Markets
Retail Investors’ Most Popular Stocks of 2023 So Far
Retail Investors’ Most Popular Stocks of 2023 (YTD)
According to VandaTrack, retail investors are still a force to be reckoned with, adding an average of $1.5 billion each day into U.S. markets.
This is a record-breaking level of inflows, which raises the question: what are investors buying? To find out, we’ve visualized the 10 most popular picks of 2023, as of February 15.
The Top 10 List
Most of the names in this list won’t come as a surprise. They represent eight of the world’s largest and most well-known tech companies, as well as two highly popular U.S. equity ETFs.
| Rank | Name | Ticker | Retail net flows (USD millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tesla | TSLA | $9,751 |
| 2 | SPDR S&P 500 ETF | SPY | $3,572 |
| 3 | Amazon | AMZN | $1,786 |
| 4 | Apple | AAPL | $1,674 |
| 5 | NVIDIA | NVDA | $1,367 |
| 6 | Invesco QQQ ETF | QQQ | $1,353 |
| 7 | Alphabet | GOOG/L | $1,218 |
| 8 | AMD | AMD | $941 |
| 9 | Meta | META | $780 |
| 10 | Microsoft | MSFT | $768 |
Looking closer at the numbers, we can see that Tesla’s net retail flows of $9.75 billion are greater than all of the other individual stocks combined ($8.5 billion). This is a sign that investors still have plenty of faith in Tesla, even as its market share is beginning to shrink.
We recently covered Tesla’s profit margins (net profits per vehicle) in a separate infographic.
Perhaps the least common name on a top 10 ranking such as this is AMD. The chipmaker has made for a compelling underdog story in recent years, gaining significant market share from its long time rival, Intel.
What About the Meme Stocks?
Several meme stocks made it into the broader top 100 list. This includes Bed Bath & Beyond, which ranked 47th with $114 million in net retail flows.
The retailer has been struggling to avoid bankruptcy, recently raising $225 million through an underwritten public offering of preferred shares. A further $800 million could be coming, if certain conditions are met.
The company says it’s committed to paying down its overdue debts, and will be closing stores to reduce costs.
AMC Entertainment, which saw extreme volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic, ranked 52nd on the list for retail investors with $90 million in net flows. The stock has generated a 27% return YTD (as of Feb. 15). The cinema operator’s revenues have been recovering since the pandemic, but they’ve yet to reach pre-2020 levels.
Markets
Graphene: An Investor’s Guide to the Emerging Market
The market value of graphene could reach $3.75 billion by 2030. As the emerging industry shows fast growth, it also faces obstacles.
Graphene: An Investor’s Guide to the Emerging Market
Graphene is an atomic-scale “honeycomb” that is revolutionizing the world of materials and capturing investor attention.
Experts predict that its market value could reach the billion-dollar threshold by 2027 and soar to a staggering $3.75 billion by 2030.
In this infographic sponsored by HydroGraph, we dive into everything investors need to know about this exciting industry and where it’s headed.
Promising Properties
Graphene possesses several unique physical properties which contribute to its wide range of potential applications.
- 200 times stronger than steel
- Harder than diamonds
- 1,000 times lighter than paper
- 98% transparent
- Higher electrical conductivity than copper
- Heat conductivity: 5 times that of copper
- 2,630 m² of surface area per gram
Since its first successful isolation in 2004, graphene’s properties have opened the doors to a multitude of commercial applications and products.
Applications of Graphene
Graphene has permeated numerous sectors like electronics, energy, and healthcare because of its impressive array of end uses.
| Industry | Revenue CAGR of Graphene Across Industries, 2022-2027 |
|---|---|
| Biomedical and Healthcare | 52% |
| Electronics and Telecommunications | 34% |
| Energy | 25% |
| Aerospace and Defense | 16% |
| Other End-User Industries | 17% |
Graphene’s antibacterial properties make it highly suitable for medical instruments and implants. Furthermore, it has shown remarkable potential in helping treat diseases such as cancer.
Another one of the material’s applications is its ability to emit high-speed light pulses, or to combine graphene’s thinness and high-conductivity to create the tiniest possible light sources.
All in all, it’s difficult to sum up graphene’s properties and potential applications in one place. The supermaterial has been covered and cited in thousands of academic journals, and comes up with over 2 million search results on Google Scholar.
Graphene Commercialization
Graphene has evolved from a scientific breakthrough to a commercial reality in less than two decades, putting it firmly on the radar of many future-focused investors.
But despite the strides the industry is making, it is still in its infancy, and therefore challenges exist on the path to widespread adoption. Here are the top five commercialization obstacles perceived by industry players.
| Obstacle | % of survey respondents |
|---|---|
| Cost | 31% |
| Production Methods, Scaling, and Distribution | 21% |
| Material Quality/Consistency | 17% |
| Lack of Knowledge/Awareness | 15% |
| Dispersion/Handling | 14% |
When transitioning cutting-edge materials from the laboratory to consumer products, challenges like these can be expected. But one company is tackling them head-on.
By producing 99.8% pure graphene, and ensuring batch-to-batch consistency, HydroGraph is helping meet the growing demand for graphene products across industries while addressing challenges like cost, scale, and quality.
Interested in learning more? Explore investment opportunities with HydroGraph now.
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