Retail investors have never been more visible on Wall Street, and they made their presence known in a big way last year. Robinhood (HOOD 4.70%), which has gained a lot of traction among the retail crowd, has given everyday traders an invitation to invest on Wall Street. Retailers rocked the boat by causing several heavily short-sold stocks to surge when that happened.
Robinhood allows its customers to trade commission-free on the big US exchanges, allows for fractional-share purchases, and gives out free stock (at random) to the new members.
For a long time, Apple has been Robinhood’s primary holding for investors.
While many of Robinhood’s users are passionate about momentum bets, penny stocks, and highly shorted firms, one thing has remained consistent: Apple (AAPL -0.17%) has been the most held stock on the platform.
Apple is adored by investors for a variety of reasons. To begin with, it’s one of the most-identified brands around the globe. Brand Finance has named Apple as the most valuable brand in the world for two years running, according to a study. The findings were attributed to Apple’s product diversification, subscription model expansion, and “strengthening of its privacy and environmental credentials,” all of which are cited in the report as reasons for reclaiming the top spot.
Apple’s share-price outperformance can also be attributed to its innovation. For example, the debut of a 5G-capable iPhone by Apple in the Q4 of 2020 resulted in an increase in its market share in the United States. Since the 5G iPhones was released, Apple’s domestic smartphone market share has fallen below 50% only once.
Move over, Apple! There’s a new No. 1 in town
However, Wall Street is changing; and the top place on Robinhood’s leaderboard has undergone a significant transformation (the list of the 100 most held stocks on the platform). Tesla has dethroned Apple as the most widely held stock on Robinhood as of August 2022.
I’d be negligent if I didn’t mention that Tesla’s shares have skyrocketed by more than 1,800 percent in the trailing three years and over 17,100 percent in the trailing decade. Robinhood investors adore momentum stocks, and Tesla has certainly shown it fits the bill.
Another reason for investors to be hopeful about Tesla is the firm’s success in starting from scratch. While other automobile manufacturers have attempted a ground-up approach, Tesla was the first in over five decades to achieve and maintain a mass production, and even with the semiconductor chip shortages and component issues linked to the COVID-19 epidemic, Tesla appears to be on track to produce one million cars in 2022.
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