MarketBeat has many tools to help investors find great investments, and 1 of them is the Trending Stocks List. The trending stocks list can be tuned to different periods but tracks the same data: the net number of new followers for stocks on Marketbeat. That may seem like a simple statistic but don’t be fooled.

The data tracks sentiment among retail investors and is a valuable source of trading information. Retail investors make up a large portion of the market and are influential in the direction of stock prices. When they move into a market, there’s a good chance it will move higher. If the analysts and institutions are also buying, the stock price could move significantly higher. 

The Market Still Has FAANGs, +Microsoft

The top 4 followed stocks for the 1st week of August on MarketBeat are no surprise. The ranking from 1st to 4th is Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Meta (NASDAQ: META), and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), representing half of the FAANG+ market. These stocks are also the most followed over the last 90 days, suggesting momentum in their respective markets.

While the stories vary from name to name, the underlying theme with these stocks is that cloud and consumer-driven businesses are solid and compounded by repositioning and efficiencies that are driving bottom-line results. AI is also a central theme, with infrastructure at the story's core. 

These companies are foundational to the AI revolution; their results will show it. META isn’t the only or even the most obvious example of how AI impacts business, but its 7% boost in engagement driven by AI is a telling sign. The analysts also like them, which is another tailwind for their markets. All but 1 are in the top 10 Most Upgraded Stocks, and the outlier, Apple, is in 11th. 

Tesla Is The 5th Most-Followed Stock On MarketBeat

It’s a little surprising that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is not in the top 5 Most Followed Stocks, but it isn’t surprising to find Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) in that position. Given the analysts ' activity, the company produced a solid beat with its 2Q results and will likely trend higher.

The analysts' consensus target is lagging the price action and weighing on the rally now but trending solidly higher. The most recent activity includes a single downgrade to Neutral. Still, it came with a price target increase that has the market fairly valued at $270 or above the recent action, and many of the newest targets are well above that level.

Regarding the business, the near-term headwind is the margin. Margin contracted YOY but resulted in a jump in sales that could gain momentum. The guidance was a little weak, only as expected, but may also be considered cautious given the jump in sales and the company’s track record of outperformance. 

AMC Entertainment Gets MarketBeat Readers’ Attention

AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC) has caught the eye of MarketBeat readers and sits in the 6th position. The rise in interest is largely due to “Barbenheimer,” which is driving an expectation for outperformance this quarter. The risk here is that neither the analysts nor the institutions are buying, and the short interest is relatively high. 

Interesting Opportunities In Positions 7 Through 10 

The final 4 in this countdown include interesting names like NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), Amazon, NIO (NYSE: NIO), and  AMD (NASDAQ: AMD). NVIDIA and AMD are being driven by AI interest, demand for their highest-performance chips, and the long-term outlook for AI, which is robust.

NVIDIA is the 6th most followed stock and up 1 spot compared to the 90-day data. AMD is also up 1 position to #10, which shows growing momentum for these AI-powered names.

Amazon is down from #7 to #8 but still solidly in the top 10. It’s driven by strength in AWS, core business, and the new CEO’s attention to detail. NIO, like Tesla, is supported by a ramp in production and deliveries; it produced a triple-digit increase for July and is supported by strength in its home market.

Likewise, Tesla reported a triple-digit gain in China for July, and it could have been higher if not for a scheduled shutdown.