SINGAPORE – Local retail investors have been piling into Nasdaq-listed technology and artificial intelligence (AI) names since the fourth quarter of 2025, and their appetite has stayed strong into the new year despite growing bubble warnings.
Based on data provided by trading platform eToro, Nvidia continued to lead the stocks most widely held by eToro users in Singapore in the fourth quarter of 2025. It was followed by Tesla, Apple, Nio, Meta, Alibaba, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Palantir Technologies.
Among the top 10 stocks that have seen the biggest rise and fall in holders in the last quarter of 2025 were major AI players or hyperscale cloud providers.
American software giant Oracle led the stocks with the biggest jump in holders. It saw a 47 per cent rise in holders in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared with the third quarter.
Another American software company, Strategy, was third with a 25 per cent increase in holders.
Semiconductor maker Broadcom was fifth in the list of popular stocks, with a 14 per cent rise in holders. Another semiconductor stock, Super Micro Computer, came in ninth, with a 7 per cent jump in holders.
Magnificent Seven member stock Meta saw a 13 per cent jump in holders and was ranked sixth. Fellow hyperscaler Alphabet gained an 8 per cent increase in holders and came in eighth.
Singapore-based computer hardware manufacturer Canaan also made the top 10 list of popular stocks bought. It saw a 6 per cent increase in holders.
Mr Zavier Wong, market analyst at eToro, told The Straits Times that AI is no longer being viewed as a far-off story.
“For many investors, it’s already embedded in how companies operate and how their earnings are generated. That makes the whole story around AI feel less speculative and more grounded in what’s already taking shape, even if valuations remain a point of debate,” he said.
Two out of the 10 stocks that saw an increase in holders here in the fourth quarter were outliers to the AI and technology themes.
Streaming giant Netflix – sometimes grouped in the technology sector but fundamentally a media company – came in second with a 30 per cent jump in holders.
Beyond Meat, a producer of plant-based meat alternatives, was seventh, with a 12 per cent jump in Singaporean holders.
Mr Wong said Netflix and Beyond Meat are familiar brands here whose products and services are well understood. That familiarity often lowers the barrier to investing, he said.
Stocks that fell out of favour here in the fourth quarter of 2025 featured beverage-related firms. American coffee chain Starbucks suffered a 10 per cent drop in holders, and beverage giant Coca-Cola a 9 per cent fall.
While not a beverage company, American insurance company Lemonade also made it to the top 10 stocks that fell out of favour in the fourth quarter, losing 9 per cent holders here.
The top three stocks that lost the most holders were pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly with a 21 per cent drop, followed by LVMH, which saw a 15 per cent slide, and then Lululemon Athletica with a 14 per cent fall.
Mr Wong said both Eli Lilly and LVMH could have seen some trimming as investors rebalanced their portfolios.
This portfolio rebalancing could also explain what happened to Starbucks and Coca-Cola, which tend to be “default hold” stocks that are viewed as low-risk, long-term components of a portfolio that investors generally hold for their stability.
While interest in AI has carried into the new year, Mr Wong said investors are becoming more selective. “We see attention is gravitating towards companies that can clearly demonstrate how AI demand is translating into revenue visibility, margins and sustained capital spending,” he said.
Investors are becoming more conscious of concentration risk after a strong 2025, suggesting that investor curiosity in AI has not faded but is maturing.
Mr Yujun Lin, chief executive officer of Interactive Brokers Singapore, also sees a strategic reallocation going on, with bets spreading beyond the Magnificent Seven stocks.
He sees investors’ optimism being replaced by caution amid growing concerns over valuation, spending strategies of major AI companies and their ability to monetise their products.
“At some point, the party will stop for those that can’t deliver. 2025 was very much about AI, a big US tech rally. 2026 will focus on quality,” Mr Lin said.
Indeed, a month into the new year, the tech-heavy Nasdaq came under selling pressure in late January as investors fretted about AI spending and stock valuations.
Even then, based on Interactive Brokers’ data on client orders, there were some stubborn buyers accumulating shares as prices drifted lower.
Mr Lin pointed out that investors here need not look far for good investments.
He said fundamentals of the blue-chip stocks listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) are “very strong”, underpinned by a strong Singapore dollar amid a weak US dollar as well as the Government’s determination to revitalise the market.
He sees more upside for SGX with the proposed dual listings between SGX and Nasdaq – a move that aims to attract large, high-growth Asian companies to raise capital in both Singapore and the United States. This will provide investors with access to a broader range of investment opportunities and improved liquidity.
