Spent nearly 30 billion in a year: NVIDIA becomes the favorite of retail investors in 2025

Under the AI boom, NVIDIA has become one of the most favored targets for retail investors this year.On December 25th, Eastern Time, Vanda Research data showed that as of December 17th, retail investors had net purchased nearly $30 billion worth of NVIDIA shares this year, making it the company with the highest inflow of retail funds this year. This amount is almost double that of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), the major U.S. stock market ETF, and is expected to surpass Tesla, which was awarded the title of "most favored stock by retail investors" in 2023.Marco Iachini, Senior Vice President of Vanda Research, stated, "The price increase of NVIDIA's stock is astonishing and has stolen the spotlight from Tesla."Retail Investment in NVIDIA Soars Nearly 900% in Three YearsNVIDIA has been favored by both large and small investors over the past year. Last month, NVIDIA officially joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average and became one of the best-performing stocks among the 30 components of the index. Despite some volatility in December trading, NVIDIA is still expected to achieve over 180% growth by the end of 2024. Its market capitalization has now surpassed $3 trillion, making it the second-largest company by market cap in the U.S., second only to Apple.The proportion of retail investors holding NVIDIA shares has also significantly increased. According to Vanda's data, the weight of NVIDIA in retail portfolios has risen from 5.5% at the beginning of this year to over 10%. Currently, NVIDIA is the second-largest holding for retail investors, second only to Tesla. This year, net inflows of retail funds into NVIDIA have increased by over 885% compared to three years ago.Additionally, Vanda Research data shows that retail investor inflows are typically concentrated around company earnings report releases. Notably, during the general market downturn in early August 2023, many retail investors seized the opportunity to buy NVIDIA shares. Although NVIDIA's stock price has recently slowed its upward momentum, analysts like Gil Luria from D.A. Davidson believe its stock price has returned to a more reasonable level.Gil Luria stated that although NVIDIA's earnings continue to exceed Wall Street expectations, the extent of the outperformance is not sufficient to support a rapid increase in stock price, and the current stock price has returned to a more "balanced" and "reasonable" level.Moreover, NVIDIA's popularity is not only reflected in stock market trading but also extends into the real world. In August of this year, a group of investors held an NVIDIA earnings report viewing party in New York City, attracting significant attention from retail investors. This event occurred after the company implemented a 10-for-1 stock split, which typically attracts more retail investor participation.In addition to NVIDIA, another company that has garnered significant attention from retail investors is Palantir. According to Vanda Research data, Palantir's inflows performed excellently in 2024, becoming the ninth-largest net purchased security, surpassing Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft. Palantir's stock price soared nearly 380% in 2024, making it the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 index.Palantir CEO Alex Karp recently expressed gratitude to investors in a video, particularly thanking those individual investors who dared to invest beyond traditional boundaries