• r/Wallstreetbets followers’ favourite stock GameStop tops the list of most-traded stocks in January
  • ‘We have seen some users on eToro add some new names to their portfolios’ eToro
  • Five new entrants to top 10 stocks list including BlackBerry, Jaguar Health and Naked Brand

 

Excitable investors piled into r/Wallstreetbets’ favourite GameStop (NYSE:GME) as the US retro games retailer became the top choice of Australian investors in the month of January.

GameStop toppled US-listed electric vehicle company Nio (NYSE:NIO) from the top spot that it held in December, according to data supplied by trading platform eToro.

A flurry of retail activity fuelled by widespread media coverage pushed the electronics retailer to the the top of the deck of most traded stocks on the trading platform.

“We are navigating unprecedented market conditions and we have seen some users on eToro add some new names to their portfolios,” eToro chief investment officer, Gil Shapira said.

The trading platform stressed that investors should take a cautious approach to their investing strategy and look to long-term goals during volatile times for the stock market.

“We continue to emphasise to all retail investors that it is vital to remember the basic tenets of investing: diversify and only invest in markets and instruments you are familiar with,” said Shapira.

“The point is very important as long-term investors nearly always have more resilient portfolios and are therefore much better placed to ride out volatile conditions,” he said.

The huge market volatility in GameStop is reflected in its share price which fell 42 per cent overnight to $US53.50 down from $US347 on January 27.

 

New entrants represent half of January’s top 10 traded stocks

Five new companies entered eToro’s top 10 traded stocks in January, compared to only two new stocks — Airbnb and BioNano Genomics — that appeared in December’s list.

The new stocks to break into the top 10 are BlackBerry (NYSE:BB), GameStop, TransEnterix (NYSE:TRXC), Jaguar Health (NASDAQ:JGX), and Naked Brand (NASDAQ:NAKD).

“Markets were incredibly volatile towards the end of January, and that is reflected in the top 10 most popular stocks for the month, which includes some names related to the latest events in the market,” said Shapira.

BlackBerry was a well-known brand in the 2000s for its hand-held mobile device with its inbuilt keypad, but nowadays has a line of business software.

TransEnterix is a medical device maker that has gained approval to sell its robotics surgery units in the European Economic Area.

Naked Brand is an underwear company with brands such as Davenport, VaVoom and Hickory, and Jaguar Health is a pharma company focused on gastrointestinal products for humans and animals.

“Pharmaceutical and tech stocks have remained popular with eToro investors month on month. Apple has delivered a return of nearly 75 per cent over the last year, Amazon is up nearly 69 per cent for the same period,” said Shapira.

 

Top-traded US stocks for Australian investors in January: eToro data

 

January rank COMPANY December rank
1 GameStop N/A
2 Bionano Genomics 10
3 Nio 1
4 TransEnterix N/A
5 Jaguar Health N/A
6 Tesla 2
7 Naked Brand N/A
8 BlackBerry N/A
9 Palantir Technologies 3
10 Apple 5
Wordpress Table Plugin

 

DNA mapping company BioNano second most traded stock

BioNano Genomics (NASDAQ:BNGO), a company that provides optical mapping of DNA through its proprietary technology, was the second-placed stock for Australian investors.

The penny stock made impressive gains, rising from 50c per share before Christmas to $US11.20 per share, and catching the attention of investors worldwide.

“The pharmaceutical company’s listing on the Nasdaq soared after announcing a comprehensive analysis of a single genome of a high-functioning individual with Autism Spectrum symptoms, which would help improve health options from individuals with autism,” said eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert.

The eToro list represents the most bought stocks for the month, and mostly features US companies such as tech stocks Amazon, Apple, Palantir Technologies, Tesla.

Amazon (NYSE:AMZN) is still a popular stock for retail investors, but fell to 18th place in the list of most bought stocks from eighth place in December.

Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) slid to 17th place in January’s list from fifth place in December, while Apple (NASDAQ:APPL) had a 27 per cent increase in its stock volume in December.

COVID-19 vaccine pharma companies  Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) were popular stocks in December.

“We continue to see eToro investors adding big names such as Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft to their current holdings in sufficient volumes to place these stocks among the most popular on the platform month on month,” said Shapira.