META, NFLX, CRM, And More: 5 Stocks That Dominated Investor Buzz This Week

Retail investors talked up five hot stocks this week (Dec. 1 to Dec. 5) on X and Reddit's r/WallStreetBets, driven by earnings, retail hype, AI buzz, and corporate news flow.

The stocks, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM), UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), spanning social networking, AI, software, robotics, streaming, and automotive, reflected diverse retail interests.

Meta Platform

• Meta Platforms faced an EU antitrust probe launched on Dec. 4 over its WhatsApp AI policies, which allegedly restrict third-party AI competition and could lead to hefty fines. On Dec. 3, the company poached a senior Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) designer to bolster its AI glasses initiative. Mark Zuckerberg announced plans for up to 30% budget cuts to metaverse efforts on Dec. 4, shifting focus to AI amid $72 billion capex projections for 2026.

• Some retail investors couldn’t believe the growth in the META stock.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $479.80 to $796.25, trading around $660 to $664 per share at the time of writing this story. It was up 10.39% year-to-date and 8.64% over the year.

• The stock had a weaker price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate value ranking, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings. Other performance details are available here.

Salesforce

• Salesforce dominated headlines with its third-quarter FY25 earnings release on Dec. 3, reporting $9.44 billion in revenue and earnings of $2.41 per share, with FY25 guidance raised to $38 billion in revenue and 20% operating margin. CEO Marc Benioff highlighted Agentforce AI’s rapid adoption, including 200 deals signed, thousands in the pipeline, and full integration into the company’s help portal for smarter customer support; the firm plans to hire 1,400 AI-focused sales reps while offsetting costs via efficiency gains.

• Retail investors were bullish on CRM after its earnings.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $221.96 to $367.15, trading around $247 to $251 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was down 25.16% year-to-date and 31.52% over the year.

• Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings showed that the stock had a stronger price trend in the short and medium terms but a weak trend in the long term, with a solid growth ranking. Additional performance details are available here.

See Also: 5 Stocks Investors Couldn’t Stop Buzzing About This Week: WMT, BABA, GOOG And More

UiPath

• PATH dominated headlines with its third quarter FY25 earnings release on Dec. 5, reporting revenue of $355 million and non-GAAP EPS of $0.11, alongside ARR growth to $1.61 billion and a 113% net retention rate. Fourth quarter guidance came in at $422-427 million in revenue. CEO Daniel Dines emphasized agentic AI innovations like Agent Builder and partnerships with Anthropic and OpenAI will drive enterprise automation.

• Investors hailed PATH’s gains with innovative puns.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $9.38 to $18.74, trading around $18 to $20 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was up 42.92% YTD and 23.61% over the year.

• According to Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, it was maintaining a stronger price trend over short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking. Additional performance details are available here.

Netflix

• NFLX shares dipped over 5% at the start of the week after co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings sold approximately 375,000-377,000 shares for about $40.7 million at $106.50-$109.30, trimming his stake by 99% and sparking insider selling concerns amid broader market volatility. Meanwhile, a strong demand for the highly anticipated fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” made a record for the top premiere week of any English-language show on Netflix last week. On Friday, the streaming giant also entered into exclusive negotiations to finalize a historic acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s (NASDAQ:WBD) most prized assets.

• Retail investors were stunned as to why the shares were down after NFLX entered exclusive talks for the WBD acquisition.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $82.11 to $134.12, trading around $103 to $105 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was up 16.41% year-to-date and 12.45% over the year.

• The stock had a weaker price trend in the short, medium, and long terms, with a solid quality ranking, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings. Other performance details are available here.

Tesla

• TSLA November sales data highlighted regional contrasts: China deliveries rose 10% year-on-year to 86,700 units, outpacing BYD‘s NEV dip, while Europe slumped with a 36.3% drop ex-Norway and 8.75% decline in Spain; Germany’s year-to-date sales halved to 17,358 vehicles. Regulatory buzz included President Donald Trump‘s Dec. 3 reset of Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, potentially easing EV mandates and boosting U.S. inventory clearance of unsold vehicles.

• A few retail investors made fun of others who had shorted the TSLA stock and lost their money.

• The stock had a 52-week range of $214.25 to $488.54, trading around $453 to $455 per share, as of the publication of this article. It was up 19.83% year-to-date but 23.00% higher over the year.

• It maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a moderate growth score, as per Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings. Additional performance details are available here.

Retail focus blended meme-driven narrative with earnings outlook and corporate news flow, as the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq witnessed mixed market action during the week.

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• NVDA, WMT, GOOG And More: 5 Stocks That Dominated Investor Buzz This Week

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