Top stocks to day trade

There are many different ways to approach day trading, but commonly the best day-trading stocks are those that have big investor action behind them – which naturally can result in big one-day moves. Sometimes that involves a cult stock that day traders are clamoring to buy, and sometimes it's a troubled firm that a large number of short-sellers are betting against. But whatever the reason or the direction, there has to be the potential for volatility and high volume for any short-term investment to pay off.

With that in mind, the following three companies represent the best day-trading stocks by virtue of their massive daily trading volume:

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)

90-Day average volume: 335 million shares daily

Market value: $3.3 trillion

After an already impressive 2024, semiconductor standout Nvidia remains one of the most liquid and popular investments on Wall Street to close out the year. This chipmaker is currently trading near all-time highs, and briefly surpassed Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) as the largest U.S. stock by market capitalization. Volume in both stock as well as options is red hot, and NVDA has posted amazing returns of more than 165% year to date and more than 2,700% over the last five years. With high expectations for AI, crypto mining and other applications that are heavily reliant on Nvidia hardware, this tech titan will remain a popular day-trading stock for the foreseeable future.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR)

90-Day average volume: 55 million shares daily

Market value: $97 billion

Palantir went public through a “direct listing” in 2020 that sidestepped the traditional IPO path, and has been a fixture of day traders ever since. Born out of a data analytics platform created in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, its “big data” platform has been widely used by the U.S. government as well as the private sector as a problem-solving tool for the modern age. And like NVDA, Palantir is one of the trendiest names when it comes to artificial intelligence as it uses AI to provide actionable recommendations based on client databases. With a great growth story and strong share momentum that includes a more than 150% appreciation over the last 12 months, PLTR will remain a day-trading stock to watch in 2025.

Nio Inc. (NIO)

90-Day average volume: 56 million shares daily

Market value: $13 billion

Though still operating deeply in the red, Nio is one of the hottest names on Wall Street thanks to continued interest in EV stocks – particularly the growth potential in China. Its output is currently much smaller than other leaders, as NIO delivered just over 20,000 vehicles for the month of August. But the reason it's so popular is that stat was up more than 130% over the prior year, showing the tremendous path to growth. Volume is incredibly strong, providing one of the most popular and liquid stocks for investors to get a direct play on the Chinese EV marketplace. Shares have declined since Jan. 1, but big interest hints that investors are closely watching Nio nevertheless.