The Magnificent Seven stocks feature prominently in the top 10 most bought US shares among Aussie investors using the Stake online trading platform in 2024.
Unsurprisingly, market darling NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) was the favourite US stock.
Stake market analyst Samy Sriram said Australian investors showed strong enthusiasm for US shares in 2024, commenting:
In similar fashion to 2023, we saw Australian investors continuing to gain exposure to individual US tech stocks via Stake Wall Street.
But even on Stake Aus, iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) was the most popular equity, and in fact, three of the top five most popular equities on Stake Aus were ETFs with high US exposure — with Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ) and Vanguard Msci Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) also making the cut.
Stake's list of the top 10 most bought US shares is based on overall trading volumes from 1 January to 23 December 2024.
Sriram provides her analysis of the year for each of the most popular US shares below.
Top 10 US shares that Aussie investors loved in 2024
The most bought US shares ranked in order of popularity are listed below.
Interestingly, only six of the Magnificent Seven stocks are included in the top 10. Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) is conspicuously absent.
NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA)
NVIDIA shares rose by 171.18% in 2024 and closed out the year at US$134.29 per share.
This US tech share is incredibly popular among investors seeking exposure to the rising megatrend of artificial intelligence (AI).
A lot happened with NVIDIA in 2024. The company doubled its earnings and briefly surpassed Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) to become the most valuable company in the world.
NVIDIA also conducted a 10-for-1 stock split in May.
Sriram said:
Nvidia trades like the undisputed proxy for the AI market as the world's biggest tech firms including Amazon and Microsoft ramp up spending on the sector.
The firm's annual EPS in 2024 was US$1.19, a 585.63% YoY increase, after consistently beating earnings expectations each quarter.
Demand for its next-gen Blackwell GPUs appears to be spurring optimism for a strong 2025.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Stock in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla rose by 62.52% to close out the year at US$403.84 per share.
It was a tumultuous ride for the US consumer discretionary share in 2024, as Sriram summarises:
Tesla didn't have the best start to the year — three months in, it was the S&P's worst performer, down by nearly 32%. But the comeback was greater than the setback.
After a Q3 earnings beat, Tesla shares had their best day since 2013 and effectively erased the loss for the year.
CEO Elon Musk has also projected a 20% to 30% vehicle growth next year.
Investors will be looking for the company's "Year of Product Launches" to drive stock growth that matches its impressive 70% year-to-date share price increase in 2024.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Apple shares rose by 30.07% in 2024 and closed out the year at US$250.42 per share.
Sriram said:
Investor sentiment in Australia was likely impacted by Apple's newest iPhones experiencing 44% more demand than its 2023 models in China, along with renewed optimism surrounding Apple Intelligence.
However, Apple's sustained success depends on whether next year's iPhone 17 launch can drive a 20 million unit increase in iPhone sales, as some analysts anticipate.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN)
Stock in online retailing giant Amazon rose by 44.39% to close out the year at US$219.39 apiece.
Sriram said:
Shares hit an all-time high after Amazon's annual cloud conference, where the firm said its Trainium2 chips would hit the market.
With 30%-40% better price performance over the current generation of GPU-based instances, it's an offering that could take on Nvidia.
GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME)
GameStop shares rose by 78.78% in 2024 and finished the year at US$31.34 apiece.
Sriram said Gamestop traders have stuck around for longer than most people expected, commenting:
May 2024 saw the return of Keith Gill aka 'Roaring Kitty' — a key figure behind the retail trader-led short squeeze of early 2021.
GME shares rallied nearly 70% on the day Gill simply posted a cryptic image on his long-dormant X account. The rally resulted in a US$1.2b loss for short sellers, and helped Gamestop raise over US$2b from a share sale later that month — which added to its chunky cash pile of US$4.2b.
Interest earned on that cash helped somewhat offset the company's operating losses, but overall, the firm still reported an 18.7% YoY decrease in gross profit to $248.8m last quarter.
Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: PLTR)
Stock in data analytics and integration software provider Palantir Technologies rose by 340.48% in 2024 to US$75.63 apiece.
Sriram said this US tech share had "seemingly risen from the dead in 2024", with the company posting steady quarterly revenue growth and scoring significant share price gains.
"In Q2, Palantir closed 96 deals of at least US$1 million, with 27 of them being for over US$10 million," she said.
Palantir transferred its stock from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to the NASDAQ in November.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (NASDAQ: AMD)
Advanced Micro Devices shares fell by 18.06% in 2024 and finished the year at US$120.79 per share.
Sriram said Advanced Micro Devices, a smaller rival to NVIDIA, delivered positive financial results in 2024, driven by robust AI demand.
She added:
AMD beat earnings estimates in the last three quarters and reported a gross margin of 50% on its US$6.8 billion in Q3 revenue. Revenue from its data centre business soared 122% YoY to US$3.5 billion.
However, its product announcements have frequently failed to inspire investor confidence, often leading to negative price movements.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Microsoft shares rose by 12.09% in 2024 and wrapped up the year at US$421.50 apiece.
Sriram said Microsoft had its ups and downs in 2024:
Microsoft began reaping the rewards of generative AI in 2023, but its performance this year has been more mixed. Its US$15b investment in ChatGPT creator OpenAI gave the firm an early edge in the AI race, but its big tech peers have now caught up.
The firm still reported a 16% YoY increase in revenue of US$65.59b in the latest quarter and 33% growth in its cloud unit, Azure. But future revenue guidance wasn't inspiring enough for investors, and the share price suffered its worst day in two years after posting earnings in October.
MicroStrategy Inc (NASDAQ: MSTR)
Stock in the software solutions company MicroStrategy rose by 358.55% in 2024 to finish the year at US$289.62.
MicroStrategy has a subsidiary called MacroStrategy to leverage its bitcoin holdings for financing purposes without directly impacting the parent company's balance sheet.
Sriram says the company is the cryptocurrency's largest corporate holder with more than US$30 billion invested.
Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
Alphabet stock rose by 35.51% in 2024 and finished the year at US$189.30.
Sriram said Google's parent company was "an AI winner" last year.
She comments:
The 36% YoY growth in Google Cloud revenue to US$11.35b was a celebrated metric in the company's latest quarterly report, while advertising revenue also rose 10% to US$65.9b, leading to a 38% return for investors in 2024.
However, the company still faces the threat of a proposed breakup (which the DOJ is pushing for) and the potential fallout from that conclusion company-wide.
Despite the uncertainty, Alphabet's share price trajectory suggests that investors aren't too concerned about these antitrust regulations — at least, not yet.
Read about the 2025 outlook for US equities here: US shares: Is their phenomenal run done?
