The most popular stocks and funds investors bought in July

Stock markets pushed higher in July, fuelled by progress on tariff negotiations and strong earnings, boosting investor sentiment.

In early July, US president Donald Trump announced a further extension onto the 90-day delay of Washington imposing higher tariffs, that were unveiled on “Liberation Day” on 2 April. This pushed back the date for implementing higher tariffs on a number of trading partners from 9 July to 1 August, a deadline that was later extended to 7 August.

Tariff deals were announced with the likes of Vietnam, Japan and the European Union over the course of the month. However, Trump then announced additional higher levies on India and Brazil at the end of July, shortly before his 1 August deadline.

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Meanwhile, the second-quarter earnings season got into swing in July, with Wall Street banks and major companies globally reporting results. In late July, the “Magnificent 7″ drew much of the market attention, with six of this group of tech giants having reported by the end of the month. While the companies delivered earnings beats, market reaction to the results was mixed, as investor expectations remain high around their performance.

As for economic developments, data released in July showed that inflation in the US and UK had risen, with continued concerns that Trump's tariffs could add further to pricing pressures. And despite repeated calls from Trump to lower interest rates, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady for the fifth meeting in a row at the end of July.

But investors didn't appear too deterred by this mixed backdrop as major markets ticked higher in July, with the US S&P 500 (^GSPC) now up 8.4% year-to-date, while the UK's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) has gained 11.8% so far in 2025.

Despite a number of tariff updates, Dan Lane lead analyst at Robinhood UK, said that this “didn’t stand in the way of a taste for AI, crypto and tech in general in July, with space for fresh blood amid some familiar popular stocks” on the trading platform.

He said that the “rupture in the Magnificent 7 is starting to look more pronounced”.

“Case in point is Nvidia (NVDA) becoming the first public company to reach a $4tn (£2.96tn) market capitalisation in July,” said Lane. “The emergence of DeepSeek unsettled the market early in 2025 but, with the best performers in the Magnificent 7 evidencing clear AI strategies and the relative laggards’ plans still woolly, the taste for AI is back.”

With that in mind, here's which stocks and funds proved most popular with investors in July:

Tesla (TSLA) featured on both the most popular stocks lists of Robinhood UK and Interactive Investor, despite continued weak performance.

The company was the first of the Mag 7 to report in the latest earnings season, getting the group off to a downbeat start, as it slightly missed Wall Street estimates.

Tesla (TSLA) posted second-quarter revenue of $22.5bn (£16.6bn) compared with $22.64bn expected by Bloomberg consensus. This is a 12% drop compared with the $25.05bn reported a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $0.40 compared with expectations of $0.42, while operating income of $923m was also lower than the expected $1.23bn.

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“We continue to expand our vehicle offering, including first builds of a more affordable model in June, with volume production planned for the second half of 2025,” the company said in a statement. Tesla (TSLA) also said its purpose-built robotaxi was still scheduled for volume production starting in 2026.

In an earnings call, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said the company could experience “a few rough quarters”, when asked about the expiration of EV tax credits, with the Trump administration set to cut these incentives.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said Tesla (TSLA) shares have had a “rocky ride”, as they are down 16% year-to-date.

“Nonetheless, some remain convinced by the company’s recovery and longer-term potential,” he said.

As Tesla shares have continued to come under pressure, chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) has notched fresh highs, highlighting that divergence in performance among the Mag 7.

While Nvidia (NVDA) hasn't yet reported its latest quarterly earnings, investor enthusiasm for the artificial intelligence (AI) propelled shares higher last month, seeing it become the first company to hit a $4tn market capitalisation.

News that the US government u-turned on its curbs of sales of the company's AI chips to China offered a further boost to the stock last month, with shares now up nearly 36% year-to-date. However, it was reported on Monday that Nvidia (NVDA) and fellow chipmaker AMD (AMD) had agreed to give the US government 15% of their revenues from chip sales in China.

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This deal is likely to be in focus for investors going into Nvidia's (NVDA) second-quarter earnings, which are due to be released on 27 August.

