Retail investors buy up ‘old economy’ oil and mining stocks in Q3 whilst commitment to big tech remains strong

Retail investors bought ‘old economy’ stocks such as mining and oil firms in Q3, whilst keeping faith in big tech stalwarts such as Amazon and Microsoft, according to the latest quarterly stocks data from social investing network eToro.

eToro looked at which companies saw the biggest proportionate increase and decrease in holders at the end of Q3 versus the end of Q2. It also looked at the most widely held stocks on the platform, a list which is still dominated by big tech despite this year’s sell off.

The company which saw the biggest increase in holders (as a proportion) was meme stock Bed Bath & Beyond, rising 182%, after its share price rocketed in August before falling away again. The company was also the second most shorted stock on the eToro platform this year, indicating healthy disagreement amongst investors on the latest meme stock favourite.

The rest of the ‘biggest risers’ list included several old economy oil and mining stocks, with petroleum firms Occidental Petroleum Corp and TotalEnergies SE seeing a 30% and 23% rise (respectively) in holders, while US oil giant Chevron (+11%) and miners Rio Tinto (+19%) and Barrick Gold (+13%) all attracted more investors.

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Retail investors also looked to ‘buy the dip’ in Q3, with FedEx (+25%), Chinese EV firm XPeng (+23%) and Cineworld (+14%) making the top risers list. All three companies have seen huge falls in their share price this year.

The biggest faller in Q3 was Twitter, with a 14% drop following the collapse of the Elon Musk takeover. Disruptive tech-focused firms like Netflix (-10%), Draftkings (-6%) and Roblox (-7%) also fell, as did solar energy companies Canadian Solar (-10%), Enphase Energy (-6%) and SunPower (-5%).

Commenting on the data, eToro’s Global Market Strategist Ben Laidler, said: “While clearly looking for opportunities to buy the dip in Q3, retail investors also took a more defensive stance, diversifying into old economy industries such as energy and mining. This came at the expense of ‘riskier’ disruptive tech stocks, particularly solar power companies, with four gracing the top fallers list. Some retail investors appear to be prioritizing income and growth today over sustainability, as they face the cost of living crisis and rising interest rates.” 

The last quarter also saw several meme stocks enter the top fallers list, with Gamestop (-5%), Blackberry (-5%) and Nokia (-5%) all losing some favour with eToro users.

The list of the most popular stocks among eToro investors (see Table 2 below) remains dominated by big tech and is unchanged from the previous quarter, with Tesla, Amazon and Apple the most widely held companies on the platform.

Laidler adds: “By keeping faith with the established tech titans like Amazon and Microsoft,  DIY investors are increasingly focusing on company profits and cash flows today rather than the promises of riskier tech-led growth tomorrow. There is clearly a feeling that  these tech giants, with their high profit margins and fortress balance sheets, can weather any recession. This is a sensible view with inflation high, economic growth spluttering, and markets increasingly unforgiving.”