We recently published a list of the 12 Best AI Stocks Leading the ‘Big Tech Race’ to $4 Trillion According to a Famous Wall Street Analyst. Since Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) ranks 6th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives has said in a fresh note that major tech giants are now running in a “race” to capture the $4 trillion AI market, calling GPUs the new “oil” or “gold” in the technology sector. Ives said that the AI “party” is just getting started and the clock is showing “9p.m. in a party going till 4 a.m. with the rest of the tech world now joining.” Ives thinks spending on GPUs and data centers is the “only game in town.” Ives thinks the “first wave” of AI benefited major technology giants leading the AI race, with the second, third and fourth “derivatives” beginning to show trickle-down effects on other companies.
In a separate investing event, Ives recently predicted that the AI-led bull run can last for another two to three years, saying in a year from now investors will be looking at $3 trillion to $4 trillion market caps for major tech companies.
“The tech bull market is just starting,” Ives reportedly said.
In his latest note Ives highlighted several stocks which he believes can benefit from the AI revolution. In this article we take a detailed look at these stocks and discuss their AI-related growth catalysts and see whether or not they are sound long-term investments. With each stock we have mentioned 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
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Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 150
Dan Ives of Wedbush has been a big believer in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). In a fresh note he said that while NVDA is leading the three-horse race between Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), NVDA and MSFT, the iPhone maker has a strong upside because of its AI plans. Ives thinks the “holy grail” for Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is twofold: a new iPhone refresh cycle and AI apps. Ives thinks Apple’s AI strategy could infuse a new iPhone upgrade cycle that could see 270 million of the total 1.5 billion iPhones in the world getting refreshed. On the other hand, Ives is expecting app developers to build “hundreds of apps” using Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) AI stack so that consumers could interact with AI on their iPhones.
After the latest AI announcements at the WWDC event, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares added over $215 billion in market cap and closed at a record high on June 11. TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a fresh note that Apple has a competitive edge over others with its on-device AI.
Notable Wall Street analyst and Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster recently made waves when he said in a post on Twitter that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a better investment than Nvidia for the long term. Munster believes owning Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) over the next year will have a higher return because the market is in “denial” about Apple’s AI potential.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trading at 26X its 2025 EPS estimate ($7.22). This multiple, though higher than the industry average of 30, does not show the stock’s overvalued, given Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) sales growth of 6.40% for fiscal 2025 and 10.50% growth for the next five years on a per-annum basis.
Mar Vista Focus strategy stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock was pressured in the quarter as investors fretted over softening demand for smartphones, regulatory action from the US Department of Justice, and the Chinese government mandates restricting iPhone use by government officials. Despite these near-term headwinds, we continue to believe the company remains competitively advantaged and benefits from the Apple ecosystem, which has an installed base of over 2 billion devices and over 1 billion paying subscribers. We believe the Apple ecosystem will support a more predictable cash flow stream, which should grow intrinsic value high-single-digits over our investment horizon.”
Overall, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) ranks 6th on Insider Monkey’s list titled 12 Best AI Stocks Leading the ‘Big Tech Race’ to $4 Trillion According to a Famous Wall Street Analyst. While we acknowledge the potential of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), our conviction lies in the belief that 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 Apple Inc (NASDAQ: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.