Disney, Tesla And The 8 Other Stocks Millennials Love Most

Millennials -- the generation of adults born after 1980 -- arguably grew up during Disney animation's heyday. The Little Mermaid was released in 1989; Beauty and the Beast in 1991; Aladdin in 1992; and The Lion King in 1994.  A group of Millennial Forbes writers have even argued we should be renamed The Lion King Generation because of the mysterious way the anthropomorphic classic seems to bind us 20-somethings and to be a common touch point in our conversations about big life truths.

So it might not be too surprising to learn that Walt Disney is one of the ten most popular stock holdings among the generation, according to TD Ameritrade, currently making up 1.5% of the average Millennial portfolio.

"You invest in what you know," points out Nicole Sherrod, managing director of the online broker's trading group. "Young people have a high degree of familiarity with Disney as they reflect back to their youth. But then as they come of age in terms of investing and study Disney as a company they learn about the fact that ESPN is such a big component of Disney's revenue as well. Young people love ESPN."

Like other generations Millennials are big holders of  Apple  (12.3%), General Electric (1.7%) and Microsoft (1.3%) which also show up in Gen Xers', Boomers' and Seniors' top ten lists. Unlike other generations  Intel is not a top ten pick for Millennials, but it is not too far behind at number 11.

More age bound favorites include  Tesla Motors  (1.3%) and Alibaba (1.2%) which are popular with Gen Xers -- born between 1965 and 1980 -- but not their older counterparts. Tesla has captured young people's imaginations for both its tech prowess and environmental focus, posits Sherrod. Alibaba, she argues, benefits from Millennials' familiarity with Amazon.com but has the added benefit of offering a way to tap growth in China.

This post is part of a series on each generation’s favorite stocks right now. For other generations' picks see --

"Verizon, Pfizer, IBM And The 7 Other Stocks Seniors Love Most"

"Johnson & Johnson And The 9 Other Stocks Baby Boomers Love Most"

"Apple, Microsoft, Amazon And The 7 Other Stocks Gen Xers Love Most"