Is Apple (AAPL) the to Buy According to Billionaire Cliff Asness?
March 27, 2025
We recently published a list of the Top 10 Blue Chip AI Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Cliff Asness. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stands against other top blue chip AI stocks to buy according to billionaire Cliff Asness.
Cliff Asness is one of Wall Street’s most respected hedge fund managers. The founder and managing principal of AQR Capital Management has often relied on various strategies to squeeze value in the equity markets. Right from relying on fundamental analysis, Asness has also etched his name by focusing on value and momentum strategies that have often generated solid returns.
AQR Capital Management has generated positive outcomes over the past three years, having recorded its best year in 2022, when it gained 43.5%. Its 16.8% gain in 2021, 18.4% in 2023 and 15.1% in 2024 affirm its status as the best-performing multi-stage hedge fund.
The hedge fund is increasingly deploying artificial intelligence to enhance its performance. The technology is used in the core parts of the investing process while helping combine and weigh the various investment factors. AI is also being used to speed up coding and create trading signals from text.
READ ALSO: Cathie Wood’s Top 12 AI Stock Picks in 2025 and 10 Best Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Ray Dalio.
“AI’s coming for me now. It turns out it’s annoyingly better than me. AI, to be honest, pushes us a little on the spectrum away from some of the traditional things we’ve talked about, and that was uncomfortable for me,” said Asness.
Even as Asness continues to integrate artificial intelligence into the overall investment strategy at AQR Capital Management, he remains wary that the markets have become less efficient over the past 35 years.
“One of my themes is that markets just don’t get efficient on their own. There are our tools, our institutions, our traditions, and ultimately markets are a voting mechanism. So anything we do to make that noisier is going to make markets less efficient,” Asness said.
In a less efficient market, rational value investors need to weather the ups and downs that come into being. Consequently, the AQR Capital Management chief believes rational investors prepared to stay in the game for the long term stand a better chance of navigating the less inefficient markets.
The longer an investor’s timeline, the better their capacity to endure the fluctuations of the market and benefit from its reduced efficiency, assuming they can weather elevated risk and potentially prolonged periods of discomfort. Several aspects can assist with this, such as not fixating on every single item in your portfolio, losing sight of the broader picture, and not believing that three to five-year trends are fixed.
Asness also advises investors to be wary of over-investing in private assets in an attempt to stabilize their returns. A consistent critic of private equity, Asness contends that firms which do not accurately assess assets against market value are obscuring the genuine level of risk investors are embracing. He expresses confusion as to why investors appear prepared to pay a premium for what he refers to as “volatility laundering,” arguing that by doing so, they are settling for diminished returns.
To make the list of 10 Blue Chip AI Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Cliff Asness, we analyzed AQR Capital Management Q4 2024 13F filing. We settled on the top blue chip companies with significant exposure to artificial intelligence. We then analyzed them on why they stand out as Billionaire Cliff Asness’ top stock picks. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on the value of AQR Capital Management equity stakes. Additionally, we have mentioned the broader hedge fund sentiment around each stock, as of Q4 2024.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with 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).
A wide view of an Apple store, showing the range of products the company offers.
AQR Capital Management Equity Stakes: $2.59 Billion
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a technology company that designs, manufactures, and sells a wide array of consumer electronics, including smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and online services. The company is increasingly integrating artificial intelligence into its products and services to strengthen its competitive edge. Likewise, it is the largest holding in AQR Capital Management.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is best known for its flagship iPhone product line, accounting for the biggest share of its total revenue at 52%. It also generates a significant chunk of revenues from Macs, iPads, and wearable sales. Nevertheless, the company is increasingly investing in its services segment, which poses higher profit margins of over 70%. With over 2.2 billion Apple devices on sale, the company is increasingly integrating AI services to strengthen its service offerings.
More consumers may be encouraged to upgrade their phones and tablets in order to take advantage of the newest features and capabilities as the firm provides more AI-powered services. Amit Daryanani, an Evercore ISI analyst, projects that Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) earnings per share would increase from $7.33 this year to $11.50 by 2029 due to its consistent performance and growing services division. Growing iPhone market share, prospective AI revenue streams, and increased monetization should also act as key growth drivers.
Overall, AAPL ranks 1st on our list of top blue chip AI stocks to buy according to billionaire Cliff Asness. While we acknowledge the potential of 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 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 Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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