#JustDoIt: Nike is the most followed publicly listed brand on Instagram

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That is why monitoring the most popular public companies on social media platforms is essential for investors to understand trends, find investment opportunities, and recognise risks.

According to data from AltIndex.com, Nike has the most followed Instagram account of all publicly listed companies, with over 305 million followers, or nearly ten times more than Netflix or Apple. This comes after Nike was also named the most popular brand for youth at Sunday Times NextGen Awards.

Millions of followers

Over the years, the stock market has seen a number of stocks whose prices skyrocketed or plummeted based on the social media momentum. A single Reddit post or a tweet from a prominent investor can create a huge interest in a particular stock, grow its trading activity, and even influence its price.

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That is why public companies today pay special attention to growing their social media communities and keeping them engaged. According to data from the AI platform, AltIndex, the world's largest and most recognisable brand, Nike (NKE), is also the absolute leader in the social media space. With more than 305 million followers, Nike has by far the most popular and most followed Instagram account.

Far below, Victoria's Secret ranked as Instagram's second most-followed public company, with roughly 76 million followers. Manchester United, which counts over 63 million followers on Instagram, came third, while Disney and Netflix round the top five names, with 38.4 million and 33.1 million followers, respectively.

Nike's Instagram community is even more impressive when compared to some of the world's largest tech and media companies. Apple and Netflix both have nearly ten times fewer Instagram followers than the sports giant, or roughly 30 million. But, besides its massive fan base on Instagram, Nike has also built large social media communities on Facebook and TikTok. As of September, the sports giant counts over 346 million followers on all three platforms combined.

Nike has a better social media sentiment

The AltIndex data also show that Nike overperforms most of its industry peers regarding social media sentiment, with a sentiment score of 72 out of 100 in August, slightly up compared to the 30-day moving average. Still, that is 13% less than the company's sentiment score a year ago.

On the list of similar companies, Crocs (CROX) and Skechers (SKX) both top Nike with a much better 84 sentiment score, while Under Armour (UAA) and Gap (GPS) ranked below with sentiment scores of 76 and 70, respectively.