Jim Cramer is Talking About These 12 Stocks

5. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184

Cramer mentioned that Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock did not see highs that some of its peers did. He also commented on the latest news about iPhone sales. He said:

“See today we’ve got some negative news about iPhone sales. Not enough to make me wanna sell, but enough to ding the stock. And that wasn’t just analyst reports, you also got a number from Verizon that didn’t jive with the thesis that Apple iPhones are selling well… I would own, not trade Apple.”

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), widely recognized for its groundbreaking iPhone, has solidified its reputation as one of the most respected companies in history. Currently, the company is approaching a crucial upgrade cycle, largely driven by innovations in artificial intelligence. However, recent market reactions indicate some caution. Following the third-quarter results from Verizon, the company’s shares experienced a decline.

Analyst Craig Moffett from MoffettNathanson highlighted Verizon’s low upgrade rate of 3.0% for retail postpaid connections, a drop from 3.4% in the same quarter the previous year when the last iPhone was launched.

Moffett pointed out that with only two weeks of iPhone 16 sales included in Verizon’s Q3 data, it is premature to conclude that the upcoming Apple cycle will be smaller than last year. Nonetheless, he noted that this was not an encouraging start. In a similar vein, AT&T CEO John Stankey remarked during his company’s earnings call that initial iPhone sales figures were slightly down compared to the previous year.

On October 23, according to TipRanks, industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that recent surveys revealed Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reduced its orders for the iPhone 16 by approximately 10 million units for the fourth quarter of 2024 through the first half of 2025. Most of these reductions affected the non-Pro models, leading to a new production estimate of 84 million units for the second half of 2024, down from around 88 million.

Consequently, total iPhone production forecasts for the upcoming quarters have also been adjusted, now projected at about 80 million, 45 million, and 39 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, the first quarter of 2025, and the second quarter of 2025, respectively. While some investors are hopeful that advancements in Apple Intelligence could significantly increase iPhone shipments in the near future, Kuo believes that the recent order reductions indicate such optimistic expectations may not be realized in the immediate future.