Key Takeaways
- The most actively traded stocks either have large trading volumes or price volumes.
- The list usually includes large-cap stocks, though small-cap stocks can appear with the right innovative product offering or news is released.
- Keep in mind that high trading volumes do not always result in gains.
Some investors evaluate the most active stocks list for investment ideas. These stocks are the most liquid, meaning you can easily and quickly buy or sell shares.
Moving into 2023, many investors are looking for new ideas to help them grow their wealth after the markets realized a loss in 2022. Here is a look at the stocks that could dominate the most active list this year—and how Q.ai can help you make smarter investments.
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Defining actively traded stocks
All the major markets keep a list of the most traded stocks daily regarding the volume of shares traded and the highest dollar volume. These stocks are at the top of the daily lists most of the time since they are large companies attracting investments from retail and institutional investors - inexperienced and the most experienced.
Sometimes, you may find a small-cap stock leading the most active list, which is usually due to new information changing the stock's valuation. This results in many investors trading the stock, putting it high on the list. Once the stock is priced more accurately, the increase in trading volume subsides, and it falls off the list.
Let's look at the companies that tend to make up the most actively traded stocks and their outlook for 2023.
Tesla
Tesla's stock declined in 2022 after years of high valuations. The company is considered an automotive and technology company. However, many investors lean towards the automotive classification since most of Tesla's value comes from its ability to deliver finished products.
Wall Street analysts expect to see deliveries grow by as much as 40% in 2023, which could be too aggressive considering economic factors and Elon Musk's recent antics on Twitter.
Apple
Apple is undergoing a stock price depreciation as investors sell their shares in bulk. Various economic forces are putting pressure on Apple's ability to sell its products at high prices and in large quantities.
The inflationary environment has caused consumers to reel in their spending, resulting in falling sales for the iPhone. Investors are turning away from tech companies as investment options and turning to other industries instead.
As a result, 2023 might be a bumpy year for Apple's stock price.
Amazon
Amazon lost about 30% of its stock value during the last three months of 2022, but its price leveled off to the mid $80 range for the last couple of weeks of the year.
The stock reached as high as $170 per share in 2022, then lost about 50% of its share price. Part of this was due to the loss of confidence in the technology sector and inflation, resulting in people buying fewer products.
However, Amazon's current stock value may have found its normal value and might slowly rebound over time.
Nio
Nio is a Chinese electric car manufacturer with plans to expand its operations into the U.S. by 2025. Its current lineup of cars is aimed at the luxury market, and it has the potential to give Tesla a run for its money performance-wise.
The company’s stock price is increasing and could be a breakout stock in 2023. Its current price may create a nice return on investment if the company can deliver on its promise of desirable and reliable luxury EVs.
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, will likely have a bad first half of 2023 due to excess inventory and slowing sales. The company is regarded as one of the best manufacturers of high-performance computer products. Its Ryzen CPUs and Radeon RX GPUs were in high demand during the pandemic.
However, the collapse of the cryptocurrency mining industry, high prices, and economic slowdown have caused buyers to hold off on buying new GPUs.
Nevertheless, AMD is still a contender. Its products are desirable, so it should emerge from the inventory backlog without significant issues.
NVIDIA
NVIDIA faces similar issues to AMD in that the inventory backlog of its GPUs is growing as sales slow. Its gaming division lost 51% of its revenue year-over-year from the third quarter of 2021 to 2022, and investors responded by selling off the stock in large quantities.
However, NVIDIA sees positive results from its automotive division, and it is entering the cloud computing industry with its GPU and CPU server processors. Its Grace server processors are reported to be more powerful while using less energy and could beat the performance of Intel's CPU server processors.
Meta
Meta, the umbrella name for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the virtual reality universe of the same name, is facing an uncertain 2023. Mark Zuckerberg is doubling down on his investment in virtual reality by spending cash on talent and labor to make his project a reality.
Meanwhile, Facebook has suffered from a loss of advertising revenue, and TikTok is challenging Instagram. It remains to be seen if Meta will recover and focus on competing with its rivals or if Zuckerberg will continue to focus on his virtual reality project at the cost of other operations.
Carnival Corporation
The pandemic adversely impacted Carnival Corporation's cruise operations, and the company is finding recovery difficult. At issue is the core nature of cruises, which is to house thousands of people together on one cruise ship. These conditions make it easy for a virus to spread.
Even though the coronavirus is becoming less severe, people are still reluctant to voluntarily put themselves at risk of illness. Carnival is showing signs of recovery, but its stock likely will see little growth in 2023.
Plug Power
Plug Power is a hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer delivering its product to the market and boasts an impressive list of corporate customers. It manufactures fuel cell systems for forklifts, delivery vans, and truck fleets. Plus, it supplies hydrogen to its customers.
Using hydrogen as an alternative fuel source is finally becoming a reality in terms of daily use, and Plug Power is showing that retrofitting existing equipment to run on the fuel without a significant effort is possible.
The company's stock is poised for solid gains in 2023 if it keeps up with its hydrogen fuel cell equipment deliveries.
Ford
Ford is another company whose stock took a beating in 2022 due to a slowdown in vehicle sales. Historically, its stock price has been low even though it's a major global auto manufacturer, and its EV lineup has generated a lot of excitement among car buyers.
The company’s outlook for 2023 is uncertain because supply chain issues are easing, more vehicles are reaching dealership lots, the average vehicle price is still high, and the cost to borrow money has significantly increased.
Furthermore, consumers are more reluctant to take on a large debt when their income is uncertain, which could put downward pressure on Ford's stock in 2023.
The bottom line
If a stock shows up on the most active list, it does not mean it will increase in value. It could have large daily trading volumes because many mutual or exchange-traded funds own it and thus are traded frequently. A stock on the list could also lose value.
An alternative option to investing in the most active stocks is to look into Investment Kits offered by Q.ai. Our artificial intelligence scours the markets for the best investments for all manner of risk tolerances and economic situations. Then, it bundles them up in handy Investment Kits that make investing simple and strategic.
Best of all, you can activate Portfolio Protection at any time to protect your gains and reduce your losses, no matter what industry you invest in.
Download Q.ai today for access to AI-powered investment strategies. When you deposit $100, we’ll add an additional $100 to your account.
