It’s been nearly two years since Apple (AAPL) lost its top status in China, as tech companies like Huawei launched their 5G smartphones and took the No. 1 spot in the Chinese market. But today is a good day for Apple, as the maker of the iPhone is once again China’s market leader on the back of a 28% year-over-year gain in shipments in the fourth quarter. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple saw strong sales in the fourth quarter from its iPhone 17 series. The only new product that didn’t see strong ...

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]