Top 10 Most Active Stocks Of 2022

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Key takeaways

Tesla had a profitable year, but its stock price was hurt by CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter.
Metastock has fallen sharply as revenues have fallen and spending on the development of the metaverse has increased.
Disney experienced turmoil with its CEO in November, and the entertainment giant is trying to maximize the value of its streaming service.

It’s always good to look back at the most actively traded stocks as the year comes to a close. These are not stocks that popped up one day on a buyout or fell on a big earnings miss. These are the stocks that topped the most actively traded lists on most days. Here’s a rundown of the top names, what happened to them in 2022, and their outlook as we head into 2023.

Tesla

Tesla’s stock has had a wild ride in 2022, with swings up and down. It is currently almost 50% off YTD. By comparison, the Nasdaq fell 29% in the same period. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seen as the source of the stock price swings, as he sold a large portion of his Tesla stock to help pay for the purchase of Twitter.

As a company, Tesla had a profitable year in sales, delivering more than 900,000 vehicles to customers worldwide during the first three quarters, but it has plans to reduce production in 2023. Tesla delivered its first set of semi-trucks to Pepsi in the first week of December 2022, helping to boost the stock.

The outlook for Tesla in 2023 is mixed, but the company isn’t going anywhere. Its stock may take some time to settle into a predictable price range, but Tesla has the potential to be a reliable performer going forward.

appeal

Apple has seen its share of challenges in 2022, including supply and labor issues in China and a rollback of additional iPhone 14 production plans. However, Apple’s 20% loss in share price has more to do with the overall sell-off of tech stocks than internal problems with the tech giant. The company has done well in terms of maintaining a large cash balance, continued demand for its iPhone and iMacs, and increasing its service revenue.

Apple’s response to its production issues in China was to move production of the iPhone to other countries. This diversification will help the company overcome supply chain disruptions in the future.

The company is also investing heavily in augmented and virtual reality technologies, but it remains to be seen whether Apple can turn a niche product into an industry-dominant one, as it has in other areas of technology. Ultimately, Apple can easily weather a product flop, as its core products are always in demand, and its inventory is generally considered good to hold for the long term.

Microsoft

Microsoft has seen its stock price take a hit in 2022, with values ranging between $344 per share at the high end and $213 at the low end. It has lost 28% in value year to date, but its decline has more to do with a widespread tech sell-off than performance issues. Microsoft’s cloud computing division, Azure, continues to perform well, maintaining its operating system share of 76% of all computers worldwide. It also keeps a large amount of cash on hand.

The company is eyeing significant expansions in 2023 with its acquisition of digital advertising company Xandr, a partnership with Netflix, the expansion of its cloud computing division and the potential merger with Activision. The only dark cloud on Microsoft’s horizon is the Activision merger, as the Federal Trade Commission is suing to block the merger as it stands. Otherwise, Microsoft is shaping up to be a solid performer in 2023 in terms of performance and stock value.

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Nvidia

Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) were in high demand until early 2022. Its stock price has seen a consistent downward trend as demand for its GPUs has waned, with the bursting of the cryptocurrency bubble and inflation eroding consumer affordability to pay eat away high prices for Nvidia’s products. Inventories of Nvidia’s products rise while sales fall.

It’s worth noting that the PC market is cyclical, and it takes time for graphics technology to progress to a point where upgrading a GPU makes sense. Nvidia is used to weathering these cycles and is looking to other areas, such as virtual reality, for expansion. Its share price is currently higher than it was at the end of 2017, proving that the company has good management and is performing well over the long term.

Exxon

Exxon stock began trading at $68 per share in 2022 and reached $103.54 in the first week of December. The stock has mostly moved upwards for the year due to increases in energy prices, which have generated huge profits for the company. He plans to take those profits and spend between $23 billion and $25 billion on capital investments. Exxon also plans to invest $17 billion in lower emissions projects to reduce greenhouse gases, carbon capture and storage and alternative fuels.

The energy generation industry is changing, and Exxon plans to be at the forefront of that change. Its share price is tied to the profitability of fossil fuels for the foreseeable future, but it is using its size and strength to make alternative energies and lower-emission products a profit center. Analysts predict the stock will reach a median of $120 per share in 2023, but changes in commodity prices could affect that outlook. Energy stocks tend to be recession-proof and are suitable for a long-term holding in the stock portfolio, and Exxon fits the profile well.

Netflix

Overall, 2022 was a rough year for Netflix’s share price as viewers spent less time at home, other streaming platforms continued to eat up market share and increased prices drove away users. The troubles for Netflix began when the company reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022 – the first loss of subscribers in a decade. Although this was a relatively small loss, it led investors to believe that Netflix would struggle to maintain a profit.

These and other fears were short-lived, as Netflix introduced ad-supported membership options to the platform in 12 countries. It is also changing its focus from using subscriber count as a measure of growth and switching to revenue per user instead. User revenue provides a more accurate picture of future growth, and Netflix expects to add 4.5 million new users in the fourth quarter of 2022. Netflix shows that it is not willing to go down without a fight and that it agile enough to find ways to increase revenue and keep growing for the long term. As the company continues to mature, so will its stock and long-term value.

Amazon

Amazon’s business units performed well in 2022, but its stock price did not. This is partly due to the weak market in general. As interest rates rise to fight inflation, many investors are fleeing high-growth tech stocks for safer options. Another problem is that Amazon said during its third-quarter conference call that it expects a weak holiday outlook.

For the year, Amazon shares are down nearly 47%, to $90.55 as of this writing. The outlook for 2023 is mixed, with online sales expected to be soft with the threat of a recession looming. The key for Amazon is its web services division, which is still growing, but at a slower pace than it has been. If this division can get back on track and the potential recession is short and mild, this stock could break out by year-end.

Disney

Disney has been on a rollercoaster ride in 2022. Early in the year, investors were still excited about the growth of the company’s streaming service and upcoming movie releases. But by the end of the year, everything changed.

Disney reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed estimates. In addition, the company warned of slower stream growth at the beginning of 2023, which is a problem since this segment is not yet profitable. In a surprise move, CEO Bob Chapek was fired and former Disney CEO Bob Iger returned.

Iger plans to not only turn the streaming service into a cash flow positive, but also to improve the other segments of the company. His tenure this time is expected to last just two years, and he will play a major role in finding his successor.

For the year, Disney stock is down nearly 40%. This could be a stock worth taking a position at this price level as the company improves efficiency heading into 2023.

Alphabet

Alphabet, like Meta, relies heavily on advertising revenue to fund other lines of business until they can become profitable. The problem with this is that in a slower economy, revenue declines due to poor ad spending. This is what happened to Alphabet in 2022.

When the company reported third-quarter results, the decline in advertising revenue shocked investors. Other unwelcome news is that Google Cloud and Other Bets, two other lines of business, also increased their losses.

The stock is now down 35% year-to-date, which isn’t as bad as many other stocks on this list. However, given the poor outlook for the economy heading into 2023, there is no reason to believe that the stock will recover any meaningful amount in the near term.

Bottom line

The most actively traded stocks in 2022 are likely to be highly traded in 2023. Even the underperforming stocks are very likely to end up near the top of the list again in 2023. This is because they are large-cap stocks with proven management teams that have performed well over time. . With a cheap stock price, investors will be open to building positions and hope that the price will recover in the near term.

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