Starter Stock Portfolio: 12 Safe Stocks to Buy

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6. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 166

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a global technology giant specializing in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of a wide range of consumer electronics and related services. The company’s large product lines include the iPhone, Mac, iPad tablets, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) also offers a comprehensive ecosystem of services, including AppleCare support and cloud services. The App Store serves as a central hub for digital content and applications, while the company also provides advertising services, as well as subscription-based offerings such as Apple TV, Apple Music, and financial pay services, namely Apple Card and Apple Pay. Its customer base includes consumers, small and medium-sized businesses, government sectors, and corporations with a distribution network comprising of retail and online stores, partnerships with cellular carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and resellers.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Q1 2025 earnings revealed a topline of $124.03 billion, an increase of 3.95% YoY and beating estimates by $273.49 million. EPS was $2.40, narrowly beating expectations by $0.05. The company also provided guidance for the upcoming quarter, with revenue of $94.08 billion and an EPS of $1.61.

It should be noted that the iPhone sales, which make up the large majority of the company’s revenue stream, were stable at $69.1 billion. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been working on a foldable version of its iconic iPhone, with expectations that the product will be ready for market as soon as 2026, at a price of $2000. Analysts on X (formerly Twitter) reported that the company is expecting to finalize designs by the end of this fiscal year, while production and shipping will range between 3 to 5 million units in 2026 and as high as 20 million by 2027.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price experienced a decline during the first week of April 2025 after China announced retaliatory tariffs on US goods of 34%, effective April 10, 2025. China accounts for 80% of Apple’s manufacturing capacity.

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