Key takeaways:

• Nvidia’s earnings generated strong market interest in semiconductor shares and other AI-leveraged companies, with Selfwealth members also backing this trend

• Selfwealth trade volumes in bitcoin-related securities increased at the same time the cryptocurrency rallied over 40%

• After a two-year run, Apple was overtaken as the second most held US share by value in the Selfwealth community

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As enthusiasm for tech shares continued through the month, the US stock market posted a series of new records. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 set new highs, up 2.2% and 5.2% respectively, as did the Nasdaq Composite, which yielded a monthly return of 6.1%.

Of particular note, the breadth of the market was relatively ‘narrow’ last month, with four shares – Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft – accounting for 45% of the S&P 500’s monthly return.

How did the Selfwealth community respond to the tech-led rally? Here’s everything you need to know about last month’s trading activity.

US share trading activity

Although Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) was the most traded US name on the Selfwealth platform last month, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) made a move to narrow the gap.

The parent company of Google climbed four spots into 4th place, and with a significant increase in trade volume behind the move. Monthly trades in GOOGL tripled versus January, with buying support also sharply higher. In total, approximately four out of every five trades in GOOGL last month were ‘buys’, whereas that figure was sitting at 50% at the start of the year.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was one of just a handful of non-tech-related equities that featured among the most traded US shares in the Selfwealth community last month. Around three-quarters of trades in BAC were ‘buys’, suggesting an overall level of bullishness towards the bank amid a backdrop where the world’s largest economy has performed robustly over recent months.

However, the highest level of buying conviction was reserved for Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW), which edged into the top 20. Nearly nine out of every ten trades in PANW were ‘buys’, with Selfwealth members looking past a large sell-off. During reporting season, the company announced a shift in its go-to-market strategy, which it expects could weigh on revenue and billings growth over the next 12 to 18 months.

On the other hand, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) recorded the lowest buy-to-sell conviction of any name among the most actively traded shares. Just 38.9% of trades in the Facebook and Instagram owner were ‘buys’. With the META share price gaining over 25% for the month, and also touching an all-time high, profit taking may explain February’s subdued conviction metric in the Selfwealth community.

Top 20 stocks by trades

1. TSLA Tesla 68.8%

2. RIVN Rivian 76.7%

3. NVDA Nvidia 69.9%

4. GOOGL Alphabet 80.3%

5. AAPL Apple 65.9%

6. ZS Zscaler 64.2%

7. MSFT Microsoft 82.6%

8. AMD Advanced Micro Devices 68.4%

9. AMZN Amazon 71.1%

10. PLTR Palantir 47.6%

11. MARA Marathon Digital Holdings 57.0%

12. BAC Bank of America 74.7%

13. META Meta Platforms 38.9%

14. SMCI Super Micro Computer 51.3%

15. COIN Coinbase 47.9%

16. ARM Arm Holdings 66.2%

17. DIS Walt Disney 41.2%

18. PYPL PayPal 52.9%

19. BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway 76.0%

20. PANW Palo Alto Networks 89.4%

The iShares Bitcoin ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT) was last month’s major mover in the ETF space. The fund, which is designed to provide direct bitcoin exposure, was the second most traded US-listed ETF in February. During the month, bitcoin prices rose more than 40%, from US$42,548 to US$61,179. The rally appears likely to have played a role in the ETF’s popularity, with over 95% of IBIT trades being ‘buys’.

Top 10 ETFs by tradesCode SecurityBuy-sell Ratio

1. SOXS Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares 50.4%

2. IBITiShares Bitcoin ETF 95.7%

3. SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF 61.4%

4. TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ 60.9%

5. BOIL ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Natural Gas 50.0%

6. SOXL Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares 50.0%

7. VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 86.0%

8. UVXY ProShares Ultra VIX Short Term Futures ETF 61.1%

9. SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust 55.9%

10. YINN Direxion Daily FTSE China Bull 3x Shares 61.3%

Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) attracted a notable increase in money flow compared with January, ranking second among all US shares. An uptick in Selfwealth trade values was evident after the electric vehicle developer’s share price plummeted when it issued production guidance for 2024 that was below consensus estimates on Wall Street. Nonetheless, by the end of the month, money flow in RIVN was split roughly down the middle between buying and selling.

