Retail Investors Dumped Stocks As Wall Street Crashed. Then Buyers Made A Last-Minute Comeback.

Retail investors sold a net $151 million in individual U.S. stocks Thursday as a technology-led market rout rattled Wall Street, but a late buying rush prevented what had initially appeared likely to become the biggest retail selloff since the COVID-19 market crash.

With less than an hour remaining before the closing bell, individual investors had sold a net $338 million in stocks, according to Vanda Research figures obtained by CNBC. The pace of selling was unusual for retail traders, who have repeatedly bought stocks during market declines in recent years.

But buyers returned as the session drew to a close. Retail investors purchased more than $100 million in stocks during the final 10 minutes, reducing net selling to $151 million for the day, according to updated Vanda data reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.

The late buying substantially reduced the outflow from individual stocks, which had been heading toward its worst daily performance since March 2020. During that month's pandemic-driven market collapse, retail investors sold a net $502 million in stocks on March 17.

The retreat marked a departure from the buying behavior that has become familiar during market downturns. Instead of rushing to take advantage of lower share prices, retail investors initially appeared reluctant to commit more money to individual companies.

"On a typical sell-off, retail buy the dip," Vanda said in a research note cited by CNBC. "Today, that bid has effectively disappeared from individual names."

The selling unfolded during a difficult session for U.S. equities, with major indexes posting some of their steepest losses since April 2025.

Technology and semiconductor stocks led the losses. Nvidia fell 9.3%, Micron Technology dropped about 17.5%, and Sandisk lost more than 22%. Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices also suffered sharp declines as investors pulled back from companies closely tied to the artificial intelligence boom.

The selloff erased Wednesday's post-election gains, which had followed Democratic victories in the midterm elections. Investors were also reassessing the outlook for AI infrastructure spending, with concerns about potential restrictions on data center development adding pressure to technology stocks.

All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 finished Thursday lower, although technology shares suffered the steepest declines.

Even as retail investors reduced their exposure to individual stocks, some continued buying leveraged exchange-traded funds.

Vanda identified buying interest in the ProShares UltraPro QQQ, known as TQQQ, and the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares, or SOXL.

TQQQ seeks to deliver three times the daily performance of the Nasdaq-100 Index, while SOXL targets three times the daily performance of its semiconductor benchmark. Both funds use leverage to magnify daily market movements, meaning investors can experience substantially larger losses when prices move against their positions.

The buying interest in these funds contrasted with the broader retreat from individual stocks, particularly as semiconductor companies were recording some of Thursday's largest declines.

The late-session recovery, however, changed the scale of the retail outflow. The $151 million figure reported by The Wall Street Journal remained well below the $502 million pandemic-era benchmark, despite the much heavier selling recorded earlier Thursday afternoon.

Retail investors still finished the session as net sellers, even after buying more than $100 million worth of stocks in the final 10 minutes of trading.