Retail investors in 2025 shifted their focus from major megacaps to companies underpinning the AI revolution, defence sectors, and emerging technologies, responding to policy incentives and structural demand drivers, according to eToro data.
Artificial intelligence infrastructure, European defence and quantum computing emerged as the strongest retail-investor themes in 2025, according to platform data released by eToro, underscoring a shift in small investors’ focus from headline megacaps to companies with clearer revenue pathways.
eToro’s figures show the biggest surge in holders was Nebius Group, an AI data-centre operator, which recorded a 328% rise in retail ownership year-on-year. Oracle climbed into third place with a 228% increase, while Nvidia remained the single most-held stock on the platform, ending the year with 21% more holders; Meta also posted a 19% rise. eToro attributed the pattern to growing retail appetite for firms that support the AI stack beyond chipmakers , particularly data-centre operators and software and services that deliver predictable revenues.
“Investors’ interest in AI was shifting from chipmakers to companies benefiting from the accelerating demand for data centres,” Lale Akoner, Global Market Strategist at eToro, said. She added that defence stocks had gained from “clearer policy direction” and multi-year spending programmes that improved earnings visibility.
The retail rotation mirrors larger industry trends. Gartner forecast that worldwide spending on AI reached nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025 and predicted further acceleration in 2026 as enterprises and hyperscalers continue to pour resources into AI-optimised infrastructure. Industry analysis points to infrastructure as an increasing share of AI budgets, with chips, networking and data-centre investment accounting for a large slice of that spend. Semiconductor manufacturers remain central to the story: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported record 2025 revenues driven by AI and high-performance computing processors, even as its CEO warned against careless investment amid fears of an AI bubble and announced large capital expenditure plans for 2026.
Retail investors’ appetite for defence stocks on eToro was striking. European defence names posted some of the largest percentage increases in holders: Leonardo rose 209%, Thales 167%, Rheinmetall 165% and BAE Systems 141%. eToro linked the interest to the European Union’s proposed €800 billion rearmament plan and a perception among retail buyers that defence is becoming a long-term strategic allocation.
Broader data supports that view. Government and industry figures show European defence spending jumped sharply in the years following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine: EU member-state defence budgets rose by more than 30% between 2021 and 2024, according to the European Defence Agency, and hiring demand in the sector has outpaced the general labour market. Market moves echoed the policy momentum , European defence stocks rallied in 2025, with several major contractors trading at or near multi-year highs as investor interest widened.
Private capital is also flowing into defence tech. Specialist funds in Europe have proliferated, and venture activity has climbed, with NATO and other institutional initiatives mobilising new funding dedicated to security and resilience technologies. Analysts note that while much of the financing remains early-stage, larger US investors are increasingly participating in later rounds, broadening the investor base available to defence-tech scale-ups.
Quantum computing, though still in commercial infancy, registered meaningful retail exposure on eToro as well. Early-stage names such as IonQ and D-Wave Quantum featured among the platform’s top risers, suggesting that retail portfolios are incorporating speculative plays on emerging technologies alongside more established infrastructure bets.
Taken together, the patterns point to a more selective retail approach within broad thematic trends: investors appear to be favouring companies with identifiable revenue models and tangible exposure to structural demand drivers, rather than pursuing a narrow basket of market darlings. eToro characterised the move as retail investors becoming “more selective within major themes, favouring companies with clearer revenue paths and structural demand drivers.”
Market practitioners caution that enthusiasm for infrastructure- and defence-related equities should be tempered by macro and execution risks. Gartner and other industry forecasters note that while AI spending is large and growing, the sector also faces a “Trough of Disillusionment” in parts of the corporate market as implementations struggle to deliver expected returns. Semiconductor executives have signalled both strong near-term demand and the need for prudent capital allocation to avoid overcapacity.
For retail investors, the 2025 flows documented by eToro reflect a broader recalibration: a tilt from headline-grabbing names toward the supporting architecture of the AI era, a reappraisal of defence as an investable sector under clearer public-policy tailwinds, and tentative exposure to nascent technologies such as quantum computing. Industry data and policy developments suggest those structural forces will continue to shape market opportunity and risk into 2026.
