Top trades by New Zealand Sharesight users in 2024

Welcome to the 2024 edition of our New Zealand trading snapshot, where we dive into this year’s top trades by Sharesight users. Below we will look at the top trades overall, plus the top trades in individual stocks, which allows us to observe the broader investment trends by New Zealand Sharesight users, while also giving us an opportunity to zoom into the most popular stocks and the market-moving news behind them.

Top trades by New Zealand investors in 2024

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In 2024, the top trades were led primarily by buy trades in the Smartshares US 500 ETF (NZX: USF), followed by NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA). It was a strong year for ETF trading overall, with 7 of the top 20 trades belonging to ETFs. It should be noted that the majority of trades overall were buy trades, which is typical of an ETF-heavy snapshot. There were no stocks with a higher proportion of sell trades than buy trades, however the stocks with the highest proportion of sell trades all belonged to the tech sector, which had a strong year in 2024 due to the hype around AI.

Most-traded stocks by New Zealand investors in 2024

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NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)

• January: NVIDIA share price hits record high
• February: Market cap has gained US $1.5 trillion, surpassing FAANG stocks
• March: NVIDIA leads the ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks in 2024
• April: Shares plummet 10% as tech stocks fall out of favour with investors
• May: Share price rally exceeds US$460 billion following earnings report
• July: NVIDIA among tech companies using controversial methods to train their AI models
• August: NVIDIA share price drops despite record sales; investors concerned about slowing rate of growth
• September: NVIDIA surpasses US$3 trillion market cap once again
• October: Briefly surpasses Apple as world’s most valuable company
• November: Share price down despite strong quarterly earnings
• December: NVIDIA shares enter technical correction zone, however analysts remain bullish

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)

• January: Share price drops as Tesla’s Q4 revenue and earnings miss expectations
• February: Tesla shares sink to 9-month low while rivals gain
• March: Tesla shares rise on news that US customers will receive full self-driving software trial
• April: Tesla shares sink on news of YoY sales decline
• May: Musk recruits xAI staff following US$6 billion capital raise
• July: Analysts impressed by Tesla’s latest update to its Full Self-Driving tech
• September: Tesla share price hits 2-month high with Q3 results and robotaxi event soon to come
• October: Shares rise to highest price in 13 months in post-earnings rally
• November: Share price jumps on news that Trump wants to relax self-driving laws
• December: Musk becomes first person to reach US$400 billion net worth

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)

• January: Apple shares plummet following broker downgrades linked to iPhone sales concerns
• February: Apple cancels electric car project after a decade of investment; share price rises
• March: Share price has declined over 11% in 2024
• May: Apple reports weakening global demand, iPhone sales slump
• July: Share price hits new high ahead of Apple Intelligence release for iPhones; analysts predict US$5 trillion valuation
• August: Apple announces new CFO Kevan Parekh
• October: Apple barred from selling iPhone 16 in Indonesia
• November: Apple offers to increase Indonesian investment by tenfold if iPhone ban is lifted
• December: Apple Intelligence fails to drive iPhone sales

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)

• January: Microsoft cuts 1,900 employees and hits US$3 trillion market cap
• February: Microsoft invests US$16 million in Mistral AI
• March: Appoints DeepMind co-founder as CEO of new AI unit
• April: Makes US$1.5 billion investment in UAE-based AI firm
• July: Microsoft share price drops following latest earnings report; investors concerned about slow cloud business growth
• September: Microsoft to invest US$1.3 billion in cloud and AI tech in Mexico
• October: CEO gets 63% pay increase despite allegedly requesting a reduction
• November: CEO says company needs an ‘overhaul’ following recent security issues
• December: Microsoft shareholders vote against company’s plan to invest in Bitcoin

Infratil (NZX: IFT)

• January: Analyst names Infratil as “stock to watch” in 2024
• April: Infratil and NZ Super put RetireAustralia back up for auction
• May: Infratil exceeds expectations in latest earnings report
• July: Infratil raises NZ$275 million in oversubscribed offer to retail investors
• November: Cancels US$160 million Console Connect acquisition

Air New Zealand (NZX: AIR)

• January: Launches major flight sale confirming industry predictions of lower airfares for 2024
• February: Air NZ blames post-COVID inflation, supply chain issues and engine problems for profit decline
• March: Air NZ launches global search for sustainable aviation fuel
• April: Air NZ revises earnings estimates downward as market challenges mount
• May: Expected to gain ACCC approval for codeshare with Virgin Australia
• August: Annual profit plummets by 61%
• September: Air NZ was failing to hit climate goals just two years into now-scrapped 2030 climate target
• November: Air NZ potentially expanding flight coverage throughout Asia

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN)

• January: Analysts across the board name Amazon as one of their top stock picks of 2024
• February: Amazon profit jumps amid strong trading season and cloud computing growth
• March: Amazon completes US$4 billion investment in AI startup Anthropic
• April: Share price reaches record high; valuation on the cusp of US$2 trillion
• May: Amazon sales rise on boost from AI and advertising
• July: Amazon share price on watch ahead of Q2 earnings; analysts expect gains from eCommerce and cloud business
• August: Amazon downgraded by Wall St analysts after falling short of market expectations in Q2 results
• September: Share price declines as investors concerned over US hiring data
• October: Is Amazon spending too much on AI?
• December: Analysts name Amazon as top pick for 2025

Spark NZ (NZX: SPK)

• March: Spark misses expectations on first-half earnings
• April: Spark invests NZ$15 million into digital infrastructure in Waikato
• May: Downgrades earnings guidance due to challenging market conditions
• August: Spark reports 72% drop in full year net profit; revenue down 14%
• October: Cuts earnings guidance due to weak economy
• November: Appoints new chief financial officer
• December: Spark to sell stake in Connexa for NZ$314 million

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FURTHER READING

• Subscribe to Sharesight20 trading snapshots
• Top trades by New Zealand Sharesight users — November 2024
• Sharesight users' top 20 trades on the NZX for 2023