#retail-investor-sentiment

#retail-investor-sentiment

Shares of Amazon ( NASDAQ:AMZN) are up 0.5% this week, but retail investor sentiment tells a darker story. The company's social sentiment score dropped to negative 0.15 on Reddit and X over the past week, a sharp reversal from its neutral-bullish 0.12 average over the prior quarter. Among select tech peers, Amazon stands alone in sustained bearish sentiment while companies like NVIDIA ( NASDAQ:NVDA), Alphabet ( NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta Platforms ( NASDAQ:META), and Apple ( NASDAQ:AAPL) enjoy bullish or neutral enthusiasm from the retail crowd.

Shares of Altimmune (NASDAQ:ALT) surged 35.4% over the past week, coinciding with a dramatic shift in retail investor sentiment on Reddit. The clinical-stage biotech develops treatments for metabolic diseases and became one of the highest-rated stocks in social sentiment tracking after the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for its lead drug pemvidutide on January 16. Mentions of Altimmune on Reddit increased sharply, with users sharing high-conviction positions.

The enthusiasm comes as Micron delivered remarkable Q1 FY2026 results, with revenue climbing 56.7% year-over-year to $13.64 billion and net income soaring 175.4% to $5.24 billion. The company's 38.4% net profit margin is stunning. Operating cashflow reached $8.41 billion in the quarter. Attention intensified following comments from Nvidia's CEO about AI storage demand, which sent memory chip stocks surging across the board.

Shares of Carvana ( NYSE:CVNA) trade near $460 today, and amazing rally from just $309 a share on November 21st. Despite the run, retail investors across Reddit and X aren't convinced. It's not just Carvana either, retail investors seem uniformly very bearish of the space. CarGurus ( NASDAQ:CARG) and Cars.com ( NYSE:CARS) face identical bearish sentiment scores of 8 to 12 out of 100. Those are among the lowest scores we currently track on 24/7 Wall St and are specific to this subsector.

Shares of Aurora Innovation ( NASDAQ:AUR) are trading around $5.21 as retail investor sentiment deteriorates sharply. Reddit discussions show sentiment plunging to 31.75 over the past week, firmly in bearish territory, down from a neutral 53.55 over the quarter. The shift coincides with growing skepticism about Aurora's path to profitability despite operational milestones like surpassing 100,000 driverless miles and launching a 600-mile Fort Worth to El Paso route.

Shares of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust ( NYSE: SPY) fell 0.8% on Monday, coinciding with a sharp deterioration in retail investor sentiment. SPY's social sentiment score dropped to 35 out of 100 earlier today, down from a neutral 57.3 just last week. That's a 39% collapse in sentiment in under seven days. Discussions on Reddit show growing pessimism about equity valuations, debt concerns, and a rotation into defensive assets like gold. Meanwhile, speculative options activity remains elevated, a classic warning sign before corrections.

But if look beneath the surface retail investors on Reddit, X, and other forums are keeping their bullish tone. At least as of today, they're viewing the dip as a buying opportunity. While these groups can get a fever and momentum all their own the fundamental belief that nuclear energy is the comeback kid of 2025 and beyond seems valid.