- https://www.leaprate.com/forex/brokers/ai-defence-and-quantum-computing-led-retail-investing-trends-in-2025-etoro-says/ – Please view link – unable to able to access data
- https://www.itpro.com/business/business-strategy/ai-investment-increase-2026-gartner – In 2026, global investment in AI is projected to reach $2.5 trillion, a 44% increase from 2025, according to Gartner. This surge occurs even as organisations experience the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’ in Gartner’s hype cycle, marked by failed implementations and lack of ROI. A key insight from MIT research shows that 95% of companies saw no return on generative AI investments in 2025. Despite challenges, companies are heavily investing in AI infrastructure, which is forecasted to receive $1.3 billion — nearly half of 2026’s total AI expenditure — followed by AI services ($588.6 million) and AI software ($452.5 million). The semiconductor industry, vital to AI infrastructure, saw a 21% revenue growth in 2025, reaching $793 billion, driven by demand for AI chips and networking components. Nvidia led the semiconductor market with $125.7 million in revenue and a 15.8% market share, followed by Samsung and SK Hynix. Unlike other top vendors, Intel’s revenue declined by 3.9%. Gartner expects dominance in AI semiconductor spending to grow as infrastructure costs are forecasted to exceed $1.3 trillion in 2026.
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/tsmc-very-nervous-about-ai-bubble-concerns-despite-another-record-setting-quarter-but-assured-of-demand-ceo-says-careless-investment-would-be-a-disaster-for-tsmc-for-sure-company-will-invest-usd52-usd56-billion-in-capex – In 2025, TSMC achieved record-breaking annual revenue of $122.42 billion, with AI and High-Performance Computing (HPC) processors accounting for 58% (about $71 billion), reflecting a 48% year-over-year growth. Despite this success, CEO C.C. Wei expressed concerns about a potential AI bubble and emphasised the importance of cautious investment, as TSMC plans to allocate $52–56 billion in capital expenditure (CapEx) for 2026. This investment will focus on specialty technologies (10%), advanced packaging (10–20%), and expanding advanced logic fabs (70%). TSMC is also accelerating development on its 2nm-class (N2) and future A16 technology in Taiwan while significantly progressing its $165 billion Arizona Fab 21 campus, with phase 2 set to begin tool installations in 2026 and production starting in 2027. TSMC’s view is that while competitors such as Intel Foundry are advancing, they lack the immediate design ecosystem and customer readiness, making them unlikely to impact TSMC’s growth before 2028–2030. With a record Q4 2025 revenue of $33.73 billion and net income of $16.012 billion, TSMC remains optimistic for early 2026, projecting revenue between $34.6–35.8 billion despite seasonal slowdowns. The company’s long-term strategy hinges on demand validation and ecosystem development amid intensifying semiconductor industry competition.
- https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-09-17-gartner-says-worldwide-ai-spending-will-total-1-point-5-trillion-in-2025 – Worldwide spending on AI is forecast to total nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025 according to Gartner, Inc. The forecast assumes continued investment in AI infrastructure expansion, as major hyperscalers continue to increase investments in data centres with AI-optimised hardware and GPUs to scale their services. The AI investment landscape is also expanding beyond traditional U.S. tech giants, including Chinese companies and new AI cloud providers. Furthermore, venture capital investment in AI providers is providing additional tailwinds for AI spending. Looking towards 2026, overall global AI spending is forecast to top $2 trillion, led in large part by AI being integrated into products such as smartphones and PCs, as well as infrastructure.
- https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/06/30/defence-sector-outpaces-overall-job-market-in-europe-amid-rising-security-priorities – EU member states increased their total defence spending by over 30% between 2021 and 2024, rising from €214 billion to an estimated €326 billion, according to the European Defence Agency. Europe’s defence industry is also facing growing labour needs, leading to a rise in job postings. Hiring has increased sharply across Europe’s defence sector compared to the broader job market, according to global hiring platform Indeed. Defence-related job postings have outpaced overall market trends since 2022. France, Germany, and the UK remain the main hubs for defence recruitment. Security has long been a key priority for Europe, but it has taken on greater importance since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. In contrast, interest has grown in France and Germany. In the UK, the defence sector was already relatively large, and policy changes were more incremental, attracting less public attention and likely resulting in smaller shifts in jobseeker perception. In France, defence-related searches reached 0.18% in April 2025, up from 0.08% in 2021. Germany saw the sharpest early increase. The share of searches jumped from 0.026% in January 2022 to 0.084% in March 2022 and has stayed high. Despite these changes, Indeed economists point out that defence remains a niche field. Even in countries with rising interest, defence-related searches still make up a small share of total job searches. Software development and engineering lead in defence hiring. In the UK, software development makes up 14.5% of total job postings by major European defence companies. Its share is 11.9% in France and 10.2% in Germany. In France, industrial engineering ranks highest, accounting for 19% of postings.
