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Stocktwits CEO talks 2023's leading investor themes

Josh Lipton and Luke Carberry Mogan

58% of US households owned stock holdings in 2022 — an all-time high — according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances. Stocktwits CEO Rishi Khanna sits down with Yahoo Finance in-studio to discuss the themes driving investor holdings of equities and digital assets, discussing several of the most viewed stocks on the StockTwits website in 2023.

"I do think the foundational catalysts are bringing a lot of people into the markets has been what's happened over the last three, four years due to COVID," Khanna explains. "But now... I think getting exposure to the markets and understanding like following companies whether it is a personal thematic interest... but also people understanding exposure to single-stock names are an opportunity."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video transcript

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- More Americans are investing than ever before. 58% of US households owned stocks in 2022, and that's up from nearly 53% in 2019, pre-COVID. That's according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances. And investors are seeing big gains this year. The S&P 500 up around 23% as we head now into the holidays.

Here to dig into some of the biggest moves in equities this year is Rishi Khanna, CEO of StockTwits. Rishi, it is great to see you.

- Great to see you guys.

- Maybe to start with you, what are your users talking about right now on the platform? What is interesting them? Is it stocks, meme stocks, crypto? What are the top tickers?

- So obviously, the resurrection of crypto has been a big thing over the last few weeks or months. So you're seeing that reflected by the conversation around crypto itself as well as companies like Mara Digital Holdings, Marathon Digital Holdings. But also, thematically, you see big interest in electric vehicles and all the stocks related to that. Obviously, Tesla, the original meme stock, is always a perennial leader, but companies like Mullen Automotive and IO, Fisker, Rivian, et cetera. So thematically, that's an interesting space.

AI, right? You can't get away from 2023 without talking about AI, as much as we might try. And it'll be interesting to see how that goes forward. And then the Magnificent Seven, they are the leaders. If you look at our top five, top 10 lists, the Magnificent Seven are there across activity, interest, gaining new followers and stuff. So really, a breath thematically as well as a reflection of the markets as a whole.

- Yeah, I was really interested in that Fed data that we quoted that said more than half of people now own stocks in the US. I think 21% of them own single stocks or they're direct investing in stocks, which is a record high. I was really struck by that, because those are the people who were then coming on StockTwits or Yahoo Finance and looking up information. What do you think is propelling that interest?

- Yeah, so I do think the foundational catalyst of bringing a lot of people in the markets has been what's happened over the last three, four years due to COVID and stuff. But now, I think getting exposure to the markets and understanding following companies, whether it is a personal thematic interest-- again, you see themes like cannabis, psychedelics, that world, you see themes like EVs and whatnot. But biotech and drugs are another thing.

So I think that personal interest, but also people understanding exposure to single stock names are an opportunity, an opportunity to make money and make gains. Hey, if you were in the Q's--

- Or lose money.

- Or lose money. I mean, it goes both ways. But would you have rather been in SPY or in Nvidia this year? And Nvidia is not a small-cap company. And so the interesting thing that the data shows you-- and I don't know that people surface this, but like media and like music and like Netflix came out with their report, stocks-- since the demise of commissions, commissions and trading, I think stocks in these products move like digital products, essentially. So the distribution is very much a power law. If you look at our data, it is a perfect clean power law graph where you have the Magnificent Seven and the big guys that are up front, but the long tail of interests in names and stocks reflect the variety of interests of regular, everyday investors.