What were the most volatile stocks in 2023?

1. Most volatile stocks on the S&P 500
2. Most volatile stocks Nasdaq
3. Most volatile stocks NYSE
4. Most volatile European stocks

1. Most volatile stocks on the S&P 500

As of October 2023, the mega-cap stocks on the S&P 500 with the highest volatility in 2023 were as follows:

As you can see, there was a split between the two main US exchanges. Let’s take a closer look at the most volatile stocks for day traders and more on the Nasdaq and NYSE. 

2. Most volatile stocks: Nasdaq

1. Tesla (TSLA)

Tesla had been a notoriously volatile stock for some time, and 2023 was no different. The stock entered 2023 on a poor run, falling from close to $400 to just above $100 in 2022. 2023 was better for investors, with TSLA stock hitting a peak of $300 in July – not close to its record high, but still a solid rally from its lows.

Lower-than-expected vehicle deliveries and continued delays to its Cybertruck model – originally slated for release back in 2021 – saw serious retracements for the stock market darling. However, its leading profit margins and position at the top of the growing EV market still make it hugely popular among investors.

In 2023, Tesla was the sixth-biggest company on the Nasdaq 100 and had previously been a member of the $1 trillion club of mega-cap companies.

2. Nvidia (NVDA)

AI was a dominant theme of 2023, and one of the stocks to benefit most from the proliferation of the tech was Nvidia, which underwent a massive rally in 2023.

The stock started the year worth around $140 and hit a peak of $500 in August. In a single gap after its earnings report in May, NVDA shares leapt almost $100 in price. It was the best performer on the S&P 500 for the year, with significant upward volatility.

In its August earnings, NVDA reported record earnings of $13 billion – well above its forecasted results. That represented a revenue rise of 88% on the previous quarter, illustrating how much AI was driving growth.

3. AMD (AMD)

Nvidia wasn't the only chip-maker riding high off AI, though. Its chief rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also had a stellar year. AMD stock rose from around $65 in January to a peak of above $130 in June, thanks in part to investors hunting for a bargain-price Nvidia.

The second half of the year was less kind to AMD investors, though, and it retraced back to around $100. That was thanks in part to poor earnings – unlike Nvidia, the company was unable to post revenue gains.

While AMD struggled to capitalize on AI to the same extent as Nvidia, it announced plans to ramp up growth in the space.

4. Meta Platforms (META)

It was the second-best performer on the S&P 500, behind NVDA.

What was behind the return to form? Growing earnings, early successes for its new Threads platform and excitement about how AI could benefit the business. The business also went on a cost-cutting drive after the pandemic, which started to pay off.

5. Intel (INTC)

Intel was also a strong performer this year, with its 40% growth well in excess of the S&P 500’s 14%. However, the rally was much more volatile than many of its tech rivals, with notable peaks and troughs.

The stock had been on extremely poor form entering into 2023 – losing more than 50% of its value from the beginning of 2021. Indeed, its 2023 highs of $40 were still some way off its peak of $70. And the company’s fundamentals were still poor, with losses in the first quarter.

Intel may have been up in 2023 but compared to other chip makers it was struggling. However, the markets appeared to believe that better times were on the horizon.

6. Netflix (NFLX)

Netflix was another stock that had a 2022 to forget. On top of a wider tech selloff, the streaming provider’s struggles to add subscribers saw its share price tumble in the first half of the year – although bargain hunters then helped drive its price upwards.

In 2023, that upward momentum largely continued, although as with Intel the company remained some way off its record highs. A crackdown on password sharing helped subscriber numbers grow once again, alongside a new ad-supported payment option.

More mixed Q2 earnings have seen the stock retrace somewhat in the second half of the year, but overall it was still a good 2023 for NFLX.

