Tesla is the top trending stock on social media, with twice as much mentions as Nvidia and 4x more than Apple - FOCUS ON Business

Although Tesla (TSLA) remains the worst performer in the magnificent seven group, with a modest 3.9% growth year-to-date, the world's most valuable car producer is the hot topic among investors and traders on social media platforms.
According to AltIndex.com data, Tesla was the top trending stock on social media last week, with over 20,500 mentions in 24 hours.
Top stocks by 24-hour mentions on social media platforms as of October 11

Source: AltIndex.com
Over the years, social media has become a powerhouse for financial conversations, with platforms like Reddit, Twitter, 4chan, and Stocktwits hosting retail investors and traders discussing stocks and investing. An alternative data platform, AltIndex, analyzes posts, comments, tweets, and other user-generated content across stock forums, providing a deeper insight into each stock's social media mentions based on their frequency and sentiment.
Although these mentions do not account for a company's fundamentals, broader market conditions, or other critical factors that traditionally influence stock performance, they can provide insight into potential market trends, shifts, and retail investor behavior.
According to AltIndex analysis, Tesla (TSLA) was the top trending stock on social media last week, with more than 20,500 mentions in 24 hours, far more than any other stock on this list. SPDR S&P 500 ETF ranked second with almost 40% fewer 24-hour mentions, or roughly 12,700. All other trending stocks on social media were far below these figures. For instance, Nvidia stocks got around 8,700 mentions, or twice less than Tesla. The tech giant Apple ranked fifth with over 5,600 mentions in 24 hours, four times less than the world's most valuable car producer. Invesco QQQ, GameStop, and AMD followed, with around 4,000 mentions each.
Although far below the most talked about stocks, an alt-tech social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth Social, garnered significant attention on social media last week. The AltIndex data show Truth Social mentions surged by an impressive 241% on October 11, indicating heightened interest on social media platforms.
Although Tesla has gained considerable interest from investors and retailers on social media, its stock is still underperforming the broader market. Lower growth projections, aggressive price cuts, especially in key markets like China, and increased competition from other EV makers have reduced the company's profitability, causing Tesla to miss earnings and revenue expectations in the year's first half.
As a result, Tesla's stock plunged by a considerable 25% to roughly $187 between January and June. Although they recovered since then, rising by 27% to $238 last week, Tesla's year-to-date return is still a modest 3.91%, while its year-over-year return remains negative at -9.4%. All other tech giants in the magnificent seven group have seen double and triple-digit returns, ranging from Alphabet's 17.5% to Nvidia's impressive 195%.

AltIndex
Graphics: Adobe Stock, Chatchanan