Top 20 US Stocks by Trading Volume on May 19: Tesla Officially Abandons India Factory Plans

On Monday, the top stock by trading volume was Micron Technology, which closed down 5.95% with a turnover of $41.128 billion. Micron received a "Buy" rating from JR Research analysts. The analysts noted that unprecedented AI capital expenditures and surging demand for high-bandwidth memory will be transformative factors driving Micron's long-term growth.

The second most traded stock was NVIDIA, closing down 1.33% with a turnover of $32.246 billion. NVIDIA is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings after the market closes on Wednesday. Ahead of the report, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore reiterated an optimistic outlook for NVIDIA and outlined key focal points for investors this earnings season. Moore expects NVIDIA to continue its pattern of "exceeding earnings expectations and raising guidance."

He forecasts the company's revenue this quarter to be approximately $3 billion above market expectations, with guidance potentially exceeding consensus estimates by $4 billion.

Morgan Stanley designated NVIDIA as its top pick in the semiconductor sector this March, considering it one of the primary beneficiaries of the generative AI wave.

The third most traded stock was Tesla Motors, closing down 2.90% with a turnover of $21.258 billion. According to a May 17 report by automotive media outlet autoevolution, India's Minister of Heavy Industries, K. K. Kumaraswamy, confirmed that Tesla has officially abandoned its plans to build a factory in India. Despite the Indian government offering tailored incentives for the electric vehicle sector, the multi-year negotiations have ultimately broken down.

Analysts point out that Tesla's decision to formally abandon its India factory plans is an inevitable outcome following a prolonged stalemate over core interests. The commercial decision can be attributed to several key factors:

① Critical Shortcomings in Supply and Industrial Chains: Tesla's core components heavily rely on mature global supply chains, particularly in China. India's local industry lacks established chains for essential EV components like batteries and motors. Strained geopolitical relations between China and India make transferring existing supply chains to India difficult. Forcing a factory build would require Tesla to establish an entire supply chain from scratch, involving prohibitive capital and time investments with no guarantee of production efficiency.

② Negotiation Deadlock: "Tariff Cuts First" vs. "Factory First": The parties could not agree on the premise of cooperation. Tesla insisted on "tariff cuts first, test the market," wanting to validate genuine demand in India through sales before committing to heavy capital investment. Conversely, the Indian government firmly demanded "factory first, then discuss incentives," aiming to secure large-scale foreign investment and technology transfer through market access. This fundamental disagreement in stance led to a prolonged negotiation impasse.

③ Weak Infrastructure and Mismatched Consumer Purchasing Power: India's public charging network is severely underdeveloped, power supply is unstable, and logistics efficiency is low, making it challenging to support mass EV production and daily use. Furthermore, India's per capita consumption capacity is relatively low, with mainstream car purchases concentrated in low-price segments. Due to high tariffs, Tesla's imported models are priced exorbitantly in India (nearly several times the price of mainstream local models), far beyond the reach of the average consumer. This has resulted in dismal sales, insufficient to support the massive capacity of a Gigafactory.

④ Uncertainty in Business Environment and Policy Risks: India has long been dubbed a "graveyard for foreign companies" due to frequent policy reversals, retrospective taxation, asset freezes, and other issues (as experienced by companies like Apple, Xiaomi, and Ford). For Tesla, investing tens of billions of dollars in heavy assets in India entails a high risk of sunk costs. Rather than gambling in a high-risk, low-efficiency market, it is more prudent to deepen its presence in markets with mature supply chains and relatively stable policies, such as China and Southeast Asia.

Currently, Tesla has adjusted its India strategy, abandoning the heavy-asset factory plan in favor of a lighter approach involving vehicle imports to test the local high-end market, thereby protecting its core interests.

The fourth most traded stock was SanDisk, closing down 5.30% with a turnover of $18.275 billion. US memory chip stocks experienced a broad sell-off on Monday.

The ninth most traded stock was Apple, closing down 0.80% with a turnover of $10.21 billion. Apple announced on Monday that it will officially commence its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, hosting a special in-person event at Apple Park on the same day.

The fourteenth most traded stock was Lumentum Holdings, closing down 8.83% with a turnover of $6.362 billion. This marks the stock's third consecutive day of decline.

The fifteenth most traded stock was ServiceNow, closing up 8.78% with a turnover of $5.141 billion. ServiceNow rose against the trend on Monday despite a general decline in technology stocks.

A Wall Street analyst stated that ServiceNow will be a winner in the artificial intelligence field. In a research report released Monday, ServiceNow received a positive assessment from a Wall Street analyst. Despite the company's solid overall revenue and earnings growth, its stock price remains significantly below its historical highs.

The analyst believes ServiceNow will emerge as a winner in AI, not a victim.

ServiceNow has been one of the victims of this year's "SaaS apocalypse." With the emergence of AI agents (notably Claude Code from AI company Anthropic), investors are contemplating whether emerging AI firms might disrupt traditional enterprise Software-as-a-Service stocks.

Despite the stock price decline, ServiceNow's performance growth data remains robust, and its management has consistently stated they view AI as an opportunity rather than a risk.

The nineteenth most traded stock was NBIS, closing down 9.13% with a turnover of $4.185 billion. The stock has declined for two consecutive days after hitting a record high last Thursday.