Reddit’s Favorite Stocks Are Off to a Strong Start in 2026

January 7, 3:55 pm

Retail investors are wasting no time in 2026.

While the S&P 500 is up roughly 0.6% year-to-date, the 50 most mentioned stocks on Reddit in December are already up an average of 3.9% - in just the first week of the year.

We analyzed Reddit mention volume, average sentiment, and price performance from January 1 to January 7, 2026, and a clear pattern is emerging: stocks that dominated retail conversations in December are moving first in January.

Most Reddit Stocks Are Green

This rally isn’t driven by just one or two names. Of the 50 most mentioned stocks on Reddit in December, 33 posted positive returns in the first week of 2026, while 17 finished lower.

Just as important, the gains are spread across different parts of the market. The list includes mega-cap technology leaders, growth stocks, and higher-risk retail favorites, indicating that early buying activity is broad rather than concentrated in a single crowded trade.

That kind of breadth matters. When many highly discussed stocks move higher at the same time, it reflects real conviction from retail investors—not just short-lived hype around one ticker. In early 2026, Reddit investors didn’t just talk about these stocks in December—they showed up as buyers as soon as the year began.

The Biggest Winners So Far

A handful of stocks clearly stood out in the first week of 2026:

1) Beyond Meat (BYND)

+26.8% in one week. Despite the stock being extremely volatile in Q4, Reddit sentiment turned meaningfully positive in December. The stock’s sharp move suggests positioning was light, making it highly sensitive to renewed optimism.

2) Ondas Holdings (ONDS)

+24.8%. A smaller-cap name with elevated Reddit sentiment that showed in a lot of 2026 toplist discussions.

3) Rocket Lab (RKLB)

+20.5%. One of the most discussed space stocks on Reddit as the stock had a great last year. I

4) Micron Technology (MU)

+19.0%. A more traditional name, but still heavily discussed. Reddit users pointed out that Micron stands to benefit from rising memory demand as future generations of GPUs become more powerful and data-hungry. And many users highlighted that the stock was cheap with a forward P/E of around 8.

5) AST SpaceMobile (ASTS)

+18.0%. A high-conviction retail favorite with consistently bullish sentiment. ASTS is a good example of sentiment momentum carrying over across months, and space stocks are blazing hot right now.

The Importance of Tracking Sentiment

One of the most interesting takeaways is the relationship between December sentiment and January performance.

• Stocks with higher average Reddit sentiment were more likely to post gains
• Many of the top performers had sentiment scores well above the group average
• Negative-return stocks generally showed weaker or more divided sentiment in December

This doesn’t mean every bullish Reddit stock will go up - but it does suggest that sentiment can act as an important metric to monitor.

Performance of the 50 Most Mentioned Reddit Stocks

Company		Total Mentions	Sentiment Score	Price
	NVIDIA NVDA	13,767	Bullish	$189.11 1.40%
	GameStop GME	13,481	Bullish	$21.29 6.03%
	Tesla TSLA	12,578	Neutral	$431.41 -4.07%
	Google GOOG	11,021	Bullish	$322.43 2.75%
	Amazon AMZN	6,722	Neutral	$241.56 4.65%
	Meta META	6,373	Neutral	$648.69 -1.73%
	Netflix NFLX	6,100	Neutral	$90.73 -3.23%
	Oracle ORCL	4,533	Neutral	$192.84 -1.06%
	Robinhood HOOD	4,527	Neutral	$116.97 3.42%
	Microsoft MSFT	3,241	Neutral	$483.47 -0.03%
	Rocket Lab RKLB	3,226	Bullish	$84.08 20.53%
	Strategy MSTR	3,067	Neutral	$161.83 6.50%
	Apple AAPL	2,859	Bullish	$260.33 -4.24%
	Broadcom AVGO	2,767	Bullish	$343.50 -0.75%
	AST SpaceMobile ASTS	2,767	Bullish	$85.73 18.04%
	Spotify SPOT	2,334	Neutral	$569.62 -1.91%
	Nebius NBIS	2,270	Neutral	$96.21 14.93%
	Palantir PLTR	2,194	Neutral	$181.68 2.21%
	Block XYZ	2,139	Bearish	$71.47 9.80%
	Micron Technology MU	1,992	Neutral	$339.55 18.97%
	AMD AMD	1,927	Bullish	$210.02 -1.93%
	Uber UBER	1,912	Neutral	$86.19 5.48%
	Nasdaq NDAQ	1,782	Neutral	$100.40 3.37%
	Carvana CVNA	1,762	Bearish	$450.78 6.81%
	Nike NKE	1,671	Neutral	$63.22 -0.77%
	Google GOOGL	1,656	Neutral	$321.98 2.87%
	Intel INTC	1,630	Bullish	$42.63 15.53%
	Gap GAP	1,602	Neutral	$26.61 3.95%
	Adobe ADBE	1,590	Neutral	$338.10 -3.40%
	Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B	1,485	Bullish	$496.12 -1.30%
	Wendy's WEN	1,316	Neutral	$8.22 -1.32%
	SoFi SOFI	1,191	Bullish	$27.00 3.13%
	Paramount Global PARA	1,158	Bearish	$11.04 0.00%
	Disney DIS	1,145	Neutral	$112.91 -0.76%
	Coinbase COIN	1,140	Neutral	$245.93 8.75%
	Reddit RDDT	1,086	Neutral	$255.50 11.15%
	Lululemon LULU	1,069	Bullish	$211.72 1.88%
	Walmart WMT	1,011	Bullish	$112.72 1.18%
	Warner Bros. Discovery WBD	999	Neutral	$28.59 -0.80%
	TSMC TSM	982	Bullish	$318.68 4.87%
	Remitly RELY	936	Neutral	$13.62 -1.30%
	Ondas ONDS	877	Bullish	$12.18 24.80%
	Paypal PYPL	867	Neutral	$58.51 0.22%
	Beyond Meat BYND	866	Neutral	$1.04 26.83%
	Iren Limited IREN	850	Neutral	$43.63 15.51%
	PPL Corporation PPL	840	Neutral	$34.44 -1.66%
	CoreWeave CRWV	840	Neutral	$77.18 7.78%
	Costco COST	837	Bullish	$882.58 2.35%
	Novo Nordisk NVO	811	Bullish	$56.57 11.18%
	UnitedHealth UNH	790	Neutral	$341.70 3.51%

What This Means for Investors

Reddit discussions aren’t just noise:

• They highlight where conviction is building
• They surface high-beta names before momentum shows up in price
• They help explain why certain stocks move faster than the broader market

Tracking where sentiment, mentions, and momentum align can offer a real edge and at AltIndex, our members can track real-time Reddit mentions, sentiment trends, and get alerted when stocks are starting to trend.

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