How do Europeans invest in stocks? A covid-fueled analysis of 2020

2020 has been a year that the investment community won’t forget in a hurry. The coronavirus pandemic led to the beginning of the 2020 stock market crash (or ‘Coronavirus Crash’) on February 20^th, 2020, where the world witnessed the fastest fall in global stock markets in financial history. During this time, stock markets plummeted around the world and within weeks stocks fell enough to enter a bear market.

But now that recovery is underway, and global stock markets have re-entered a bull market, here at Invezz we were intrigued to find out which stocks Europeans are most interested in investing in. To investigate, we analysed Google searches in each European country to identify which stocks each country is searching for the most and, therefore, would like to begin their investing journey in.

Which stocks do Europeans want to invest in the most?

Our analysis of Google searches can reveal that the most popular companies Europeans want to invest in are Amazon, Apple and Tesla. Of all 31 countries we studied, 30 feature these three businesses among their top 10 most searched for stocks. 

However, it seems Tesla is the most popular among Europeans, as the company was the most searched for stock in 26 countries (84%), compared to Apple and Amazon which featured in the top spot just once (for Cyprus and Italy respectively). Market analysis suggests this is a wise move for many investors, as shares of the electric carmaker soared over 13% after the announcement that the company is expected to join the S&P 500 next month.

Notable mentions:

Tech giant, Microsoft, has been showing impressive resilience over the last three decades and has attracted the attention of many investors around the world. In fact, this company features among the top 10 most searched stocks in 15 European countries (48%). 

The video streaming site, Netflix, also made an appearance among the top 10 in 11 European countries (35%), perhaps following the coronavirus pandemic which saw users increase by a staggering 16 million during lockdown. 

Nvidia also features among the most popular stocks Europeans are looking to invest in (in nine different countries: 29%) – and another wise choice too. The company is part of the ever-growing microchip industry, which is one of the most important sectors of the tech industry at the moment. 

RELATED: The best growth stocks to buy in 2020

The 20 most popular stocks in Europe:

Stock	Countries that feature in their top 10
Amazon	30
Apple	30
Tesla	30
Facebook	27
Advanced Micro Devices	24
Boeing	23
Microsoft	15
Netflix	11
Alibaba	10
NIO	10
Nvidia	9
Activision Blizzard	8
Shell	6
Uber	6
Beyond Meat	5
Google	5
Disney	4
Nokia	3
BMW	2
Swedbank	2

The top stocks per European country

According to our analysis, we can reveal that the top company stocks for each of the 31 European countries studied are as follows:

Country	Top Stock	Average Online Monthly Searches
United Kingdom	Tesla	231,000
Netherlands	Tesla	99,300
Turkey	Tesla	95,900
Sweden	Tesla	89,500
Denmark	Tesla	67,300
Germany	Tesla	43,600
Poland	Tesla	36,700
Norway	Tesla	34,400
Finland	Tesla	30,800
Belgium	Tesla	30,000
Spain	Tesla	22,000
Greece	Tesla	19,500
Portugal	Tesla	18,100
Switzerland	Tesla	17,100
Czech Republic	Tesla	13,500
Bulgaria	Tesla	13,500
France	Tesla	12,000
Romania	Tesla	11,700
Lithuania	Tesla	10,850
Ireland	Tesla	9,600
Hungary	Tesla	9,100
Austria	Tesla	8,050
Slovenia	Tesla	6,050
Slovakia	Tesla	4,050
Latvia	Tesla	3,720
Malta	Tesla	2,350
Italy	Amazon	18,500
Estonia	Swedbank	3,600
Croatia	Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)	3,100
Belarus	EPAM Systems	1,500
Cyprus	Apple	1,050

The top 10 stocks per European country: a full breakdown

Austria

1. Tesla – 8,050
2. Amazon – 5,200
3. Apple – 2,200
4. Microsoft – 1,500
5. AMD – 1,400
6. Google – 1,200
7. Anthem – 1,200
8. Activision Blizzard – 500
9. Facebook – 500
10. Boeing – 450

Belgium

1. Tesla – 30,000
2. Johnson & Johnson – 18,000
3. Boeing – 9,900
4. Beyond Meat – 8,700
5. Facebook – 7,600
6. Apple – 6,900
7. Amazon – 6,500
8. NIO – 6,400
9. Microsoft – 5,300
10. BMW – 5,000

Bulgaria

1. Tesla – 13,500
2. Apple – 3,000
3. Amazon – 1,200
4. AMD – 800
5. Facebook – 700
6. Alibaba – 600
7. Boeing – 500
8. Nvidia – 450
9. Netflix – 400
10. Nokia – 350

