Millennial investors keep going. And Nvidia isn’t the only winner in the S&P 500 stocks.
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Ten of the 100 Most Popular Stocks with Millennials—Including the Rocket-Powered S&P 500 nvidia (NVDA) Plus Marathon Digital Holdings (Mara) And C3. ai (Amnesty International) – has doubled or greatly increased in value this year, according to Investor Business Daily analysis of data from Apex Fintech Solutions, S&P Global Market Intelligence, and MarketSmith.
That makes these standout picks for millennials — even in what is shaping up to be a great year for the S&P 500. The S&P 500 itself is up 17% this year.
Despite this, millennials have found ways to get ahead of the S&P 500 more. “A better understanding of the changing needs and behaviors of retail investors will continue to be critical for advisors and fintech firms,” said Connor Coughlin, commercial director of fintech at Apex Fintech Solutions.
Millennial investors now range in age from 28 to 42. This analysis looks at their top holdings across millions of online accounts as of June 30.
Millennials’ hot hand is beating the S&P 500
Millennials waste no time picking the S&P 500 and beyond to find the winners. It may be time to pay attention to their movements.
So far this year, the 100 largest stocks most widely owned by millennials are up an average of over 30%. That’s higher than the average S&P 500 stock gain this year of just 8.2%.
And millennials have a pretty good batting average, too. They’re in the green on 70% of the top 100 holdings, versus just 60% of the S&P 500 stocks that are up this year. Millennials are certainly betting big on Nvidia, as are investors from all generations. The AI-driven stock, which is up 190% this year, ranks as the fourth most popular stock among millennials.
But they did find other winners as good as or better than Nvidia.
Two better Millennium stocks than Nvidia
To be exact, two of the top 100 stocks for millennials are beating out Nvidia. That’s the Marathon Digital and AI company playing C3.ai.
Digital Marathon is still one of those mystery plays that just keeps on putting on. The stock is up 324% this year, higher than any of the other major stocks for millennials.
It is one of the defining stocks for young investors. It is the 65th most popular place for millennials. And it’s the 64th most popular with Gen Z, who are even younger than millennials. Stocks don’t even crack the top 100 Baby Boomers.
But Digital Marathon is definitely a speculative game. The company is expected to lose 26 cents per share in 2023 on an adjusted basis. Still, young investors are playing the long game. The company is expected to generate 42 cents in 2024.
Millennials are also scoring points in the AI gold rush. Their popular position (#83) at C3.ai is up nearly 200% this year as investors see great promise in the technology. To be fair, millennials haven’t quite caught up to this entire run. They were not in the top 100 at the end of the first quarter. But millennials added it into play in the second quarter.
Like Marathon, C3.ai is very speculative. I lost money on an adjusted basis in fiscal year 2023 (ending August). It saw another 30 cents a share loss in fiscal 2024.
Millennials may get a bad rap sometimes, but this year they’re showing some skill in finding superior S&P 500 stocks.
Winning stocks for millennials
Among the 100 most owned generation stocks in the second quarter
| a company | Code | to date | section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Marathon | (Mara) | 325.4% | information technology |
| C3. ai | (Amnesty International) | 196.0 | information technology |
| nvidia | (NVDA) | 190.1 | information technology |
| Meta platforms | (meta) | 154.1 | Telecommunications Services |
| Kings | (DKNG) | 143.6 | Consumer Dictionary |
| Grayscale bitcoin box | (GBTC) | 139.6 | Finance |
| Palantir Technologies | (PLTR) | 140.0 | information technology |
| Coinbase Global | (currency) | 135.6 | Finance |
| carnival | (CCL) | 115.4 | Consumer Dictionary |
| Royal Caribbean Cruise | (RCL) | 109.5 | Consumer Dictionary |
