After investor concerns early in 2025 that Apple might lag in the AI revolution, the company ended the year with broad gains across product lines and services. iPhone unit sales rose mid-single digits year-over-year, while Services revenue climbed 12% to a record annual total. Apple expanded its AI features across iOS and macOS, integrating on-device processing to boost privacy and performance. By year-end, the company had secured partnerships with leading AI software vendors and announced a developer framework to accelerate third-party AI app innovation on the App Store.

Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter, adding 53,657 shares to bring its total to 1,450,538 shares—worth approximately $369 million and representing 3.6% of the fund’s assets and its seventh-largest holding. Several other large investors also boosted stakes: First National Bank of Hutchinson (+24.6%, 35,319 shares), Brighton Jones LLC (+14.8%, 537,314 shares), Revolve Wealth Partners LLC (+4.2%, 66,857 shares) and Highview Capital Management LLC DE (+2.4%, 50,264 shares). Hedge funds and institutional investors now own roughly 67.7% of Apple stock.

Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares over the past 90 days, raising $58.6 million in transactions. Notable trades include SVP Katherine L. Adams selling 47,125 shares (totaling $12.1 million) and engineer Chris Kondo selling 3,752 shares ($1.02 million). Apple reported Q4 earnings of $1.85 EPS—above the $1.74 consensus—and revenue of $102.47 billion (8.7% growth). Net margin stood at 26.9% with a return on equity of 164.1%. The board declared a $0.26 quarterly dividend (0.4% yield), while the company’s market cap reached $4.04 trillion, with a P/E of 36.6, PEG of 2.56 and beta of 1.10.