Evercore Identifies Apple Inc. (AAPL) as Key Stock to Watch Amid Potential Impact of Trump Tariffs and Policy Shifts on IT Hardware Firms

We recently compiled a list of the 10 AI News and Ratings Investors Should Not Miss. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other AI stocks in the news.

As demand for AI-powered applications grows, major tech firms are investing in alternative eneergy solutions to support data center requirements. Amazon, for instance, has committed to nuclear energy projects with X-energy and Dominion Energy, focusing on building small modular reactors (SMRs) to meet the intensive energy needs of its data centers while striving for carbon neutrality. This shift to nuclear energy is expected to help the AWS parent reach its net-zero goals by 2040 while managing the escalating power demands driven by AI and cloud services.

Read more about these developments by accessing 10 Best AI Data Center Stocks and 10 Buzzing AI Stocks According to Goldman Sachs.

Meanwhile, Apple has previewed several AI enhancements, including integration with ChatGPT for more advanced on-device tasks, such as text generation and question-answering in iOS 18.1. This addition aligns with its approach to cautiously integrate AI, emphasizing user experience improvements while enhancing privacy through device-based processing. The company’s developments aim to increase iPhone appeal and could impact the smartphone market by encouraging upgrades for new AI capabilities.

Read more about these developments by accessing 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock and Beyond the Tech Giants: 35 Non-Tech AI Opportunities.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by combing 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).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Maintains Buy Rating as Rosenblatt Raises Price Target; Optimism Grows for Apple Intelligence

A wide view of an Apple store, showing the range of products the company offers.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184 

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a consumer electronics firm. On November 8, investment advisory Evercore released a post-election investor note, detailing that Apple could be one of the stocks to watch as a second term for Donald Trump would affect IT hardware and networking firms in multiple ways. Analysts led by Amit Daryanani wrote in a note to clients that the potential for Trump tariffs could negatively affect some companies with large exposure to China, other proposed policies should provide benefits. These include lower corporate tax rates and fewer regulations. Companies who source many components or assemble a large percentage of their products in China face risks, per the analysts.

Overall AAPL ranks 4th on our list of the AI stocks you should not miss. 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.

READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.