The market hasn’t been kind to Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) in the last year with the shares losing almost two-thirds of their value. Still, European investors remain hungry for news on the EV maker.
Using Google Trends, researchers found that last year Tesla was the most searched-for stock, taking the top spot in a whopping 28 countries.
But it's not just Tesla dominating the scene, according to Finnish casino review site Bonusetu.com, which commissioned the analysis.
Coming in second place as the most searched-for stock in Europe is AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) Inc, which is the most popular Googled stock in five countries.
AMC in focus
AMC's share price may have broken free from its steep decline at the end of last year by increasing 6.01% from its 6 January price of $3.83, but it's still a long way from its all-time high of $62.49 on 2 June 2021.
But don't count AMC out just yet. The low share price is not turning off retail investors, and AMC is the most searched-for stock in the UK, Germany, Ireland, Croatia and Liechtenstein. Investors may hope that AMC can regain its “meme stock” status and see more huge and unfounded spikes.
And in third place, we have Nio Inc, the Chinese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shanghai.
Nio has gained popularity over the past few years and is the most searched-for stock in four European countries: Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Andorra, with Romania contributing 64% of all Nio’s top searches.
Tesla, AMC and Nio are the clear front runners in the European stock market, but there are also some lesser-known stocks making waves.
People like Virgin Galactic too
Virgin Galactic, EPAM Systems, Icelandair, and GameStop were all the top searched-for stock in only one country.
GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME). reached “meme-stock” status in January 2021 when a Reddit page called “wallstreetbets” gained exposure and encouraged social investing in inflating GameStop's share price.
Iceland's most popular stock is Icelandair Group hf, Iceland’s leading airline. EPAM Systems Inc is the most Googled stock in Belarus.
These are the stocks to watch in Europe, but keep in mind that Google Trends data does not necessarily reflect actual investment or buying activity, it gives insight into what stocks people are searching for and talking about.
So, whether you're a retail investor or a seasoned pro, these are the companies to keep an eye on in the European market.