We recently published a list of Top 10 Stocks Everyone Is Talking About These Days. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against other top stocks everyone is talking about these days.
Major AI stocks are wavering as investors assess the impact of decreasing hardware costs and their effects on technology spending. T. Rowe Price’s Tony Wang said in a latest program on CNBC that while Mag. 7 companies are still strong, there are opportunities to look elsewhere as the technology-related gains broaden out.
“You saw the Mag. 7 really dominate the last two years, and I think going into this year, I think that there’s a lot of concern over the capex that’s being spent. I mean, they’re kind of becoming fundamentally different businesses in some respect in terms of the capital intensity. And then on top of that, you had kind of more inline reports, and so when you’re spending a lot of capex and you’re coming in line, I think that tends to set up for a tougher stock reaction. And so, you know, I think there’s other areas in tech that naturally things will broaden out to, like things that have more bottoming fundamentals and can have a little bit easier setup. So I think that, you know, we’re looking for more broadening, and I think that these are still very good companies and still like a core part of tech portfolios, but I think there’s opportunity elsewhere as well.”
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For this article, we picked 10 stocks currently trending on 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 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 Funds Investors: 158
Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC talked about the impact of DeepSeek on top AI stocks in the US. Cramer said major US tech companies spent billions of dollars on Nvidia chips but the DeepSeek breakthrough potentially proved that high-performance AI systems could be built using affordable chips. He said Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the only company that did not spend a fortune to buy AI chips, which saves it from the potential negative impact of the Chinese technology.
“Apple’s the only one that hasn’t spent fortunes paying Nvidia for the life blood of the AI platform. They always figured they could just license the technology from somebody else, given their massive user base. Yes, Apple didn’t have to spend tens of billions of dollars on these warehouses full of servers, so its stock hangs in there, irrespective of potential tariffs from Chinese components, which seem to also include Taiwanese components. It looks like if the punitive government of China goes after them, well, anyway, President Trump has so far been okay, and he has not hurt them.”
Apple’s latest quarterly results were helped by Services revenue in the latest quarter, but the key challenges haunting the company remain as they were. Many analysts believe just a few AI apps would not be enough to trigger a broader upgrade cycle for iPhone. Apple is dealing with currency headwinds as the stronger US dollar is expected to reduce top-line growth by 2.5% next quarter. For Q2 FY2025, management expects overall revenue to grow in the low to mid-single digits. Apple’s stock is trading at a premium valuation, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 39-40x, a price-to-free-cash-flow ratio of 33-34x, and a PEG ratio exceeding 3x. Upcoming quarters would be difficult for Apple and its current valuation is not justified.
Tsai Capital stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“We initiated our investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in 2016 and elevated it to a core holding in 2018, the same year the company introduced its redesigned 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models. Under Tim Cook’s visionary leadership, Apple has consistently redefined innovation in hardware and software.
The September 2024 launch of the iPhone 16, with its groundbreaking AI capabilities, including enhanced image generation tools, marks another inflection point. We believe this transformative device is the foundation for an AI-driven supercycle and could entice approximately 100 million consumers to upgrade, reinforcing Apple’s leadership in the industry.
Today, Apple’s ecosystem spans over two billion active devices, supported by a rapidly-growing base of subscription services. This strategy has helped to turbocharge customer engagement and spending. In the most recent fiscal year, which ended in September 2024, Apple’s high-margin services division accounted for 39.3% of total gross profits, up from 32.8% just two years ago.
Apple’s financial footing remains exceptional, with approximately $50 billion in net cash and marketable securities. Looking ahead, we expect earnings-per-share growth to outpace revenue growth, driven by margin expansion and continued share buybacks.”
Overall, AAPL ranks 4th on our list of top stocks everyone is talking about these days. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, 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.