- https://www.ig.com/en/news-and-trade-ideas/european-defence-stocks-surge-as-military-spending-expectations–250303 – The European defence sector has experienced a remarkable rally, with the Stoxx Europe aerospace and defence index jumping 7% in a single day. This represents the largest one-day increase for the sector since November 2020, highlighting the significance of recent geopolitical developments. Major companies within the sector have posted significant gains, with German defence contractor Rheinmetall rising an impressive 11.1%. UK-based BAE Systems saw even stronger performance with a 14.3% increase, while Italian defence firm Leonardo jumped 11.3%. These moves build on what has already been a strong year for defence stocks, with many companies in the sector trading at or near all-time highs.
- https://www.resiliencemedia.co/p/european-defence-tech-funding-surges – The investor base for European defence tech has also been expanding, with participation up nearly fourfold since 2019. What was once dominated by a handful of generalists is now a growing field of specialist funds, many of which launched in the past three years — from six in 2023 to ten in 2024 and five more already this year, on top of the eight that existed pre-2022. New dedicated defence funds by launch year in Europe include Dutch VC firm Keen, which recently raised a €125 million ($146 million) defence tech fund. Adding to that momentum, NATO also launched its Innovation Fund in 2023, a €1 billion ($1.2 billion) vehicle dedicated to backing defence, security and resilience technologies across the alliance. These new specialist funds have already participated in over a third of all defence rounds in 2025, nearly double their share last year. Most are focused on early-stage bets, but larger late-stage cheques are increasingly being filled by US investors, who now account for 40–50% of European defence funding.
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The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
8
Notes:
The article was published on January 19, 2026, and references eToro’s data from 2025. A press release from eToro dated January 15, 2026, covers similar themes, suggesting the article is based on this release. ([etoro.com](https://www.etoro.com/news-and-analysis/press-releases/2025-top-stocks-ai-cloud-defence-and-quantum-computing-named-retail-investors-favourite-themes/?utm_source=openai)) The LeapRate article, dated January 19, 2026, also discusses the same trends, indicating the information is recent and original. ([leaprate.com](https://www.leaprate.com/forex/brokers/ai-defence-and-quantum-computing-led-retail-investing-trends-in-2025-etoro-says/?utm_source=openai))
Quotes check
Score:
7
Notes:
The article includes a direct quote from Lale Akoner, Global Market Strategist at eToro. This quote is present in eToro’s press release dated January 15, 2026. ([etoro.com](https://www.etoro.com/news-and-analysis/press-releases/2025-top-stocks-ai-cloud-defence-and-quantum-computing-named-retail-investors-favourite-themes/?utm_source=openai)) The LeapRate article also includes the same quote, suggesting it is sourced from the press release. ([leaprate.com](https://www.leaprate.com/forex/brokers/ai-defence-and-quantum-computing-led-retail-investing-trends-in-2025-etoro-says/?utm_source=openai)) No other sources independently verify this quote, raising concerns about its originality.
Source reliability
Score:
6
Notes:
The article originates from LeapRate, a niche publication focusing on the forex industry. While it provides detailed coverage of eToro’s data, its limited reach and potential biases due to its niche focus may affect the reliability of the information. The article appears to be summarising eToro’s press release, which is a primary source. However, the lack of independent verification from other reputable news outlets raises concerns about the source’s reliability.
Plausability check
Score:
7
Notes:
The article discusses trends in retail investing, highlighting increased interest in AI infrastructure, European defence, and quantum computing. These trends align with broader industry analyses and eToro’s own data. However, the reliance on a single source (eToro’s press release) without independent verification from other reputable outlets raises questions about the accuracy and completeness of the information.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): FAIL
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM
Summary:
The article presents information on retail investing trends based on eToro’s press release and LeapRate’s coverage. However, the lack of independent verification from other reputable news outlets and the reliance on a single source raise concerns about the accuracy and reliability of the information. The presence of a direct quote from Lale Akoner, Global Market Strategist at eToro, which is also found in eToro’s press release, further suggests the article is based on this source. Given these factors, the article does not meet the necessary standards for publication.