Dan Niles on Apple (AAPL): Data is ‘Somewhat Disappointing’ and Stock is ‘Pretty Expensive

We recently published a list of 10 AI Stocks Wall Street is Talking About. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against other AI stocks Wall Street is talking about.

Defiance ETFs CEO and CIO Sylvia Jablonski said in a recent program on Bloomberg that there are trillions of dollars of cash waiting on the sidelines ready to be invested in AI amid demand that is at an all-time high.

“There’s a biggest wealth transfer of our generation happening as we speak. And you know, Gen Z, you know, Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X kind of, you know, the younger traders are, this is where they’re allocating their funds to. And, you know, retail has definitely spoken, and institutions have definitely spoken, and they’re looking for that, that fourth industrial revolution allocation.”

Sylvia also talked about the relationship between quantum computing and AI and explained how this technology would improve AI systems:

“So chatbot AI is, you know, kind of version one. Quantum is taking everything to the next level. So you need quantum in order for it to be efficient. You need to process that data quickly. It will help, you know, essentially health care, cryptography, aerospace and defense, you know, blockchain technology. Anything you can think of will be better, too, with quantum supercomputing power.”

READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In

For this article, we chose 10 AI stocks that are currently buzzing on the back of latest news and analyst ratings. With each stock we have mentioned the number of hedge fund investors. 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).

Dan Niles on Apple (AAPL): Data is ‘Somewhat Disappointing’ and Stock is ‘Pretty Expensive

An Apple store displaying the latest in consumer electronics, from smartphones to wearables.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 158

Dan Niles of Niles Investment Management said while talking to Schwab Network in a latest program that the data around Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) new iPhone has been “disappointing.”

“Relative to three months ago, the data, if you actually take a look at it, has been somewhat disappointing, with the rollout being much slower. In other words, you’re going to get another update to Apple Intelligence, which is their AI features, in December. You don’t get a rollout in Europe until next year, hopefully in the first quarter, and for China, we still don’t know when they’re going to roll out AI features. With the stock now trading at a multiple that just keeps expanding—now in the low 30 PE range compared to the S&P at about 22 times—it’s looking pretty expensive. So for me, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is not one I would really be that bullish on right here. It’s just going up with the tape, but I think as we get closer to them having to report and guide, you may have an issue.”

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been seeing a long-term decline in mobile carrier upgrade rates, especially postpaid, for several years. This suggests that people are holding onto their devices longer, likely due to economic factors, satisfaction with current technology, or a lack of exciting new features in recent models

In the latest earnings call, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook highlighted new features for the iPhone, such as a more comfortable watch band and sleep apnea detection, but none appeared to be major demand drivers for new customers.

Mar Vista Strategic Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock was strong in the quarter as investors viewed the company’s generative AI roadmap and iPhone 16 product cycle positively. The market was reminded of the strength of the Apple ecosystem as management demonstrated how generative AI solutions would be integrated into its iOS 18 operating system, which was broadly released in the iPhone 16 late in calendar Q3. We believe Apple’s generative AI-enabled products should 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.”

Overall, AAPL ranks 4th on our list of AI stocks Wall Street is talking about. 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.