Apple (AAPL) Fell on Restrictions from China

Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Hedged Equity Fund” third quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the quarter, the fund declined -1.36% (net), outperforming its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, which declined -3.27%. The firm focuses on high-quality companies for long-term growth. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2023.

Meridian Hedged Equity Fund highlighted stocks like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the third quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a multinational technology company that designs and manufactures smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. On December 22, 2023, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock closed at $193.60 per share. One-month return of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was 1.91%, and its shares gained 46.82% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has a market capitalization of $ 3.028 trillion.

Meridian Hedged Equity Fund made the following comment about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:

“Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a multinational technology company that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. The company’s high-profile products include the iPhone, iPad, Mac computer, Apple Watch, and services such as iTunes, Apple Music, and iCloud. Apple excels in designing innovative personal technology and offers a range of services, resulting in strong brand loyalty and a stable revenue stream. Despite concerns about slowing product revenue growth, we expect the company’s ecosystem, service offerings, and new product innovations to drive continued profitability well into the future. The company released its latest iPhone iteration during the quarter and early indications suggested attractive demand for the new devices. However, the stock was challenged on news that the Chinese government, in what was seen as a retaliatory move to counter U.S. government restrictions on technology exports to China, issued a new directive to certain officials not to use foreign-branded devices such as iPhones. We are watching carefully but expect minimal direct impact to Apple’s revenue in China. News also surfaced that Huawei had launched a new advanced smartphone which could present a competitive challenge to Apple. The extent to which Huawei can scale remains unclear. We believe that Apple’s strong technological advantages and existing market share in China will help it to withstand competitive and regulatory headwinds. Big picture, we continue to believe that Apple’s deep product and services lineup and integrated ecosystem will continue to provide solid fundamental growth over time.”

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in the 10th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 134 hedge fund portfolios held Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of third quarter which was 135 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in another article and shared the list of best hot stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.