Month-over-month, there was a fivefold increase in the value of Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) shares bought and sold by Selfwealth members. While the company’s share price edged higher by 2.7% across the course of the month, ZS was trading as much as 10% lower in late February when cybersecurity peer Palo Alto Networks fell 28% in a single session for reasons mentioned earlier.

Capital continued to follow bitcoin-related securities, including Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA), GraniteShares 2x Long COIN Daily ETF (NASDAQ: CONL), and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN). Based on the value of shares traded within the Selfwealth community last month, the trio ranked 13th, 17th, and 18th respectively.

In line with the popularity of semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), there was also elevated money flow in smaller industry peers such as Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) and Arm Holdings (NASDAQ: ARM), alongside the Direxion Daily Semiconductor ‘Bear’ and ‘Bull’ ETFs (NYSE: SOXS, SOXL).

Top 20 stocks traded by valueCode SecurityBuy-sell Ratio

1. TSLATesla 50.3%

2. RIVN Rivian 49.7%

3. ZS Zscaler 50.0%

4. SOXS Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares 50.0%

5. NVDA Nvidia 56.9%

6. SOXL Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares 49.8%

7. AAPL Apple 49.7%

8. BAC Bank of America 50.3%

9. TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ 50.6%

10. GOOGL Alphabet 65.8%

11. MSFT Microsoft 59.4%

12. SMCI Super Micro Computer 50.0%

13. MARA Marathon Digital Holdings 51.8%

14. ARM Arm Holdings 52.0%

15. SQQQ ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ ETF 50.2%

16. FNGU Bank of Montreal MicroSectors FANG Index 3X Leveraged 58.3%

17. CONL GraniteShares 2x Long COIN Daily ETF 49.1%

18. SOFI SoFi Technologies 53.3%

19. COIN Coinbase 45.9%

20. PLTR Palantir 40.8%

Which US shares are the most held?

In terms of the most popular holdings by value, there was no change at the top of the list, with electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) extending its popularity over all other US shares on the Selfwealth platform. However, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) leapfrogged Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), with the latter losing its grip on second place after more than two years.

Shares in Microsoft advanced 4% last month, and at one stage, the tech giant’s valuation topped US$3 trillion. That also coincided with the business becoming the most valuable publicly-listed company in the world. While Microsoft’s underlying share price rose 4%, the collective value of MSFT holdings in the Selfwealth community increased 7%, with net buying accounting for the difference.

Semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) also moved up the list of the most popular US shares among Selfwealth members. Now in fourth place, it is a record-high ranking for NVDA, which reported earnings last month.

The tech company announced records for quarterly revenue, data centre revenue, and full-year revenue. Each metric recorded triple-digit growth rates from a year ago thanks to growing demand for Nvidia’s generative AI microchips. NVDA shares surged 28.6% in February, while strong buying support saw Selfwealth community holdings grow 47.3% month-over-month.

Another name making a move in the community last month was Palantir (NYSE: PLTR), which rose from 13th to 11th position. At the start of February, PLTR shares leapt more than 40% over two trading sessions after the data analytics software developer said its AI offering underpinned revenue growth of 32% in its commercial segment.

Elsewhere, MicroStrategy (MSTR), 16th, and Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), 20th, were new entrants on the list of the most held US shares, while GameStop (NYSE: GME) hit a record-low platform ranking of 17th, extending its slide over recent months.

MicroStrategy’s share price was supported by higher bitcoin prices, whereas Walt Disney’s fiscal first-quarter earnings saw its share price gain 11.5% on signs its media streaming division is progressing towards profitability.

US StockCompany

1. TSLA Tesla

2. MSFT Microsoft

3. AAPL Apple

4. NVDA Nvidia

5. AMZN Amazon

6. GOOGL Alphabet

7. RY Royal Bank of Canada

8. BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway

9. META Meta Platforms

10. VOO Vanguard 500 Index Fund ETF

11. PLTR Palantir

12. AMD Advanced Micro Devices

13. BABA Alibaba

14. TQQQ ProShares UltraPro QQQ

15. QQQ Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1

16. MSTR MicroStrategy

17. GME GameStop

18. ARKK ARK Innovation ETF

19. PYPL PayPal

20. DIS Walt Disney

 That’s all for this Trade Trends report, stay tuned for the next edition this time next month