1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Portion of portfolio: 28.11%
Value of holdings: $75,126,000,000
Technology giant Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) specializes in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of a wide range of consumer electronics and related services.
Buffett maintained his existing position in the iPhone maker in the fourth quarter holding 300,000,000 of its shares, as per his hedge fund’s 13F filing on February 14, 2025. The stock has been Berkshire’s largest holding by market value for more than half a decade.
Barclays reiterated the stock as “Underweight,” on March 31 highlighting its “challenging growth backdrop, undefined AI strategy and a premium valuation.”
However, with President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs in place, notably a 54% tariff on Chinese goods, Apple, among large tech stocks “has the most exposure to” them, according to commentator Tom White. The company’s products are manufactured in countries such as India and Thailand among others, that are hit with significant tariffs. Being a Wall Street’s casualty of Trump-imposed tariffs, the company lost over $300 billion in market value on April 3, according to Financial Times.
Angelo Zino, a Technology Equity Analyst and Senior VP at CFRA Research said the company is one of the “safer” names in the tech sector, relatively well-positioned to withstand tariffs, as it has “enormous pricing power,” on top of the company’s high free cash flow and favorable capital allocation strategy.
Requisite Capital Management managing partner Bryn Talkington told CNBC recently that Apple is vulnerable as a hardware company with 75% of the revenues coming from hardware, having to rely on third parties for software solutions.
Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund maintained a position in Apple in the fourth quarter, stating in its quarterly investor letter the company’s “leaders were excited about the release of the new model [iPhone 16 in September],” being the first model to feature enhanced AI capabilities through the Apple Intelligence features. The letter also highlighted Apple’s partnership with OpenAI as it allowed the integration of ChatGPT into the Apple ecosystem. “We expect the iPhone 17 to have even more expansive AI capabilities, increasing potential demand for the new model that is on track to be released in 2025,” the letter continued.
Apple’s first quarter report published in January revealed quarterly revenue of $124.3 billion, representing a 4% year-over-year increase, and quarterly diluted earnings per share of $2.40, up 10% over the same period.
Apple traded at $207.56 on April 24 at the time of writing, according to Yahoo Finance. Year-to-date, the stock lost 17.12% in value. Nevertheless, the stock has earned a top place on the list of Warren Buffett’s top portfolio holdings.
While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. 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 this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
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