Joel Greenblatt’s Top 5 Stock Picks

3. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gotham Asset Management Q1 2023 Stake: $50.47 million

The largest company in the world by market capitalization, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a major tech firm that is branching out in several domains, including the metaverse and AI. With a revenue of $365.82 billion and a net income of $99.8 billion in 2022, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) experienced exceptional financial success. Notably, the iPhone played a significant role in driving this achievement, contributing to over half of the company’s revenue. In 2022, iPhone sales reached an impressive 225.30 million units, further solidifying its position as a cornerstone of the company’s revenue stream. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15% to end the quarter with a stake worth around $50.47 million.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced its financial results for FQ2 on May 4, surpassing expectations on Wall Street with a GAAP EPS of $1.52 and revenue of $94.84 billion, exceeding estimates by $0.09 and $2 billion, respectively.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was in 131 hedge fund portfolios at the end of Q1 2023, as per Insider Monkey’s database. These stakes are collectively worth over $165.2 billion. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q1.

Here’s what Fred Alger Management said about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:

“Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a leading technology provider in telecommunications, computing, and services. Apple’s iOS operating system is the company’s unique intellectual property and competitive strength. This software drives particularly tight engagement with consumers and enterprises, which is fostering the growing purchase of high margin services like music, apps, and Apple Pay. While iPhone sales were down year-over-year (YoY). services revenues grew 7% YoY which was slightly above analyst estimates. Company earnings were also better-than-anticipated due to lower input costs, such as memory chips and cost control initiatives. Aside from production disruptions, negative sentiment had also weighed on shares as investors questioned how an economic slowdown would affect consumer demand for Apple products in 2023. However, management projected an acceleration in earnings for the fiscal first quarter, where they noted that iPhone and services growth should remain strong, along with encouraging impacts around product mix, lower input costs, and continued cost controls.”