2022 top stocks: Retail investors keep faith in big tech despite sell off while Coca-Cola returns to top 20 list following World Cup

• Tesla, Apple & Amazon are the three most popular stocks on the eToro platform
• Netflix climbs five places in top 20 list following recent share price gain
• Meme stock Gamestop falls four places on the list as more retail investors sell

Retail investors appear to be keeping faith in big tech stocks despite the 2022 sell-off wiping hundreds of billions of dollars from their market value, according to the latest quarterly stocks data from social investing network eToro.

The 20 most popular stocks on the eToro platform at the end of 2022 were led by Tesla, Amazon and Apple, with little change across the board compared to 2021. 

Over 12 months, there were two new entrants to the top 20 list – US firm Intel, one of the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturers, and Coca-Cola, a popular defensive stock which has seen a World Cup sponsorship bounce. Meanwhile, Richard Branson’s aerospace company Virgin Galactic, and healthtech stock Asenus, down heavily this year, fell out of the top 20 list.

Commenting on the data, eToro’s Global Market Strategist Ben Laidler, said: “2022 was an exceptionally poor year for investments, and for some of our users, it would be the biggest bear market that they have experienced. However, we know from our latest Retail Investor Beat* that the vast majority of retail investors have long term time horizons, making them resilient to market cycles.

“From what we can see, a lot of retail investors took a ‘wait and see’ position in 2022 rather than change their investment approach. The most popular stocks are still dominated by big tech despite this year’s sell off, but when we look at these names – Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet – we are talking about giants with fortress balance sheets, structural growth outlooks and now cheaper valuations, which could have encouraged more to buy in. Certainly companies which still deserve a place within a diversified portfolio. ” 

There was also some movement amongst those on the list, with meme stock Gamestop falling down to 11th place having seen a 17% drop in eToro users holding the stock. Netflix also climbed from 19th to 14th place on the list, with the streaming firm enjoying a 59% share price increase in the last six months of 2022 following a dismal H1 for the firm.

Laidler adds: “The two additions to the top 20 list make sense. Intel is well placed to benefit from any easing of the semiconductor downturn, with its industry leadership and now much cheaper valuation, while Coca-Cola’s dominance of the global soft drinks industry has seen it successfully navigate previous recessions.

“It might surprise some that Netflix has moved up several places on the list. We are likely seeing the result of bottom fishing, with retail investors who bought in during the summer months enjoying fairly significant gains since then, with the firm’s management navigating the cost of living crisis with new programming, ad-supported subscriptions and a password-sharing crackdown.” 

All data accurate as of after market close on Friday 30th December 2022.

ENDS

*eToro’s Retail Investor Beat is published each quarter and looks at the sentiment of 10,000 retail investors globally.

Notes to editors

The data in the table shows the top 20 most held stocks positions (open positions) by investors on the eToro platform at the end of the Q4 2022 and the end of Q4 2021. As the vast majority of stocks traded on eToro are the real asset, this data does not include positions held as CFDs. 

All data accurate as of after market close on Friday 30th December 2022.

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