12 Best Forever Stocks To Buy Now

3. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Funds Holding Stakes as of Q2: 184

Market Cap as of September 18, 2024: $3.30 Trillion

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the go-to company for any investor eyeing exposure to developing and selling high-profile devices at the heart of the digital revolution. One of the reasons it remains one of the best forever stocks to buy now has to do with the iPhone product line. While the iPhone business has come under pressure in recent years, it has found a new lease of growth with the integration of AI in the iPhone 16, which is expected to fuel demand and drive sales.

While the focus has always been on the hardware business, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) long-term prospects remain intact as the services business is increasingly becoming an important part of underlying growth. The segment grew by 11% in the first quarter of the year, up from 3% growth last year.

With more than 2.2 billion active Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) devices in circulation, Apple is well positioned to generate significant revenues by selling various services through App Store sales, advertising revenue, AppleCare+, subscription services like Apple TV+, and more.

The company remains in a solid financial position, having exited the first quarter with $39.895 billion in operating cash flow and a free cash flow of about $37.5 billion. With a market cap of over $3 trillion, a debt portfolio of $101 billion is insignificant for a company that generates a free cash flow of upwards of $30 billion. Likewise, the company returns value to shareholders with a dividend yield of 0.46% while offering buybacks.

By June 2024 end, 184 out of the 912 hedge funds profiled by Insider Monkey were the firm’s investors. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is the largest shareholder of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), with a stake valued at $84.25 billion, making it the biggest holding in Berkshire’s portfolio.

Here is what Mar Vista Focus strategy said about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“Investors were reminded of the strength of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) ecosystem as management demonstrated how generative AI solutions would be integrated into Apple’s 1.2 billion iPhone installed base. Apple plans to integrate generative AI features into its iOS 18, which will be broadly released in the fall with the iPhone 16. We believe Apple should benefit from generative AI as it will spur a meaningful iPhone upgrade cycle and create new avenues of monetization through its app store and advertising offerings. We believe this will support intrinsic value growth that will range between high-single-digits and low-double-digits over our investment horizon.”