Baron Funds, an investment management firm, released its “Baron Technology Fund” third quarter 2023 investor letter, a copy of which can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the Baron Technology Fund® experienced a 3.89% decline in its Institutional Shares. Despite this decrease, it outperformed the MSCI ACWI Information Technology Index, which saw a steeper decline of 6.16%. However, the Fund slightly underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index, which exhibited a 3.27% decline. Looking at the year-to-date period, the Fund has shown a positive return of 37.34%, surpassing both indexes. The MSCI ACWI Information Technology Index yielded 28.47% while the S&P 500 returned 13.07%. Take a moment to review the fund’s top 5 holdings to gain insights into their primary investment choices for 2023.
In its Q3 2023 investor letter, Baron Technology Fund mentioned Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and explained its insights for the company. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a Cupertino, California-based multinational technology company with a $2.7 trillion market capitalization. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) delivered a 37.94% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 28.48%. The stock closed at $179.23 per share on November 6, 2023.
Here is what Baron Technology Fund has to say about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“After a strong start to the year, shares of Apple Inc. partially retraced their gains this quarter. Mixed second calendar quarter financial results, with iPhone, iPad, and Wearables revenue coming in just shy of consensus expectations, coupled with elevated investor concerns about the macro economy and potential weakness in consumer spending later this year, pressured shares. Despite these quarterly fluctuations in product sales, we are encouraged by several long-term trends, including: (1) revenue from higher-margin services like the App Store, iCloud, and Apple Pay, which are growing faster than the overall business, driving better revenue visibility and higher free-cash-flow (FCF) margins; (2) continued gains in global market share in smartphones, wearables, and other hardware categories; and (3) consistent returns of capital to shareholders via share repurchases and dividends. On top of these trends in the core business, Apple is thoughtfully investing in new categories like augmented reality, search, financial services, and streaming media content. We took advantage of weakness in the quarter to add to our position in Apple.”
An Apple store displaying the latest in consumer electronics, from smartphones to wearables.
Our calculations show that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) ranks 10th on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was in 135 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the second quarter of 2023, compared to 131 funds in the previous quarter. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) delivered a -0.32% return in the past 3 months. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2023 page.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
