UAE retail investors have chosen to rally behind artificial intelligence firms while Big Tech and pharma stocks lost momentum, as per the latest quarterly stocks data from trading and investing platform eToro.

The report looked at which companies saw the biggest proportionate change in holders, quarter-on-quarter on its platform (table 1), while also looking at the ten most held stocks (table 2) in the UAE.

Most popular stocks

Amongst the most held stocks, the second quarter of 2024 saw a significant shift in the rankings, with NVIDIA rising to become the second-most popular stock on the platform, behind only Tesla.

The AI market leader ranked fifth at the end of Q1 and ninth three months earlier, and has continued to attract new users fuelled by a 37 per cent surge in its share price over the latest quarterly period.

Semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices – AMD (+29 per cent) also saw significant growth in users, as did Intel (+21 per cent), which recently unveiled new AI chips in a bid to reclaim market share from NVIDIA and AMD.

In addition, Palantir Technologies and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company rose by 16 per cent to feature among the top 10.

“The enthusiasm for AI giants underscores a collective investor belief in the transformative potential of artificial intelligence technologies. Investors are now favouring the promising advancements and higher growth potential within the AI sector over the established yet increasingly volatile traditional tech landscape,” explained George Naddaf, Regional Manager, GCC and MENA at eToro.

Biggest losers

On the other hand, global technology companies such as Snapchat (-11 per cent), Adobe (-16 per cent), Netflix (-5 per cent), and Apple (-5 per cent) witnessed a decline in investor interest with workforce reductions reported across the sector.

Pharmaceutical stocks such as Moderna (-9 per cent), Jaguar Health (-6 per cent), and Pfizer (-5 per cent) also experienced a downturn, as the Covid-19 pandemic and its after-effects receded into the past.

Naddaf added, “With global travel resuming robustly, as evidenced by Dubai Airport’s resurgence as one of the busiest airports worldwide, investors have shifted their attention away from pandemic-driven pharma gains towards sectors poised for substantial post-pandemic growth.”

“This evolving investor sentiment underscores a broader trend of prioritising future-oriented, high-growth sectors over established, but currently less dynamic, industries,” he added.

Table 1: Shows stocks most widely held by eToro users in the UAE and their position last quarter

Table 2: Shows which stocks have seen the biggest proportional increase and decrease in holders on the eToro platform Q-on-Q

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