the Tech Space experienced a brutal sell-off in 2022, The negative sentiment is proving contagious and hurting the broader market as well. Undeterred by the weakness, private investors made their way to a stock.

What happened: One tech stock that was steadily bought by retail investors during the 2022 market downturn was Tesla Inc. TSLAaccording to data from Vanda Research, reported The Wall Street Journal.

See also: Everything you need to know about Tesla stock

The report says net retail purchases by a basket of eight popular tech stocks peaked in November and fell sharply into late 2022. However, Tesla saw steady interest into 2022, even as it crashed and ended the year down 65%, the report added.

Vanda’s study found that retail investors spent more money on Tesla shares in the past six years than in the past five years, according to the Journal. The frenzy peaked on January 10th Retail purchases of Tesla shares hit a record high of $316 million, it added.

“When markets took a big tumble, we saw retail investors switch to their favorite technology stocks rather than investing across the sector,” Vanda analyst Lucas Mantle reportedly said.

Tesla stock ownership data shows that approximately 45.92% of outstanding shares are held by institutional investors and 16.33% by insiders, including the CEO Elon Muskleaving 37.75% of the shares to investors, according to data compiled by Yahoo Finance.

Why it matters: Tesla stock has started to turn around in 2023. After falling to a low of $104.64 on Jan. 3, the stock has recovered. Since the beginning of the year, it has increased by around 8.3%.

The next big catalyst for the stock would be the EV maker’s first-quarter results, due Jan. 25. The stock has already discounted margin erosion due to the company’s multiple downward pricing throughout the quarter.

Future outlook and management’s comments on the earnings release could provide direction for the stock in the short-term.

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