Exclusive: Top 10 Most Searched Tickers On Benzinga Pro In 2022 — Where Do SPY, Tesla, Apple And AMC Rank?

27% profit every 20 days?

This is what Nic Chahine averages with his option buys. Not selling covered calls or spreads… BUYING options. Most traders don’t even have a winning percentage of 27% buying options. He has an 83% win rate. Here’s how he does it.

Each trading day features hundreds of headlines and press releases on Benzinga Pro, a leading source for traders to see the latest news on the overall market and individual tickers all in one convenient location.

Here is a look at the most-searched stocks on Benzinga Pro for 2022, ranked in order. The price and 2022 returns were based on the year-end price before the start of 2023 and did not include dividends.

1. SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (NYSE:SPY)

2022 Return: -20.0%
Market Cap: $356.7 billion assets under management
52-Week Range: $348.11 to $479.98
Year End Price: $382.43
2021 Ranking: 8th

In 2022, the S&P 500 posted its worst annual performance since 2008. As the leading index and indicator for many investors, SPY stock continues to lead on Benzinga Pro and ranked as the top ticker for many of the individual months along with the full year.

2. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)

2022 Return: -69.2%
Market Cap: $389 billion
52-Week Range: $108.24 to $402.67
Year-End Price: $123.18
2021 Ranking: 1st

Electric vehicle giant Tesla ranked as the second most viewed ticker and first among non-ETFs. The Austin, Texas-based company saw shares fall significantly, potentially in response to CEO Elon Musk selling shares and agreeing to buy social media platform Twitter.

3. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)

2022 Return: -28.6%
Market Cap: $2.1 trillion
52-Week Range: $125.87 to $182.94
Year-End Price: $129.93
2021 Ranking: 2nd

Apple ranked as the third most searched ticker and continued to be one of the largest companies in the world.

4. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)

2022 Return: -51.5%
Market Cap: $359.7 billion
52-Week Range: $108.13 to $307.11
Year-End Price: $146.14
2021 Ranking: 12th

Weakening demand hurt NVIDIA in 2022, but the Santa Clara, California-based company is working on diversifying its business outside of its former growth sectors.

5. Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD)

2022 Return: -56.9%
Market Cap: $104.4 billion
52-Week Range: $54.57 to $152.42
Year-End Price: $64.77
2021 Ranking: 10th

Semiconductor stocks were popular in 2022 and AMD moved up five places from the 2021 list.

6. Invesco QQQ ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ)

2022 Return: -33.7%
Market Cap: $145.9 billion assets under management
52-Week Range: $254.25 to $402.28
Year-End Price: $266.28
2021 Ranking: Not in top 20 tickers

The lone newcomer outside of last year’s top twenty tickers was the ETF that tracks the Nasdaq 100. With investors falling out of favor with high-growth names and technology stocks, the ticker was likely popular due to volatility.

7. Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META)

2022 Return: -64.5%
Market Cap: $315.6 billion
52-Week Range: $88.09 to $343.09
Year-End Price: $120.34
2021 Ranking: 13th

One of the largest declines among large cap companies was the move by Meta Platforms, a company investing heavily in the metaverse for future growth, a move that has employees and investors divided.

8. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)

2022 Return: -50.7%
Market Cap: $856.9 billion
52-Week Range: $81.69 to $171.40
Year-End Price: $84.00
2021 Ranking: 11th

Ecommerce giant Amazon saw its shares fall the most in a year since the dot-com bubble era. Calls for founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos to return to his former role could become increasingly more frequent in 2023.

9. AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC)

2022 Return: -75.0%
Market Cap: $2.1 billion
52-Week Range: $3.81 to $21.09
Year-End Price: $4.07
2021 Ranking: 3rd

Popular retail stock AMC fell from being the third most viewed ticker in 2021 to the ninth most viewed ticker in 2022. The stock fell heavily, but investors continue to support the company, its CEO, and a return to movie theaters by consumers.

10. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

2022 Return: -28.4%
Market Cap: $1.8 trillion
52-Week Range: $213.43 to $338.00
Year-End Price: $239.82
2021 Ranking: 15th

Microsoft kicked off the 2022 year by announcing its plans to grow its video game business with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI). The deal has faced regulatory hurdles and is far from over, which could make it one of the top stories in 2023.

Honorable Mention: The following stocks ranked just outside the top ten most searched tickers on Benzinga Pro in 2022. Here is a look at the 11th through 20th most searched tickers in 2022 in order:

Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA)
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)
Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA)
Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN)
Digital World Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ:DWAC)
Nio Inc (NYSE:NIO)
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX)
SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI)
Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:PTON)
Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID)

Benzinga Takeaways: Five of the top 10 tickers from 2021 found themselves back on the top 10 list in 2022. Nine of the top 10 searched tickers in 2022 were among the top 15 searched tickers on Benzinga Pro in 2021. The lone newcomer that came from outside the top 15 was the Invesco QQQ ETF.

Nio falling from fourth to 16th and Lucid falling from fifth place in 2021 to 20th place in 2022 were two of the bigger falls.

Stocks that ranked in the top ten in 2021 but failed to crack the top ten in 2022 were GameStop Inc (NYSE:GME) (6th), Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) (7th) and Ocugen Inc (NASDAQ:OCGN) (9th).

Follow Benzinga to find out which tickers rank as the top ten each month.

27% profit every 20 days?

ENTER TO WIN $500 IN STOCK OR CRYPTO

Enter your email and you'll also get Benzinga's ultimate morning update AND a free $30 gift card and more!