Commenting on the news of the chipmakers' deal with the US government, Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Nvidia’s (NVDA) Q1 revenue took at $2.5bn hit due to restrictions on H20 sales to China, but it clearly believes the 15% contribution is well worth it, to keep access to the vast and fast developing market. The unusual arrangement is another example of a mega tech company acquiescing to the US administration’s demands, to gain an upper hand as trade relations are redrawn.”

For the second quarter, Nvidia (NVDA) had previously guided to revenue of $45bn, plus or minus 2%.

London-listed minerals exploration company Metals One (MET1.L) emerged as the most-bought stock on Interactive Investor's July list, with shares up nearly 63% year-to-date.

Interactive Investor's Hunt said: “Somewhere towards the top of the risk spectrum are small exploration companies and one in particular has caught the eye of the most determined II customers”

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The company currently has a market cap of £34.63m and a share price of 7.08p, at the time of writing.

“Unknown in February when the shares traded at 2.4p, feverish speculation in May around a potential acquisition in Norway which would give the company access to gold, copper and nickel deposits, was followed by unsubstantiated claims from outside the company of a massive uranium find,” said Hunter.

Defence has remained a popular theme with investors, with FTSE 100-listed (^FTSE) Rolls-Royce (RR.L) appearing once more on Interactive Investor's most bought list.

Shares are up 91% year-to-date, lifting the company to a market cap of $90.8bn, though Hunter said this “has not been enough to deter followers of the stock because of valuation concerns”.

The stock is now up 1069% on a five-year basis, with the most recent jump coming on the back of the company's half-year results, released in late July.

Read more: Defence companies post strong results as UK investors back the sector over AI

The aero-engineer reported an underlying operating profit of £1.76bn in the first half of the year, versus £1.15bn a year ago. Underlying revenue of £9.06bn was also up on the £8.18bn Rolls-Royce (RR.L) reported in the first half of last year.

Hunter said that Rolls-Royce (RR.L) reported “strong progress across each of its divisions. With flying hours on the increase and with no signs of defence spending wavering, the story may yet have further to run”.

Combining both the themes of defence and AI is data software company Palantir (PLTR), which was among the top-traded stocks on the Robinhood UK platform in July.

Robinhood UK's Lane said that Palantir (PLTR) “rallied to new all-time highs in July, with a $100m government contract making the headlines, along with news of a new product in the works, designed to plan, build and review applications on the Palantir platform”.

Shares are up 141% year-to-date, with the stock having risen on the back of its second-quarter earnings, released in early August.

Palantir (PLTR) posted earnings per share of $0.16 for the quarter, beating consensus estimates of $0.14 and up 77% from the same period last year. Revenue came in at $1.004bn, Palantir's first quarter surpassing the billion-dollar mark on a quarterly basis. The company's top line also beat analyst forecasts for $939.25bn and was up 48% year-over-year.

As buoyant sentiment drove markets higher last month, investors continued to put money into US and global passive funds in June, giving them exposure to some of the world's biggest companies, such as the “Magnificent 7” tech behemoths.

Sam Benstead, fixed income lead at Interactive Investor, said: “Looking at passives, low-cost, global funds were popular in July’s top 10, including Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index and HSBC FTSE All-World Index. It’s always sensible to take a quick look at the country allocation in the fund factsheet before investing, so that you can get the right fit for your portfolio. For example, some global funds invest in developing markets and some don’t.”

The active fund that appeared in both Interactive Investor and Hargreaves Lansdown's top 10 lists was Artemis Global Income (0P0000W36K.L).

According to a fund update, published at the end of last month, the fund rose 11.7% in the second quarter, compared with gains of 5.0% from its MSCI AC World benchmark and 2.8% from its IA Global Equity Income sector average.

The biggest contributor to outperformance was the fund's some 20% exposure to aerospace and defence, which includes holdings in Germany's Rheinmetall (RHM.DE) and BAE Systems (BA.L).

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