The Future of Artificial Intelligence: 5 Companies, 5 Predictions

4. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 140     

Related Prediction: Apple Hiring People on Team-lead Level for AI-Focused Department

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. Apple is known for using the very latest AI capabilities on its devices, such as iPhone’s Siri, in the form of machine learning. Abdel-Rahman Mohamed, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto, believes the company is courting experts from all over the world to build an in-house AI-focused department, noting that Apple is not hiring only at the managerial level, but hiring also people on the team-leading level and the researcher level for the purpose. 

On December 19, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee maintained an Overweight rating on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock and lowered the price target to $190 from $200, highlighting that recent supply chain issues at the company’s operations at Hon Hai’s assembly factory in Zhengzhou are expected to be reflected in the company’s December quarter results.

At the end of the third quarter of 2022, 140 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $144 billion in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), compared to 128 in the previous quarter worth $143 billion.

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Alger Capital, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“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 extremely tight engagement with consumers and enterprises. The engagement is fostering the growing purchase of high-margin services like music, apps, and apple pay. Apple’s shares detracted from performance as management lowered its guidance for the second quarter due to headwinds from the war in Ukraine, adverse foreign currency shifts, and dampened consumer demand associated with the coronavirus in China. Additionally, many investors were concerned that lockdowns implemented to curtail the spread of COVID-19 would impact the production of apple products, however, the manufacturing facilities have resumed activity.”