UAE Retail Investors Pivot to AI, Shifting Away from Big Tech

Retail investors in the UAE are increasingly rallying behind artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, while interest in Big Tech and pharmaceutical stocks wanes, according to the latest quarterly data from trading and investing platform eToro.

The data reveals significant changes in the proportion of holders of various stocks on eToro's platform. NVIDIA, a leader in the AI market, surged to become the second-most popular stock among UAE investors, trailing only Tesla.

NVIDIA's rise is notable, having moved up from the fifth position at the end of the first quarter and ninth three months earlier. This surge is partly driven by a 37% increase in its share price over the latest quarter.

Other AI and semiconductor companies also saw substantial growth in investor interest. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) experienced a 29% increase in users, while Intel, which recently launched new AI chips to compete with NVIDIA and AMD, saw a 21% rise. Additionally, Palantir Technologies and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company grew by 16%, making their way into the top 10 most held stocks.

Conversely, global technology giants like Snapchat, Adobe, Netflix, and Apple witnessed a decline in investor interest. Snapchat saw an 11% drop, Adobe 16%, Netflix 5%, and Apple 5%, coinciding with reports of workforce reductions across the sector.

Pharmaceutical stocks also faced a downturn as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lessened. Moderna experienced a 9% decrease, Jaguar Health 6%, and Pfizer 5%.

"The enthusiasm for AI giants underscores a collective investor belief in the transformative potential of artificial intelligence technologies," said George Naddaf, Regional Manager for GCC and MENA at eToro. "Investors are now favoring the promising advancements and higher growth potential within the AI sector over the established yet increasingly volatile traditional tech landscape."

Naddaf further explained that with the pandemic's immediate impact fading and global travel resuming robustly, as evidenced by Dubai Airport's resurgence as one of the busiest airports worldwide, investors are shifting their focus away from pandemic-driven pharma gains towards sectors poised for substantial post-pandemic growth.

This evolving investor sentiment highlights a broader trend of prioritizing future-oriented, high-growth sectors over established, but currently less dynamic, industries.

Table 1 shows stocks most widely held by eToro users in the UAE and their position last
quarter

Table 2 shows which stocks have seen the biggest proportional increase and decrease
in holders quarter on quarter