UK retail investors bought into emerging trends in 2024 with stocks exposed to AI, weight loss drugs, crypto, and cybersecurity dominating the list of ‘top risers’ on the trading and investing platform eToro.
The list of most widely-held stocks was majorly disrupted in 2024. Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA jumped from sixth place to second, more than doubling its holders (108%), and surpassing Microsoft NASDAQ:MSFT, Apple NASDAQ:AAPL, NIO NYSE:NIO and Amazon NASDAQ:AMZN. Its chip designer rival AMD NASDAQ:AMD was the second biggest mover in the 20 most-held stocks, jumping from 20th to 12th place.
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Bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy NASDAQ:MSTR topped the 20 biggest ‘risers’ list with a 500% growth in eToro’s UK-based stock-holders. It was closely followed by semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom NASDAQ:AVGO, which almost tripled its holders (198%) last year.
Investors buying in Novo Nordisk
The growing prevalence of weight-loss drugs saw their manufacturers also rank highly, with Ozempic pioneer Novo Nordisk’s [CPH:NOVO] 148% increase in holders ranked it third, closely followed by its US-based rival Eli Lilly NYSE:LLY (119%).
The data also reveals that UK retail investors expect cybersecurity to continue to grow in prevalence. Palo Alto Networks NASDAQ:PANW (99%) and Crowdstrike NASDAQ:CRWD (76%) were amongst the top risers. Crowdstrike’s rise coincides with a significant outage in July that saw its share price briefly tumble, suggesting appetite from UK retail investors to ‘buy the dip’.
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eToro’s Global Markets Strategist Lale Akoner commented on the data: “2024 was the year that Artificial Intelligence went from being niche to a dominant theme across multiple industries, Bitcoin set new all-time highs, and weight loss drugs entered the mainstream. Retail investors were clearly invested in these themes, demonstrated by the sharp rise in holders of stocks like AI chipmaker Nvidia, self-proclaimed ‘Bitcoin treasury company’ MicroStrategy, and drug manufacturers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.”
Punters fall out of love with Mattel
At the other end of the spectrum, sports and entertainment were amongst the sectors to lose support. Toy manufacturer Mattel NASDAQ:MAT saw the biggest drop in 2024. Sluggish performance and fading Barbie hype resulted in its holders on the eToro platform falling by nearly half (-44%). Meanwhile, Formula One and Live Nation owner Liberty Media NASDAQ:LMAC.A (-37%) and baseball team Atlanta Braves [NASDAQ:BATRA] (-36%) also featured in the top 10 fallers.
Akoner explained further:
“The top stocks and top risers of 2024 share some similarities with those of 2023 as megatrends play out over years. While Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have held strong as the leaders of weight loss drug innovation, many investors have diversified their AI plays beyond heavyweights like Nvidia, which skyrocketed in 2023, to focus on other beneficiaries which they believe still have room to run. Those holding onto American chipmakers and network infrastructure providers are likely to be well-positioned for 2025 as the Trump administration will bring a wave of deregulation and protectionist tariffs boosting the industry.”
