Associated Press
- The Nasdaq Retail Trading Activity Tracker ranked the top 10 stocks among day traders in 2021.
- Tesla leads the group, thanks in part to retail traders’ love of Elon Musk and EV makers.
- Popular exchange-traded funds like Invesco’s QQQ also made the list.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
Retail traders made their mark on Wall Street in 2021, and final results are now in.
It started in January, when millions banded together on social media sites like Reddit to drive massive gains in meme stocks like GameStop and AMC. It spread elsewhere in the market throughout the year.
The Nasdaq Retail Trading Activity Tracker found the top 10 stocks among day traders from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, based on the percent of total retail activity. Here they are:
10. Moderna
Share of total retail trading activity: 1.1%
12-month stock performance: 89%
A container of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is seen at the United Memorial Medical Center on December 21, 2020 in Houston, Texas. Getty Images/Go Nakamura
Getty Images/Go Nakamura
Retail traders poured into Moderna stock since the company’s two-dose COVID-19 vaccination was approved in the US in late 2020.
9. ProShares UltraPro QQQ ETF
Share of total retail trading activity: 1.2%
12-month stock performance: 76%
Reuters
REUTERS
This exchange-traded fund is one of the largest that tracks the Nasdaq index.
8. NIO
Share of total retail trading activity: 1.6%
12-month stock performance: -41%
The Nio lineup. Nio
Nio
Retail traders love electric-vehicle makers. This Chinese EV company has been dubbed “China’s answer to Tesla.”
7. Invesco QQQ ETF
Share of total retail trading activity: 1.7%
12-month stock performance: 25%
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
This popular fund is the official ETF of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and has helped young investors get started with a new computer game that teaches them keys to financial success.
6. Nvidia
Share of total retail trading activity: 1.7%
12-month stock performance: 124%
Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Last year, retail traders on sites like Reddit hyped up Nvidia, the maker of graphics processing units (GPUs), for gaming.
5. SPDR S&P 500 ETF
Share of total retail trading activity: 1.9%
12-month stock performance: 25%
Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images
Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images
This ETF largely tracks the performance of the broader S&P 500 index.
4. Advanced Micro Devices
Share of total retail trading activity: 2.2%
12-month stock performance: 51%
AP Photo / Paul Sakuma
AP Photo / Paul Sakuma
Retail traders bought up this semiconductor maker’s stock, thanks in part to major tech companies like Microsoft and Google purchasing its chips.
3. AMC
Share of total retail trading activity: 2.2%
12-month stock performance: 1,037%
AMC CEO Adam Aron. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
AMC is perhaps one of the most well-known meme stocks. Its CEO Adam Aron has capitalized on retail-trader hype through social media, investor perks, and even NFT offerings.
2. Apple
Share of total retail trading activity: 3.9%
12-month stock performance: 36%
An Apple logo is seen at the Apple store in Munich. Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
In the new year, Apple became the first US company to cross the $3 trillion market capitalization level. It has since fallen back below that threshold.
1. Tesla
Share of total retail trading activity: 4.5%
12-month stock performance: 42%
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO. Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images
Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images
Retail traders love EV makers, and they love Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He has been an icon for the retail community, partially because of his Twitter account. He’s also led his carmaker to become one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world.
