Here at the Motley Fool, we normally cover the movements and trends of the Australian share market and those of ASX shares. But in today's modern world, ASX investors are increasingly looking beyond our shores in the search for the best investments available. And most of the world's best investments that aren't ASX shares are arguably found on the US markets.
The US markets are home to what are indisputably the best companies in the world. Coca-Cola, American Express, Berkshire Hathaway, Netflix, Mastercard, Apple, NVIDIA, Amazon… these world-dominating companies are all US shares, and call the American markets home.
So it makes sense that ASX investors might want a slice of come of these businesses. After all, while ASX investors are justifiably fond of the likes of Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), these ASX shares can't hold a candle to the names above when it comes to global dominance in their fields.
But many Australian investors might want to know which US shares are being bought by Australian investors in particular. Luckily, financial services and brokerage company eToro has provided some data on this subject.
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The ten most popular US shares for ASX investors
Here are the ten most widely-held US shares on eToro's platform over the quarter ended 30 June 2024:
- Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)
- NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA)
- Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)
- Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN)
- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT)
- Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META)
- Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO)
- Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL)
- GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME)
- Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA)
These ten US shares are unchanged from the previous quarter's figures. However, their positions in this top ten list have changed. Nvidia replaced Apple in the number two spot, while Nio was usurped by Meta in number six. Gamestop also bumped off Alibaba for the ninth position.
Meme stocks and tech giants
So it's not too surprising to see these companies take out the top US share positions for ASX investors. Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet (Google and YouTube owner) are all household names with products most of us probably use every day.
These US shares are well-known for having delivered massive windfalls to their investors in the past, which many ASX investors probably (and reasonably) assume will continue into the future, given their ongoing dominance.
Gamestop, Nio and Alibaba are more interesting though.
Both Gamestop and Nio have made names for themselves as 'meme stocks'. These shares are subject to huge swings in volatility on a regular basis, and have become popular 'swing trades'.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is one of the largest companies in China, but it has lost more than 75% of its value over the past four years or so. Consequently, some ASX investors may be betting on a big recovery.
But those are the US shares ASX investors have been buying over the past three months. Let's see if it's the same names that pop up next quarter.
