Richard Bernstein Dumps Apple Stock in the Second Quarter

Core Insights - Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC sold 26,314 shares of Apple for $5.32 million in Q2 2025, reducing its stake in the company [2][3] - Post-sale, the fund holds 257,609 shares of Apple valued at $52.85 million, representing 1.30% of its assets under management (AUM) [2][4] - Apple's stock price was $202.92 as of August 5, 2025, reflecting a 7.7% decline over the past year and underperforming the S&P 500 by 19.69 percentage points [4] Company Overview - Apple generated revenue of $408.62 billion and net income of $99.28 billion in the trailing twelve months (TTM) [5] - The company has a dividend yield of 0.47% and a forward price/earnings ratio of 29.10 as of August 6, 2025 [5] - Apple's business model is vertically integrated, combining hardware, software, and services to create a seamless user ecosystem [6][7] Financial Performance - Apple's services segment has a gross profit margin of about 75%, significantly higher than the hardware gross margin of approximately 37% [9] - The ongoing growth in services sales is contributing to overall margin expansion, with mid-teens percentage growth reported [9] Market Position - Apple is one of the largest technology companies globally by revenue and net income, focusing on innovation and brand loyalty [7] - The company's strategy leverages premium hardware and expanding services to drive customer retention and recurring revenue [7] Investment Insights - Despite reducing its stake, Apple remains one of Richard Bernstein Advisors' largest equity holdings, with only 1.3% of its AUM in Apple compared to the stock's 6% weighting in the S&P 500 [8] - The recent sale of Apple shares may have been premature, as the stock has shown signs of recovery [8]