We recently compiled a list of the 13 Best Big Tech Stocks To Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other big tech stocks.

The State of Big Tech Right Now

Big tech has long been an immensely popular area to invest in when it comes to US stocks, and for good reason. Tech stocks, particularly those investing in AI and offering AI products, have been generating immense returns in 2024, with the second week of September bearing witness to their immense potential. This week, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite posted their best returns for the entire year, and many tech stocks were part of the faction that made this possible. As a result, there’s a huge rise in the popularity of AI and tech stocks. This is in stark contrast to market opinions on AI stocks, particularly during the first week of September, when many were very concerned that we are in an AI hypecycle that is bound to wind down soon.

Altimeter Capital’s CEO, Brad Gerstner, recently joined CNBC’s “Closing Bell” to discuss trends shaping big tech right now. He noted that the pace of  AI at present is faster than any other tech development seen before. He also added that many investors are starting to lean back into big tech ahead of the election. This development may be coming about because of the historical trend that suggests that stocks perform better in the months directly following a US election – in which case, it makes sense for investors to be piling into big tech and AI right now since that’s a sure shot way to profit in the next few months.

How Is Big Tech Impacting Other Sectors?

A recent notable trend that people have begun to see because of the rise of big tech companies and the growing use of AI is a greater demand for power. Many major tech companies are beginning to require more energy, with the AWS-owner going as far as buying a nuclear-powered data center for $650 million recently.

The primary driving force for this rising demand is the need to develop AI. Many energy-conscious investors may see this new trend as a red flag for big tech. However, Jensen Huang has noted that while AI takes a ton of energy to train, once developed and trained, it will also help save energy. He particularly noted that AI is going to become so advanced through this development that it will eventually end up offering solutions that can change the way we use energy, making our operations endlessly more energy efficient.

With this in mind, big tech seems to be quite an interesting space to follow right now, especially in the days leading up to the US Presidential Elections. As such, we’ve compiled a list of the best big tech stocks to buy right now.

Our Methodology 

For our list below, we selected big-tech stocks with the highest numbers of hedge funds holding stakes in them during the second quarter and then ranked them based on this metric in ascending order.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points. (see more details here).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 184

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is an information technology company and the famed manufacturer of the iPhone. It is based in Cupertino, California.

This tech giant is by far the largest company in the world and has a reputation that transcends borders. The third quarter of fiscal 2024 was Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) best quarter in quite some time, with revenue growth year-over-year from products like the iPad coming in at 24%. However, many are disillusioned by this company because, despite its reputation, its growth is lagging behind many competitors in the tech space, particularly in terms of sales.

The hefty price tags that accompany any Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) product on the market may be the biggest reason why sales seem to be lagging. However, analysts expect the iPhone 16 to bring about a massive change because this new model actually gives users a reason to upgrade. With Apple Intelligence only being available on the latest iPhone models – the 15 and 16 series – now may be the time for Apple enthusiasts to trade up from older models.

Apple Intelligence introduces generative AI on the iOS user interface and marks the first major step Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has taken in the field of AI. This signals to investors that the iPhone maker may finally be catching up with other big tech stocks, a development that is expected to increase growth and profitability in the coming years.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had 184 hedge funds long its stock in the second quarter, with a total stake value of $124.2 billion.

Overall AAPL ranks 5th on our list of the best big tech stocks to buy. While we acknowledge the potential of AAPL as an investment, we believe that AI stocks hold promise for delivering high returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. 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 the cheapest AI stock.

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