7. Applied Materials (AMAT)

With the S&P 500 up largely due to rallying tech stocks, it isn’t too surprising that many of the most volatile stocks were companies in that sector which have seen gains. AMAT was another example and saw its share price rise in 2023 despite announcing falling revenues and profits in its Q3 earnings in August.

Applied Materials made equipment used in chip-making foundries and faced headwinds due to a slowing memory market. However, it insisted that the long-term picture looked good – and that once again, AI would fuel growth.

8. Amazon (AMZN)

Amazon had long been known as a volatile stock and was yet another company that saw share-price growth in 2023 after suffering in the global tech selloff last year.

This was partly due to AWS arresting its long trend of slowing growth – better-than-expected figures from AMZN’s most profitable division helped its shares gap up in August. Before then, however, it was already up 60% for the year thanks to rebounding e-commerce sales, lowering inflationary pressures and – you guessed it – excitement about AI.

9. Qualcomm (QCOM)

The ninth company on our list of the most volatile stocks on the Nasdaq is another semiconductor manufacturer, this time focusing on the mobile market. Qualcomm, though, was not a strong performer in 2023 – instead, it saw two major rallies but retraced its gains each time.

The issue for QCOM lies in its deep exposure to the smartphone industry, which had been seeing slowing overall sales. Fewer new handsets being sold means lower demand for Qualcomm’s core product, which weighed on earnings.

10. Adobe (ADBE)

Finally on the list we have Adobe, and it was another relative 2023 success story – although once again, thanks to economic uncertainty and lower growth prospects the stock still had yet to return to the record highs it saw in 2021.

That was despite it having hit record-breaking revenue in Q3 off the back of strong demand for its digital content creation software. It also boarded the AI train, launching its own generative AI product called Firefly.

3. Most volatile stocks: NYSE

1. Blackstone (BX)

Alternative investment manager Blackstone was the most volatile stock on the New York Stock Exchange in 2023. Having had assets of over $1 trillion in 2023, it was the biggest alternative investment company in the world.

Hitting that $1 trillion AUM milestone in June helped Blackstone shares rally, but it was undermined slightly by poor earnings in July. The stock remained some distance off its record high but posted strong 40% growth in 2023.

2. ServiceNow (NOW)

ServiceNow was also up around 40% for the year – but didn't see quite the same levels of volatility as BX on the way. It ran a cloud service platform that helped companies manage their IT services.

NOW stock told a familiar story in 2023 – posting 50%+ growth in the first half of the year, then retracing a little in the following months. It also reported strong fundamentals and joined the legion of businesses to announce they were getting into AI. ServiceNow’s leap into generative AI was called Lighthouse in partnership with Nvidia.

3. ConocoPhillips (COP)

US oil and natural gas giant ConocoPhillips saw its remarkable three-year bull run stall in 2023. Its share price hit an all-time high of almost $140 in late 2022, but trades below that at around $120 in October 2023.

EPS slid this year, which suggests that the markets were skeptical about the company’s ability to continue its strong growth. However, COP stock is highly correlated with the price of WTI, which struggled earlier in the year but has grown in recent months.

4. Salesforce (CRM)

A rare tech stock that isn’t listed on the Nasdaq, Salesforce had performed in line with the wider sector, growing over 40% over the course of the year – but still not returning to the highs seen in 2021.

It beat analyst expectations for eight straight quarters and was of course investing in AI. The CRM leader was bullish about the future, too, projecting revenue of $34.7 billion in FY2024 while maintaining its target 30% margin.

5. Oracle (ORCL)

Oracle was the fifth-most volatile stock on the NYSE in 2023. The venerable tech company rallied early in the year, much like its competitors – but poor earnings in September sent the stock crashing. It dropped 13.5% in a single day, its worst since 2002.

The drop wiped $20 billion off founder Larry Ellison’s net worth.

Investors were unimpressed with ORCL’s lowered sales guidance, as well as a miss on analyst revenue estimates.

4. Most volatile European stocks

Over the same period, the top European stocks by volatility were: