Hello again everyone! Well, it’s officially 2025 and I for one am thankful 2024 is in the books. I am so thankful Jesus guided me through the many challenges of this past year and I’m hopeful for the future ahead. I trust wherever you are you’ll make the choice to find Him also. It really is a special gift to see very real and impossible miracles actually occur.

With that, I just had to write a post today about a recent article I read from Benzinga.com, titled; Top 20 Most-Searched Tickers On Benzinga Pro In December 2024. It wasn’t the post that concerned me but the amount of risk that I believe exists within the names on that list.

In today’s post I’ll be sharing my thoughts about the Top 20 Most Searched Stocks. Additionally, here is a recent post that may be of interest; List of Stocks Under $20 with Weekly Options for December 2024.

Post Agenda

top 20 most searched stocks

Slow down… Wait… Ok, Just Stop

Before I begin, please take a look at the picture above and tell me, what do you see? Ok, I think you see where I’m going. To say that many of these investments are risky would be an understatement. Sure, some of them are quality stocks or ETF’s but many of them are similar to the image above, in my humble opinion.

Top 20 Most Searched Stocks

Ok, let me start by sharing the complete list of all 20 stocks that were heavily searched in recent weeks. From it we can attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff.

  1. TSLA – Tesla Inc.
  2. SMCI – Super Micro Computer
  3. NVDA – Nvidia Corporation
  4. SPY – S&P 500 ETF
  5. SOUN – Sound Hound AI
  6. PLTR – Palantir Technologies
  7. QUBT – Quantum Computing
  8. RGTI – Rigetti Computing
  9. MSTR – Microstrategy Inc.
  10. NUKK – Nukkleus Inc.
  11. AVGO – Broadcom Inc.
  12. CLSK – CleanSpark Inc.
  13. AMD – Advanced Micro Devices
  14. LLY – Eli Lilly and Company
  15. LAES – SEALSQ Corp
  16. MU – Micron Technology
  17. QBTS – D-Wave Technologies
  18. DELL – Dell Technologies
  19. WMT – Walmart Inc.
  20. QQQ – Invesco QQQ Trust

Now that we can see the recent list of the top 20 most searched stocks let’s attempt to logically cull this down based on some broadly recognized criteria. All lists are selected using ThinkorSwim and like any fundamental research tool, some data can be inaccurate. As such, you’ve heard it before, do your own research prior to investing or trading.

Market Capitalization

Here is the top 20 most searched stocks list in order from lowest market capitalization to the highest. Immediately, we can see that some of these names lack significant size. Further, I’ve eliminated SPY and QQQ because they are ETF’s tracking many different stocks and I generally just believe they’re fine to trade in or invest with.

RankingSymbolMarket Cap
18NUKK$224 M
17LAES$580 M
16QUBT$2,152 M
15QBTS$2,277 M
14CLSK$2,606 M
13RGTI$4,606 M
12SOUN$7,195 M
11SMCI$17,977 M
10MSTR$73,834 M
9DELL$80,924 M
8MU$96,247 M
7PLTR$169,052 M
6AMD$196,887 M
5LLY$700,149 M
4WMT$721,800 M
3AVGO$1,104,013 M
2TSLA$1,212,568 M
1NVDA$3,348,273 M

EBITDA – Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization

Here is the list again sorted by EBITDA, a generally acceptable performance and profitability estimate. Many of the same tickers appear inside the top 10 of this list.

RankingSymbol
18LAESNot Available
17MSTR-868,442,000
16SOUN-88,430,000
15QBTS-72,514,000
14RGTI-61,023,000
13QUBT-20,262,000
12NUKK-14,540,075
11CLSK208,789,000
10PLTR397,707,000
9SMCI1,304,590,657
8AMD4,479,000,000
7DELL8,974,000,000
6MU12,361,000,000
5TSLA13,244,000,000
4LLY16,566,500,000
3AVGO25,364,000,000
2WMT41,759,000,000
1NVDA72,741,000,000

Return on Equity (ROE)

Separating now by ROE, here is the list again. Please be sure to validate any figures on this list, some do appear to be unexpected or inaccurate.

RankingSymbolReturn on Equity
18LAESNot Available
17DELL-171.47
16SOUN-68.393
15RGTI-51.458
14QUBT-33.783
13MSTR-17.63
12CLSK-11.966
11AMD3.262
10MU8.6572
9PLTR12.409
8AVGO13.458
7TSLA20.389
6WMT22.643
5SMCI32.469
4LLY65.318
3NVDA127.21
2QBTS460.86
1NUKK1284.2

Free Cash Flow Per Share

For the final list I wanted to see how each company ranked with regards to free cash flow. Generally an accepted value among investors considering an investment.

RankingSymbolFree Cash Flow Per Share
18LAESNot Available
17MSTR-28.24
16SMCI-4.46
15NUKK-2.11
14LLY-1.94
13CLSK-0.70
12RGTI-0.40
11QBTS-0.35
10SOUN-0.29
9QUBT-0.25
8PLTR0.44
7MU0.50
6AMD0.96
5TSLA1.13
4WMT2.11
3NVDA2.30
2DELL4.00
1AVGO4.20

Most Searched Stocks Ranked

With the respective lists of the top 20 most searched stocks complete we can attempt to arrive at a possible conclusion. It may not be an optimal approach but when adjusting for Market Cap, EBITDA, ROE, and FCF per share we can see our list with these criteria applied. The list is ranked from worst to best to stay in line with previous lists format.

Analysis Function – Each respective list was put into an Excel spreadsheet and an aggregate ranking was derived using the advanced sorting function. Starting with market cap, then EBITDA, FCF, & ROE to arrive at the list below.

Some data may be inaccurate or unreliable so do be aware.

RankingSymbol
18NUKK
17LAES
16QUBT
15QBTS
14CLSK
13RGTI
12SOUN
11SMCI
10MSTR
9DELL
8MU
7PLTR
6AMD
5LLY
4WMT
3AVGO
2TSLA
1NVDA

Final Thoughts

With the analysis of this most searched stocks list complete we can take a look at the results. At the top were NVDA, TSLA and AVGO which really isn’t a surprise. These assets are highly traded, well discussed, and generally respected within the investment community. Additionally, each of them has far surpassed the return of the overall market these past few years.

From ranking 4 through 9 we see mostly household names with one exception being PLTR. Palantir has been on a tear in 2024, returning more than 400%, at their peak. Still, I would exercise extreme caution with them as they’ve yet to be tested by a financial crisis. Trading began in PLTR after the covid pandemic and the sky has been mostly blue ever since. The other names in that range are well known and researched so if an investment or trade was being considered there is plenty of information to consider.

Finally, ranking’s 10 or below. Where do I begin with these stocks? First, if you are trading options on any of these assets I strongly encourage you do so as quickly as possible. If you’re an investor for the long term and have done your due diligence, then by all means carry on. However, be warned, the likelihood that these stocks falter is incredibly high in the near to intermediate future. Should a financially challenging period undertake our economy or the mood on a random Wednesday be less than ideal, these stocks are very likely to crater. That said, I can’t ignore there is a possibility one of them turns a fortune, however unlikely.

Finally, if it’s me, I’m avoiding every name below number 10 and possibly PLTR as well. The risk just isn’t worth the reward.

Until the next post.

God bless,

Jeff