We recently compiled a list of the 10 AI Stocks Taking Wall Street by Storm. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other AI stocks.
Wall Street’s major indexes closed lower on Monday, December 9th, dragged down by a decline in Nvidia. The plunge pressured the broader technology sector, with investors also turning their attention to an important inflation report due this week.
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Investors expect the consumer price index (CPI) data set to be released on Wednesday, while the producer price index (PPI) is anticipated on Thursday, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Dec. 17-18.
The plunge, however, seems only temporary, and technology stocks are poised to gain in the future. BlackRock anticipates that infrastructure and cybersecurity investments will “shine” in 2025. Jay Jacobs, the firm’s U.S. head of thematic and active ETFs, considers the artificial intelligence boom as a major catalyst. Jacobs said that AI companies need to build out their data centers and that keeping that data safe is also a sound investment play for the New Year.
“If you think about your data, you want to spend more on cybersecurity as it gets more valuable. We think this is really going to benefit the cybersecurity [and the] software community which is seeing very rapid revenue growth based off of this AI.”
Jacobs further stated that even though technology may seem tangible, it is also heavily reliant on physical infrastructure such as energy, materials like copper, and even real estate. These real-world components are essential for supporting the systems that are used every day. He further went on to say that it’s not just the mega-cap tech names that are winning, other semiconductor companies and other data center companies are benefiting from the rise of this theme.
In this regard, AI ETFs can play a significant role in helping investors gain targeted exposure while mitigating some of the risks associated with investing in individual AI stocks. They are a smart way for investors to invest in a theme for seeking longer-term gains.
“Identifying future winners can be very difficult – it’s not always the obvious names that make it in the long-term”.
-Ben Seager-Scott, chief investment officer at Forvis Mazars
A crowded Wall Street plaza, bustling with people carrying briefcases.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.
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)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 158
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a technology company that has made its mark in the AI realm with the launch of Apple Intelligence, its personal intelligence system. On December 10, DBS analyst Jim Hin Kwong Au downgraded the rating on Apple to “Hold”, setting a price target of $243.00. Hin Kwong has assigned the hold rating based on Apple’s current market position and future prospects. Despite the introduction of promising innovations such as the AI-powered iPhone and the Vision Pro XR device, the analyst stated that the recent surge in Apple’s stock price signifies how the advancements are already factored in its valuation, thereby limiting immediate stock gains.
Moreover, Apple’s technological breakthroughs, particularly in semiconductor design, bolsters its competitive edge but comes with its fair share of challenges. The analyst highlighted how delays in the Apple Intelligence launch could hurt consumer sentiment and iPhone sales both. Apple indeed has strong user loyalty and product quality which suggest long-term growth potential, but the current factors call for a cautious short-term outlook.
Overall AAPL ranks 1st on our list of the AI stocks that are taking Wall Street by storm. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher 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.
