We recently published a list of 10 Stocks Market Experts are Talking About These Days. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against other stocks that market experts are talking about these days.
Piper Sandler’s Chief Market Technician Craig Johnson said in a latest program on CNBC that despite the recent market volatility and “negative” headlines, he sees buying opportunities for long-term investors.
“The headlines out here are extremely negative all over the place and the sentiment toward this market is absolutely awful. Typically, you find these readings near sort of bear market lows, which is what you typically see. And if you also start to look at the VIX, it is elevated out here at this point in time. Now, technically we have broken some uptrends, we’ve closed below 50 and 200-day moving averages, but we’re getting to some pretty washed-out levels. I started looking at new highs, new lows, breadth indicators, and all these pieces. And we’re starting to get to levels where you look back and say, “Is this 1989? Is this a period of time that’s like the great financial crisis or the ’87 market crash?” And I think the answer to that is flat out no. So, we’re setting ourselves up for, I think, a potentially pretty good buying opportunity. All this negativity, and again, as Warren Buffett has said, you’ve got to be greedy when people are fearful. When people are greedy, and definitely a lot of fear out here, that seems to me to be a little bit misplaced on the charts.”
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For this article, we picked 10 stocks notable Wall Street analysts were discussing over the past few days. With each company we have mentioned the latest hedge fund sentiment. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Funds Investors: 158
Gene Munster from Deepwater Asset Management said in a recent program on CNBC that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) delay of Siri update was a disappointment for him but he still believes the company will benefit from the AI features and updated Siri launch down the road.
“I think the biggest day is coming, and ultimately, this has been a disappointment in terms of the rollout of Siri. It’s as big of a disappointment as I’ve seen in covering and investing in this company for over 20 years. A one-year delay on something so critical—I don’t want to pile on to the naysayers about where this product can ultimately go. But to answer your question, as we stand here today, it’s a very different place than I thought we would be back at WWDC.”
The much-awaited AI catalyst for Apple stock may never arrive. Many analysts believe just a few AI apps would not be enough to trigger a broader upgrade cycle for iPhone. Apple is dealing with currency headwinds as the stronger US dollar is expected to reduce top-line growth by 2.5% next quarter. For Q2 FY2025, management expects overall revenue to grow in the low to mid-single digits. Apple’s stock is trading at a premium valuation, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 39-40x, a price-to-free-cash-flow ratio of 33-34x, and a PEG ratio exceeding 3x. Upcoming quarters would be difficult for Apple and its current valuation is not justified.
Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“The fund maintained a position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) throughout the quarter through the release of the company’s new iPhone 16 in September. Company leaders were excited about the release of the new model, as this is the first model that will feature enhanced AI capabilities through the Apple Intelligence features. Sales for the first few weeks in October and November trailed behind year over year sales from the iPhone 15, as availability of Apple Intelligence was not compatible with all iPhone models. Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI that has allowed the integration of ChatGPT into the Apple ecosystem, separate from the core Apple Intelligence features. This partnership highlights continued progress from Apple to introduce AI capabilities into its products and we expect the iPhone 17 to have even more expansive AI capabilities, increasing potential demand for the new model that is on track to be released in 2025.”
Overall, AAPL ranks 3rd on our list of stocks that market experts are talking about these days. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AAPL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.