Here’s Why Sands Capital Select Growth Sold Its Investments in Apple (AAPL)

Sands Capital, an investment management company, released its “Sands Capital Select Growth Strategy” Q1 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Select Growth Strategy primarily targets U.S. companies that are leading the way in crucial areas of positive structural transformation within the economy. U.S. growth equities, tracked by the Russell 1000 Growth Index, experienced their poorest quarterly performance since 2022, significantly lagging behind U.S. value equities, represented by the Russell 1000 Value Index, in the widest gap observed since 2001. The strategy slightly underperformed the Russell 1000 Growth Index in the quarter. You can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to know more about its best picks for 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Sands Capital Select Growth Fund highlighted stocks such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is an American multinational company that designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. The one-month return of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was 0.99%, and its shares gained 3.51% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 30, 2025, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock closed at $200.85 per share, with a market capitalization of $3 trillion.

Sands Capital Select Growth Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“We exited Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in March to fund what we view as compelling additions to existing holdings during the market selloff and to strengthen our cash position for future opportunities. Apple’s inclusion in Select Growth was intended to provide stability to the portfolio. However, in the current market environment, we see greater upside potential in other businesses and view cash as a more effective tool for downside protection and opportunistic deployment. We remain positive on the potential for shorter replacement cycles for computers and mobile devices driven by Apple Intelligence. That said, the delayed rollout of AI features—and Apple’s acknowledgment that some may be indefinitely postponed—could limit its ability to exceed earnings expectations. Apple remains a leading global technology business with a vast hardware and software ecosystem, strong customer lock-in, and powerful network effects. We will continue to monitor its progress and its potential fit within the Select Growth portfolio.”

An Apple store displaying the latest in consumer electronics, from smartphones to wearables.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in 8th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 159 hedge fund portfolios held Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of the first quarter, which was 166 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.

In another article, we covered Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and shared the list of AI stocks on Wall Street’s radar. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.