We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Fortune 500 Stocks To Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other Fortune 500 stocks.
Should Investors Be Overly Cautious?
The aggregate revenue of the Fortune 500 companies in 2023 reached a record $41 trillion, up 0.1% year-over-year. Profits also rose 2% after declining earlier in 2022. The US took the lead from Greater China with the most companies on the Fortune 500 list for the first time since 2018. It has 139 companies as of August this year, an increase of 3 from 2023, while Greater China has 133 companies, down 9 from last year.
The financial sector, including banks and insurance companies, led all industries with the most Fortune 500 companies. Collectively tech giants brought in $282 billion in net income, up from $233 billion the previous year. Currently, 13 companies are making their Fortune 500 debut, reflecting the world’s fascination with AI and weight-loss drugs.
While the S&P 500 has recovered most of its losses, the rebound is being led by sectors like real estate, utilities, and consumer staples rather than major tech companies. Investors are shifting focus due to concerns over economic growth and expectations of Fed rate cuts.
Still, it seems like investors think that while investment portfolios should be diversified given the current economic conditions, this sentiment does not imply divesting from tech stocks, which of course contribute greatly to the aggregate Fortune 500 revenue. Jason Draho, UBS Global Wealth Management head of Americas Asset Allocation, emphasized this sentiment and we covered this earlier in our article about the 10 Best Tech Stocks To Buy Right Now Under $10:
“…investors should view potential dips in tech stocks as good long-term buying opportunities, as 10% corrections are historically good entry points in tech… He thinks that this market volatility is acyclical. The recent sell-off in the tech sector was not primarily due to economic concerns but rather to sector-specific issues. Despite this, tech giants will continue to benefit from the AI CapEx investment story. While there may be short-term challenges, the long-term outlook for these companies remains positive… Draho also cautioned against over-concentrating portfolios in the sector. He suggested diversifying exposure by investing in sector leaders as well as companies likely to benefit from tech disruption as a way to manage potential downside risks in tech stocks.”
Just last week, Dan Greenhaus, Solus Alternative Asset Management’s chief strategist discussed markets, and the rebound’s staying power, all while suggesting that predicting the Fed’s next move had become more difficult.
He discussed the ongoing recession concerns, particularly after negative comments from financial representatives. Despite these worries, he believes the US consumer is performing well, the economy is stable, and corporate profits are exceeding expectations. This context suggests that the recent sell-off in certain AI stocks was followed by a justified rebound, as issues appear limited to recent trends.
The S&P 500 is currently facing resistance around the 5,600 level, a key point of concern for investors. Dan Greenhaus noted that the recent inversion of the yield curve raised anxiety but the 2-10-year curve is slightly positive. Despite these worries, credit spreads for investment-grade bonds remain stable, and overall cross-asset indicators suggest a stable market environment.
Recently, discussions around potential interest rate changes have gained momentum, particularly following insights from Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. He indicated a likely 25 basis point cut by the Federal Reserve, although he also acknowledged the possibility of a 50 basis point reduction. Greenhaus believes the Fed will opt for a 25 basis point cut, marking the start of a series of reductions. This perspective is supported by the normalization of inflation and a slowing economy.
According to Greenhaus, the cyclical components of the stock market appear to be performing well, indicating that the overall economic fundamentals remain robust, and there is no concrete case for any specific rate cut scenario. As Fortune 500 companies continue to generate record revenues and profits as well, investor sentiments should not be shifting drastically. With that being said, we’re here with a list of 10 best Fortune 500 stocks to buy now.
Methodology
We first looked at the list of Fortune 500 companies, as of 2024. We then selected 10 stocks from these Fortune 500 companies that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q2 2024.
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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A wide view of an Apple store, showing the range of products the company offers.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Market Capitalization as of September 14: $3383.75 billion
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is one of the world’s largest technology companies by revenue, known for its consumer electronics, software, and services.
The revenue in FQ3 2024 was up 4.87% year-over-year and reached $85.78 billion. The services division set a record at $24.2 billion, growing 14% year-over-year. iPhone revenue reached $39.3 billion, despite a slight decline. Moreover, Mac revenue grew 2% to $7 billion, and iPad revenue surged 24% year-over-year.
The company also launched Apple Intelligence, a personal intelligence system backed by AI. Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone event in September unfolded as anticipated, with attention shifting to pre-order data and sales figures for the new iPhone. A survey by US AlphaWise indicated that about 60% of customers planning to upgrade are doing so because of Apple Intelligence. Even more advanced AI features will further roll out in 2025.
On August 29, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is considering a significant investment in OpenAI, alongside NVIDIA, as part of a funding round led by Thrive Capital that would value OpenAI at $100 billion.
Currently, 184 hedge funds are long AAPL. Berkshire Hathaway has the highest stake in the company, with a position of $84,248,000,000.
Baron Technology Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“The Fund’s chief relative detractor was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), even though it was a meaningful contributor to absolute performance, as we added to our Apple position significantly during the period. We bought Apple well, but in 20/20 hindsight we didn’t buy enough. Because Apple has an oversized weight in the Benchmark (its average weight was 15.7% for the period), when Apple’s stock outperforms (it appreciated 23.0%), it has generally been a headwind to relative performance. Our Apple underweight accounted for 33% of our relative underperformance for the period.
This quarter we increased the size of our position in Apple Inc., a leading technology company known for its innovative consumer electronics products like the iPhone, MacBook, iPad, and Apple Watch. Apple is a leader across its categories and geographies, with a growing installed base that now exceeds 2 billion devices globally. The company’s attached services – including the App Store, iCloud, Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple Pay – provide a higher margin, recurring revenue stream that both enhances the value proposition for its hardware products and improves the financial profile. Apple now has well over 1 billion subscribers paying for these services, more than double the number it had just 4 years ago. The increasing services mix has led to healthy operating margin improvement, providing more free cash flow for Apple to reinvest in the business and to distribute to shareholders. Throughout its 48-year history, Apple has successfully navigated and capitalized on major technological shifts, from PCs to mobile to cloud computing. We believe the company’s leading brand and device ecosystem position it to do equally well in the AI age, and this was the driver of our decision to re-invest. “Apple Intelligence” – the AI strategy unveiled at Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference – leverages on-device AI and integrations with tools like ChatGPT to enhance user experiences across its ecosystem. The AI suite enables users to create new images, summarize and generate text, and use Siri to perform actions across their mobile applications, all while maintaining user privacy and security. We think Apple Intelligence can drive accelerated product upgrade cycles and higher demand for Apple services. The combination of growth re-acceleration, increasing services contribution, and thoughtful capital allocation should continue driving long-term shareholder value.”
Overall AAPL ranks 4th on our list of the best Fortune 500 stocks to buy. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. 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.