What was Singapore's most searched stocks and brands in 2023?

As an investor, knowing what the public is paying attention to can sometimes help us to determine whether valuations might be overstretched (or undervalued).

Yahoo recently released its Year in Review 2023 report, so in this article I’ll be breaking down which were the top searched stocks and brands and what it might mean from an investor’s perspective.

Top most-searched stocks in Singapore

With the return of overseas travel, it is unsurprising that the top most-searched stock in 2023 among Singaporeans was for Singapore Airlines (SGX: C6L). OCBC Bank (SGX: O39) placed 2nd while DBS Group Holdings (SGX: D05) came in a close third.

Here’s how SIA stock has fared in the past 5 years – flat.

If you had been a master at timing the stock price, buying into the COVID crash and hanging on for 3.5 years before its pre-pandemic recovery, you would likely have walked out of this in the green. But if you owned SIA’s stock from before COVID-19 hit and averaged down after, you may still be very much in the red.

In 4th place was Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), which suggests that most Singaporeans (both young and old) probably have exposure to the stock by now (I personally don’t). Interestingly, in 5th place was global e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA) (5th), which I reckon was due to the initial excitement over its cloud spinoff IPO which was later called off. Many Singaporeans are also still in the red over several Hong Kong stocks due to the prolonged rout in Hong Kong and Chinese equities, and it remains what the future will hold for these markets.

Between 2020 to 2021, many investors were still averaging down on Alibaba as the share price slid…until it became too painful. Since 2022, social media has been flooded with people complaining that they no longer see a recovery on the horizon for Alibaba (nor for other Chinese stocks). Will the share price recover? What will be the ending for those who held on? We’ll have to see in the coming years.

Top most-searched brands in Singapore

The top beauty brands were Dior, which expanded its presence here when it launched its online boutique in Singapore earlier in June. In 2nd place was Sephora, followed by Kiehl’s, Innisfree and then The Body Shop.

What’s notable is that the top 2 beauty brands here are owned by the same company, LVMH (listed in Europe), which caught my attention after its share price fell significantly between July – October this year.

When it comes to technology, Google is still the king and holds the honour of being the most searched tech brand in 2023, especially with its launch of Gemini (AI model) and Bard (a AI chat service). Xiaomi also climbed up this year’s list to clinch 6th place, which might offer some hope to investors who are vested in its shares.

With travel back to pre-pandemic levels and an increase in travel-related searches, netizens in Singapore have been searching for travel options online to inform their trips. The top spot for most searched online travel portals is Trip.com (1st), while Agoda (2nd) and AirAsia (3rd) rounding up the list. Personally, I was rather surprised that Klook did not make it to the top 3.

There are several brands here that can make for great long-term businesses and stocks to earn – albeit at the right valuations.

But will consumer interest give rise to a higher share price next year?

It’s worth noting that this list is only by Yahoo, which does not factor in the search results from other popular platforms like Google, TikTok or Instagram. But this exercise certainly unveiled some interesting names to take note of, and as for its share price performance…well, let’s revisit this again after 2024 plays out.

With love,
Budget Babe