Monness Reiterates Buy on Apple Inc. (AAPL), Citing AI Potential and Ecosystem Strength

We recently compiled a list of the 10 Trending AI Stocks on Wall Street’s Radar. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against the other AI stocks.

In the latest news in AI, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said that he has agreed with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to set up a joint venture in Japan. The venture will be offering artificial intelligence services to corporate customers. Known as SB OpenAI Japan, the joint venture will be owned by OpenAI together with a company established by SoftBank and its domestic telecoms arm. This move by Son’s company aims to deepen relations with OpenAI, which has been looking at investing around $15 billion to $25 billion in the company. The company has also committed $15 billion to Stargate, a joint venture with OpenAI and Oracle.

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With AI efforts such as the Stargate initiative and advancements coming from companies such as DeepSeek and Alibaba, the world of AI is shaking up and moving pretty fast. In response, OpenAI is considering a shift to its closed-source development approach. DeepSeek’s release of a lower-cost open-source AI model has led OpenAI to rethink how to move forward, as reported by Seeking Alpha on February 1st citing OpenAI executives’ comments during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” event. CEO Sam Altman said during the event that OpenAI needs to “figure out a different open-source strategy”.

Altman further added that not everyone shares the same view and that figuring out the strategy is “not our current highest priority”. OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil even said during the same event that the company was considering open-sourcing older AI models. Here is what Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun on OpenAI models:

“DeepSeek has profited from open research and open source. … They came up with new ideas and built them on top of other people’s work,” LeCun wrote. “Because their work is published and open source, everyone can profit from it. That is the power of open research and open source.”

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among 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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Apple Inc. (AAPL): How AI Innovations Could Shape the Next iPhone Upgrade Cycle

A wide view of an Apple store, showing the range of products the company offers.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 158

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a technology company known for its iPhones, iPads, and a range of other software, consumer electronics, and services. On January 31, Monness analyst Brian White maintained their bullish stance on the stock, giving a “Buy” rating.  Its buy rating reflects both challenges and opportunities for Apple’s stock. To begin with, the company represents strong potential for innovation with its robust digital ecosystem. This is despite the company reporting a modest decline in iPhone sales and a less-than-terrific quarterly performance. The introduction of Apple Intelligence exemplifies its mark in the AI world, driving future demand and bolstering its competitive edge. Moreover, even though geopolitical and regulatory challenges have dented Apple’s revenue, there is hope that the increased demand for the iPhone 16 series in markets that have access to Apple Intelligence will allow recovery and growth. Other product segments such as Mac and Services have had a strong performance, which underscores the bullish outlook.

Overall AAPL ranks 2nd on our list of the AI stocks on Wall Street’s radar. 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 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.

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

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