Croatia

1. AMD – 3,100
2. Apple – 1,200
3. Facebook – 1,200
4. Tesla – 1,150
5. Amazon – 500
6. Activision Blizzard – 450
7. Nvidia – 450
8. Electronic Arts (EA) – 400
9. Alibaba – 250
10. Google – 200

Cyprus

1. Apple – 1,050
2. Tesla – 1,000
3. AMD – 350
4. Facebook – 260
5. Microsoft – 150
6. Pfizer – 150
7. Activision Blizzard – 150
8. Amazon – 150
9. Gap – 100
10. Alibaba – 100

Czech Republic

1. Tesla – 13,500
2. Apple – 3,700
3. Boeing – 3,200
4. Amazon – 2,600
5. Avast – 2,100
6. AMD – 2,000
7. Activision Blizzard – 700
8. Facebook – 700
9. Google – 600
10. General Electric – 500

Denmark

1. Tesla – 67,300
2. Apple – 14,000
3. Canopy Growth – 13,000
4. Danske Bank – 10,000
5. Boeing – 9,600
6. Teva Pharmaceuticals – 6,600
7. Amazon – 6,350
8. Facebook – 5,850
9. Beyond Meat – 5,700
10. Disney – 5,100

Estonia

1. Swedbank – 3,600
2. Tesla – 3,050
3. AMD – 2,300
4. Apple – 700
5. Boeing – 600
6. Nvidia – 400
7. Facebook – 620
8. Uber – 300
9. Amazon – 300
10. Netflix – 250

Finland

1. Tesla – 30,800
2. Nokia – 17,000
3. Apple – 7,600
4. Sampo Group – 6,700
5. Facebook – 4,300
6. Beyond Meat – 4,200
7. Amazon – 4,100
8. Wärtsilä – 3,600
9. AMD – 3,500
10. Nordea – 3,400

France

1. Tesla – 12,000
2. Apple – 7,100
3. Amazon – 6,300
4. Facebook – 3,200
5. Boeing – 2,500
6. Peugeot – 2,200
7. Alibaba – 2,100
8. JD.com – 1,900
9. Netflix – 1,900
10. Uber – 1,600

Germany

1. Tesla – 43,600
2. Amazon – 25,400
3. Apple – 10,400
4. Netflix – 9,300
5. AMD – 8,100
6. Boeing – 6,300
7. Microsoft – 5,300
8. Disney – 5,300
9. Nvidia – 4,600
10. Facebook – 4,400

Greece

1. Tesla – 19,500
2. Apple – 10,000
3. Alphabet – 3,500
4. Boeing – 2,400
5. Adidas – 1,700
6. Nike – 1,500
7. Amazon – 1,400
8. AMD – 1,300
9. Alibaba – 1,000
10. Microsoft – 1,000

Hungary

1. Tesla – 9,100
2. Amazon – 2,350
3. Activision Blizzard – 1,900
4. Netflix – 1,700
5. Apple – 1,450
6. Disney – 1,100
7. Boeing – 1,100
8. Facebook – 1,000
9. AMD – 700
10. Twitter – 450

Ireland

1. Tesla – 9,600
2. Facebook – 4,300
3. Amazon – 3,500
4. Apple – 2,500
5. Boeing – 1,900
6. AMD – 1,600
7. Netflix – 1,500
8. Medtronic – 1,300
9. Google – 1,300
10. Vodafone – 1,200

Italy

1. Amazon – 18,500
2. Microsoft – 11,800
3. AT&T – 9,800
4. Tesla – 9,600
5. Facebook – 8,900
6. Verizon – 8,500
7. UniCredit – 7,800
8. Apple – 7,800
9. Saipem – 5,900
10. Alibaba – 5,400

Latvia

1. Tesla – 3,720
2. Adobe – 600
3. Amazon – 500
4. Apple – 500
5. AMD – 400
6. NIO – 150
7. Facebook – 100
8. Alibaba – 80
9. Nvidia – 70
10. Swedbank – 70

Lithuania

1. Tesla – 10,850
2. Apple – 1,700
3. Amazon – 1,600
4. Facebook – 1,400
5. AMD – 1,100
6. NIO – 800
7. Nvidia – 600
8. Boeing – 600
9. Microsoft – 500
10. Shell – 450

Malta

1. Tesla – 2,350
2. Apple – 800
3. NIO – 400
4. Facebook – 400
5. AMD – 350
6. Alibaba – 350
7. Netflix – 300
8. Amazon – 200
9. Microsoft – 200
10. Boeing – 200

Netherlands

1. Tesla – 99,300
2. Apple – 47,300
3. Amazon – 28,700
4. Shell – 24,300
5. Netflix – 20,000
6. Microsoft – 18,300
7. Boeing – 16,000
8. AMD – 15,000
9. NIO – 12,000
10. Gilead Sciences – 11,000

