We recently compiled a list of the 12 Best Fortune 500 Stocks To Buy According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other best Fortune 500 stocks.

The Fortune 500 list includes companies that generate the highest revenue in the United States. In total, Fortune 500 companies represent two-thirds of the US GDP with $18.8 trillion in revenues, $1.7 trillion in profits, and $43 trillion in market value (as of March 28, 2024), and they employ approximately 31 million people worldwide. Large-cap stocks, which form most of the Fortune 500, are typically safer investments and offer relative stability in times of economic difficulty.

READ ALSO: 11 Best Performing Dow Stocks so Far in 2025 

After registering significant gains over the last two years, the broader US market fell sharply on Friday in the wake of weaker-than-expected economic reports and softening consumer demand. A recent report by S&P Global showed that business activity in the US is slowing down, with growth decelerating to a 17-month low. The slowdown is primarily a reflection of rising uncertainty about the business environment, especially in relation to federal government policies regarding domestic spending cuts and the constant threat of looming tariffs.

There are also serious concerns of high inflation due to the said tariffs, causing consumers to be more wary of their spending habits. According to the Tax Foundation, if the tariffs threatened by President Trump are actually imposed, it would amount to an average tax increase of more than $800 per US household in 2025. The tariffs on China alone will add $172 to the tax burden per household, while the rumored imposts on Canadian oil will drive up the price of gas, affecting the entire economy.

That said, some policy measures promised by the Trump administration can also bode well for US corporations and the overall business environment, including taking a less heavy-handed approach towards mergers than under President Biden’s administration. Moreover, the cornerstone of Trump’s second term will be to relax tax policies and extend or make permanent many of the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that expire at the end of 2025. The President has campaigned on further reducing the base corporate rate to 20%, with an additional cut to 15% for companies that produce goods on American soil.

Another important thing to be mindful of was recently highlighted by Bank of America in a note earlier this month, warning investors of the high concentration levels in the market, where a handful of firms command the lion’s share of investments. This is partially because of passive investing, where investors shovel money into indexes indiscriminately. Passive funds now hold a higher percentage of the US stock market than active funds, which can distort market prices and severely mislead investors. To avoid a potential drawdown, the bank has advised its investors to diversify and consider investing in baskets of quality stocks with lower exposure to the Magnificent Seven stocks.

Methodology

To collect data for this article, we referred to the top 50 companies among the Fortune Global Rankings as of January 20, 2024. We then picked out 12 companies with the highest number of hedge fund investors according to the Insider Monkey database as of Q4 2024. Following are the Best Fortune 500 Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds.

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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) holds the honor of being the largest company in the world, with a market cap of around $3.69 trillion as of the writing of this article. The Silicon Valley-based tech giant is famous for creating the iPhone, iPad, and Macintosh computers.

Despite a mixed performance in certain segments, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported revenue of $124.3 billion for Q1 2025, up 4% YoY, and an all-time record. EPS also set an all-time record of $2.40, 10% higher YoY and surpassing market expectations. Services continue to be a major growth factor for Apple, achieving a record revenue of $26.34 billion in Q1 and illustrating the company’s focus on high-margin businesses such as digital streaming and cloud services. However, Apple’s iPhone revenue in the first quarter was $69.14 billion, slightly down from $69.7 billion a year ago, potentially due to market saturation and less demand in Greater China. The company remains financially robust and ended the quarter with $141 billion in cash and marketable securities.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands out for its capital-return program and since the start of 2013, the tech company has bought back almost 43% of its outstanding shares at a cost of close to $750 billion. Apple maintained this momentum and returned over $30 billion to shareholders in Q1 2025. This included $3.9 billion in dividends and equivalents and $23.3 billion through open market repurchases. The tech giant declared a cash dividend of $0.25 per share last month.

Overall AAPL ranks 4th on our list of the best Fortune 500 stocks to buy according to hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential for 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. 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.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and Complete List of 59 AI Companies Under $2 Billion in Market Cap

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