said Thursday on CNBC's "Trading Nation. " "One thing I want to draw your attention to is this idea of symmetry and what that means is we actually see two distinct trend phases in [the stock] life to date."

The first, he said, stretches from its IPO in January 2001 to a peak in April 2006 – that marked a roughly 630% rally. From mid-2006 to mid-2013, the stock consolidated. Since then, it has rallied another 640%, almost exactly the same amount as the first multiyear spike.

"So what that means is if we want to break symmetry, if the trend wants to continue, we want to continue higher through this $140 level," said Gordon. "We have a nice little uptrend that seems to be holding. ... We went down to about $140. I think that's starting to hold support. So again, if we can get back up to $140, $150, the symmetry is broken."

Arista Networks, another stealth S&P 500 outperformer, tumbled Friday after providing weak guidance. While down in the session, the stock remains more than 25% higher for the year in one of the best performances for the S&P 500.

Michael Bapis, managing director at Vios Advisors at Rockefeller Capital, laid out the company's strong fundamental case.

Arista has "grown earnings for five straight years at a rate that's almost triple the industry average at 42% versus 15%. They also have an ROE [return on equity] of double the industry average – 15% versus 7%," Bapis said Thursday on "Trading Nation." "We're riding it and following the leader in this space."

Arista expects second-quarter revenue to be no higher than $610 million, lower than consensus for $640 million. The cloud-computing company beat first-quarter earnings and sales estimates.

"The first versus second quarter revenue comparison is not concerning," Bapis added in an email to "Trading Nation" on Friday. "The cloud is taking the lead of the technological revolution that our society is currently living in and experiencing. Arista's competitive position remains strong in the cloud space, which will position them well for the second half of this year."

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