Norway

1. Tesla – 34,400
2. Apple – 5,100
3. Amazon – 3,900
4. Activision Blizzard – 3,300
5. Nvidia – 2,600
6. Facebook – 2,600
7. Boeing – 2,400
8. Microsoft – 2,100
9. Nikola Corporation – 1,900
10. AMD – 1,700

Poland

1. Tesla – 36,700
2. Apple – 8,600
3. Amazon – 6,900
4. Motorola Solutions – 5,700
5. Nokia – 2,800
6. Boeing – 2,700
7. Facebook – 2,200
8. Activision Blizzard – 1,700
9. Sabre – 1,500
10. Shell – 1,400

Portugal

1. Tesla – 18,100
2. Apple – 2,800
3. Amazon – 2,700
4. NIO – 2,500
5. Microsoft – 1,700
6. Boeing – 1,600
7. Facebook – 1,550
8. AMD – 1,500
9. Bayer – 1,300
10. Shell – 900

Romania

1. Tesla – 11,700
2. Apple – 6,800
3. Amazon – 4,500
4. NIO – 4,300
5. Facebook – 2,600
6. AMD – 1,400
7. Uber – 1,000
8. Boeing – 1,000
9. Google – 800
10. Hertz Global Holdings – 800

Slovakia

1. Tesla – 4,050
2. Apple – 2,550
3. AMD – 1,400
4. NIO – 900
5. Amazon – 890
6. Shell – 600
7. Boeing – 450
8. Wirecard – 400
9. Microsoft – 350
10. Facebook – 300

Slovenia

1. Tesla – 6,050
2. Apple – 1,600
3. Alibaba – 1,500
4. AMD – 800
5. Shell – 800
6. Amazon – 680
7. Facebook – 530
8. BMW – 450
9. Deutsche Bank – 300
10. Novartis – 300

Spain

1. Tesla – 22,000
2. Amazon – 21,200
3. Apple – 14,600
4. AMD – 11,000
5. Facebook – 9,400
6. Boeing – 4,800
7. Netflix – 4,700
8. NIO – 4,000
9. Alibaba – 4,000
10. Umanis NR – 3,300

Sweden

1. Tesla – 89,500
2. AMD – 37,000
3. Netflix – 15,000
4. Amazon – 11,500
5. Apple – 8,500
6. Activision Blizzard – 6,300
7. Nvidia – 6,100
8. Boeing – 5,800
9. Microsoft – 4,100
10. Spotify – 3,600

Switzerland

1. Tesla – 7,100
2. Amazon – 9,800
3. Apple – 7,150
4. Boeing – 4,100
5. UBS – 3,300
6. Facebook – 3,000
7. Uber – 2,000
8. Intel – 1,700
9. Beyond Meat – 1,600

Turkey

1. Tesla – 95,900
2. AMD – 8,800
3. Boeing – 8,400
4. Amazon – 4,400
5. Apple – 3,700
6. Nvidia – 3,400
7. Uber – 2,400
8. Facebook – 1,500
9. Microsoft – 1,450
10. NIO – 700

United Kingdom

1. Tesla – 231,000
2. Amazon – 74,800
3. Apple – 58,100
4. Facebook – 38,700
5. AMD – 32,900
6. Netflix – 21,900
7. Microsoft – 20,300
8. Beyond Meat – 18,200
9. Disney – 14,000
10. Uber – 13,800

Disclaimer: The value of investments can fall as well as rise, so you could get back less than you invest, especially over the short term. Please bear this in mind before investing. 

Methodology: 

1. Interested in company stock, Invezz.com utilised online analytics tool Ahrefs to discover the average monthly online search volumes for various company stocks in different European countries.
2. To achieve this, the search term ‘stock’ was inserted into their database and set at a selected country to identify the top company stocks that people in that country are most searching for online/most want to invest in. Other variations were also considered such as ‘stock price’ and ‘company stock’, but ‘stock’ was the primary focus for results as it provides the clearest search term that people will use. 
3. Once the top ten company stocks were identified for each European country they were further analysed as people have different search intent when they search for them online (i.e. using abbreviations etc.), so theses variations in the way they search certain company stocks was also considered and results for these variations were added together i.e. when people search for Tesla stock online they use different typing variations such as ‘Tesla stock’, ‘Tesla stock price’ and ‘Tsla stock’. 
4. Once all the variations were carefully identified for the different company stocks in the top ten for each country, the results were adjusted from highest to lowest. 
5. To get an overall view of which company stock people most want to invest in for each European country – the top result for each country was taken. 
6. Data for the following European countries was not available: Luxembourg, Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova, Andorra, Armenia, Iceland and San Marino. 
7. All online search volumes in the research are average online monthly search volumes. 
8. Data collected on Friday 20^th November 2020 and is correct at the time of analysis.