Investor enthusiasm for AI‑related stocks has exploded in 2025, making it a watershed year for the sector. Searches for “AI stock” reached multi‑month highs in July and August as investors zeroed in on names such as Nvidia, Arm, Meta Platforms and Alphabet zakitechnology.com. This surge in online queries mirrors a broader boom in AI‑related topics: Finbold’s analysis found that global interest in “AI agents” increased 900 % in the year leading up to March 2025 and peaked during the week of March 9 focusonbusiness.eu. In the United Kingdom, the phrase “Nvidia share price” alone generates about 450 000 monthly searches, placing the AI‑chip leader among the country’s ten most‑searched share prices goodmoneyguide.com.
Investor interest and leading AI stocks
A July 2025 review by technology consultancy Zaki Technology observed that investors “can’t stop Googling AI stocks” zakitechnology.com. Search volumes for the general term “AI stock” climbed to levels not seen in months zakitechnology.com, signalling heightened curiosity about AI investment opportunities. The report linked this surge to a handful of high‑profile companies:
- Nvidia (NVDA) – Searches for Nvidia track its dominance in AI hardware; the company became the first to surpass a US$4 trillion market capitalization in July 2025 zakitechnology.com. This milestone reflects explosive demand for its datacenter‑grade GPUs.
- Arm Holdings (ARM) – Once known primarily for its intellectual‑property licensing model, Arm may soon produce its own AI chips. Rumours of new chip designs spurred a 16 % pop in its share price this year zakitechnology.com.
- Meta Platforms & Alphabet – Big‑tech giants Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google parent Alphabet continue to invest heavily in AI. Both companies’ stocks were up more than 20 % year‑to‑date in July zakitechnology.com, and investors watch their earnings closely for AI‑driven revenue growth.
The rise of AI agents provides another dimension to the trend. According to Finbold, search interest in the term “AI agents” exploded 900 % over the past year, peaking at a Google Trends score of 100 in March 2025 focusonbusiness.eu. The research also shows that this interest is concentrated in East Asia, with China achieving the maximum trend score while Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan lag behind focusonbusiness.eu. Much of the spike can be traced to Manus, a Chinese multi‑purpose AI agent whose launch on 6 March 2025 drew global attention focusonbusiness.eu. The popularity of AI agents underscores investor interest in software that can act autonomously rather than merely responding to prompts.
Search interest appears to have real predictive power. An August 2025 article from Analytics Vidhya notes that AI models can identify patterns linking earnings beats and spikes in online search volume; when a company reports better‑than‑expected results and simultaneously experiences a surge in search activity, its stock tends to rise by at least 4 % in the following 10 trading days analyticsvidhya.com. This finding suggests that monitoring search trends can help investors spot momentum before it shows up in price charts.
Performance of the leading AI stocks
The companies drawing the most search traffic also boast strong fundamentals:
- Nvidia (NVDA) – The Motley Fool observes that Nvidia’s graphics processors have become the “nearly universal” hardware for training and running AI models fool.com. Despite a temporary setback in April when the U.S. government revoked its license to export certain chips to China (costing an estimated US$8 billion in projected revenue fool.com), Nvidia expects renewed approval for the H20 chips and should see growth resume later this year fool.com.
- Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) – As the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, TSMC builds processors for Nvidia and other AI players. It reported 44 % year‑over‑year revenue growth in the second quarter of 2025 and projects a roughly 20 % compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue for the five years starting in 2025fool.com.
- Alphabet (GOOGL/GOOG) – Alphabet’s earnings report showed 14 % revenue growth and 22 % earnings‑per‑share growth fool.com. The company trades at less than 20 × forward earnings, cheaper than the S&P 500 average, partly because investors worry about generative‑AI competition fool.com. Management counters that over 2 billion people have used its AI‑enhanced search summaries and that monetization is on par with traditional search fool.com.
- ASML (ASML) – Dutch lithography specialist ASML holds a technological monopoly on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines, which are essential for producing cutting‑edge chips. Although its near‑term outlook is clouded by trade‑war tariff concerns, the company is expected to post strong growth over the next few years and currently trades at a reasonable 26 × earnings fool.com.
The Good Money Guide’s analysis of UK search queries shows that “Nvidia share price” generates roughly 450 000 monthly searches, placing it among the top ten most‑searched share prices goodmoneyguide.com. Such persistent curiosity underscores how integral Nvidia has become to the AI investment narrative.
Trending AI stocks and search interest (keywords)
| AI stock/topic | Evidence of search interest | Why it’s trending |
|---|---|---|
| Nvidia (NVDA) | Multi‑month surge in searches for “AI stock”; UK queries for “Nvidia share price” ~450 000 per month zakitechnology.com goodmoneyguide.com | Dominant supplier of AI datacenter GPUs; first company to surpass US$4 trillion market cap zakitechnology.com |
| Arm Holdings (ARM) | Included among the names investors are “zeroing in on” zakitechnology.com | Rumours of in‑house AI chip production sparked a 16 % share‑price jump zakitechnology.com |
| Meta Platforms & Alphabet | Searches centre on Big Tech players with over 20 % year‑to‑date gains zakitechnology.com | Both firms are integrating generative AI into their products; Alphabet reported 14 % revenue and 22 % EPS growth fool.com |
| AI agents | Google searches for “AI agents” jumped 900 % year‑on‑year and hit the maximum trend score in March 2025 focusonbusiness.eu | Launch of Manus AI agent captured global attention and highlighted the potential of autonomous software focusonbusiness.eu |
What’s driving the surge and how to respond
Two factors appear to be fueling the surge in AI‑stock searches. First, earnings season often acts as a catalyst: when chipmakers beat expectations and report booming AI‑cloud revenue, investor curiosity spikes zakitechnology.com. Second, ETF and retail inflows into thematic AI and robotics funds are bringing more novices into the space, prompting them to search for individual stocks before investing zakitechnology.com. The Finbold report on AI agents also notes that innovations from China can create abrupt surges in interest focusonbusiness.eu.
Search data should not be viewed in isolation, but it provides useful context. Analysts at Analytics Vidhya point out that when a company beats earnings expectations and experiences a surge in online search interest in the same week, its stock tends to rally at least 4 % over the following ten trading days analyticsvidhya.com. Monitoring search trends can therefore complement traditional financial analysis.
Takeaway
Google Trends data suggest that investors are hungry for information about AI‑related stocks, particularly Nvidia, Arm, Meta, Alphabet and emerging AI‑agent technologies. The huge rise in searches for “AI agents” shows that interest extends beyond hardware into software platforms that can autonomously execute tasks. Companies at the intersection of AI infrastructure (Nvidia, TSMC, ASML) and consumer/enterprise platforms (Alphabet, Meta) continue to deliver strong earnings growth, adding fundamental support to the hype. For investors, combining search‑trend monitoring with earnings and valuation analysis could offer an edge in navigating this rapidly evolving sector.