Retail investors talked up five hot stocks this week (Dec. 22 to Dec. 26) on X and Reddit's r/WallStreetBets, driven by retail hype, AI buzz, and corporate news flow.



The stocks, AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS), Trump Media &amp; Technology Group Corp. (NASDAQ:DJT), Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE), Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), spanning space, crypto, sports, semiconductor, AI, and automotive, reflected diverse retail interests.



<h2>AST SpaceMobile</h2>



<ul>
<li>ASTS dominated headlines with the successful launch of its next-generation BlueBird 6 satellite. It successfully deployed the satellite into low Earth orbit on Dec. 23–24 via India’s ISRO LVM3 rocket—the largest commercial communications array ever in LEO, spanning nearly 2,400 square feet with 10x the capacity of prior satellites for direct-to-smartphone 4G/5G broadband. </li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Some retail investors were holding their ASTS position after the Bluebird launch.</li>
</ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img width="670" height="145" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26055856/ASTS-RDDT-1.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="A comment on r/WallStreetBets subreddit. " original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26055856/ASTS-RDDT-1.png"/><figcaption>Source: Reddit</figcaption></figure>



<ul>
<li>The stock had a 52-week range of $17.51 to $102.79, trading around $78 to $80 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was up 260.67% year-to-date and 216.25% over the year.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>The stock had a stronger price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings. Other performance details are available here.</li>
</ul>



<h2>Trump Media &amp; Technology Group</h2>



<ul>
<li>DJT saw continued volatility as the post-announcement rally from its Dec. 18 $6 billion all-stock merger with nuclear fusion leader TAE Technologies faded. Ethics watchdogs raised concerns over the deal’s implications. On Tuesday, it said that it did not make any new Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) purchases, pushing back against on-chain data that appeared to show the company acquiring more than $40 million worth of BTC. </li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Some retail investors were panicking amid DJT decline.</li>
</ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img width="670" height="143" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26060019/DJT-RDDT-1.1.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="A comment on r/WallStreetBets subreddit. " original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26060019/DJT-RDDT-1.1.png"/><figcaption>Source: Reddit</figcaption></figure>



<ul>
<li>The stock had a 52-week range of $10.18 to $43.45, trading around $14 to $15 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was down 57.94% year-to-date and 61.36% over the year.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings showed that the stock had a weaker price trend in the medium and long terms but a strong trend in the short term. Additional performance details are available here.</li>
</ul>



See Also: PYPL, DJT, MU And More: 5 Stocks Investors Couldn’t Stop Buzzing About This Week



<h2>Nike</h2>



<ul>
<li>NKE shares remained under pressure from the prior week’s post-earnings selloff amid ongoing concerns over China’s weakness, tariff impacts, and margin compression. The key highlight was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook‘s Dec. 22 purchase of 50,000 shares worth $3 million—nearly doubling his stake and signaling confidence in CEO Elliott Hill’s turnaround—which sparked a rally.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Retail investors turned bullish on NKE after Cook’s purchase.</li>
</ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img width="672" height="145" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26060337/NKE-RDDT-1.1.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="A comment on r/WallStreetBets subreddit. " original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26060337/NKE-RDDT-1.1.png"/><figcaption>Source: Reddit</figcaption></figure>



<ul>
<li>The stock had a 52-week range of $52.28 to $82.44, trading around $60 to $61 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was down 18.56% year-to-date but 22.02% over the year.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>It maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value score, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings. Additional performance details are available here.</li>
</ul>



<h2>Nvidia</h2>



<ul>
<li>NVDA shares traded quietly in holiday-thinned volume. It reported on Dec. 22 that the company aims to begin shipping advanced H200 AI chips to China by mid-February (pending approvals), which boosted sentiment. On Dec. 24, it announced a major licensing deal with AI inference startup Groq, strengthening its position in the shifting AI inference market. </li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Retail investors were predicting NVDA shares to cross $200 apiece amid positive news flow.</li>
</ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img width="670" height="146" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26060256/NVDA-RDDT-1.1.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="A comment on r/WallStreetBets subreddit. " original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26060256/NVDA-RDDT-1.1.png"/><figcaption>Source: Reddit</figcaption></figure>



<ul>
<li>The stock had a 52-week range of $86.63 to $212.19, trading around $188 to $190 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was up 36.37% year-to-date and 34.79% over the year.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>The stock had a stronger price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid quality ranking, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings. Other performance details are available here.</li>
</ul>



<h2>Tesla</h2>



<ul>
<li>TSLA shares hovered near record highs in holiday-thinned trading, buoyed by lingering momentum from the Dec. 19 Delaware Supreme Court reinstatement of Elon Musk‘s ~$139 billion 2018 pay package. AI director Ashok Elluswamy shared positive unsupervised FSD tests and empty-seat rides in Austin on Dec. 24–25. </li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>Some investors were skeptical about Tesla’s real growth.</li>
</ul>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img width="668" height="146" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26060157/TSLA-RDDT-1.1.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="A comment on r/WallStreetBets subreddit. " original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/26060157/TSLA-RDDT-1.1.png"/></figure>



<ul>
<li>The stock had a 52-week range of $214.25 to $498.82, trading around $485 to $486 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was up 27.98% YTD and 6.89% over the year.</li>
</ul>



<ul>
<li>According to Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, it was maintaining a stronger price trend over short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking. Additional performance details are available here.</li>
</ul>



Retail focus blended meme-driven narrative with earnings outlook and corporate news flow, as the S&amp;P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq largely witnessed positive market action during the week.



Read Next:



<ul>
<li>Broadcom, Oracle, Netflix, And More: 5 Stocks Investors Couldn't Stop Buzzing About This Week</li>
</ul>



Image via Shutterstock

DJTWW

ASTS

NVDA

Retail investors discussed five hot stocks this week (Dec. 22 to Dec. 26) on X and Reddit's r/WallStreetBets, driven by retail hype, AI buzz, and corporate news. The stocks were AST SpaceMobile, Trump Media & Technology Group, Nike, Nvidia, and Tesla. Highlights include AST SpaceMobile's satellite launch, Trump Media's merger news, Nike's CEO stock purchase, Nvidia's AI chip plans, and Tesla's FSD tests.

- Retail investors highlighted five stocks, including AST SpaceMobile, Trump Media, Nike, Nvidia, and Tesla, during the week of December 22 to 26, driven by hype and corporate developments.  
- AST SpaceMobile's successful satellite launch was a key event, while DJT faced volatility amid merger concerns, and Nike's stock reacted positively to Apple’s Tim Cook purchasing shares.  
- Overall, the market saw positive action in major indices, blending meme-driven narratives with earnings outlook amidst varied investor sentiments toward the highlighted stocks.

benzinga_article

AST SpaceMobile, Nike, Nvidia And More: 5 Stocks Investors Couldn't Stop Buzzing About This Week