30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock

2. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184 

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a consumer electronics firm. The company debuted the much-hyped iPhone 16 models earlier this week, launching the new models with Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI features that the firm hopes will result in a stronger upcycle for the new phones. Apple Intelligence will be available on new iPhones by this October. Some AI features of the new product include letting users create new emoji by typing a description of what they want, or pulling photos and movies automatically to create a storyline. Other examples include letting Siri automatically delete duplicate photos or updating contact information, adding photos to an album or more.

In an investor note, analyst Michael Ng of Goldman Sachs had earlier pointed out that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock had historically underperformed the S&P 500 by an average of 70 bps on the day of the iPhone announcement. Ng backed the event this year expect to be similarly immaterial to the stock price. However, Ng acknowledged that some surprises might still have an impact on the share price, including a price increase in new iPhone models and the debut of some earlier-than-expected AI features.