Here’s How Apple (AAPL) Contributed to Macquarie Core Equity Fund’s Performance
Macquarie Asset Management, an investment management company, released its “Macquarie Core Equity Fund” investor letter for the second quarter of 2025. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The US large-cap equity market surged in Q2 2025, with the S&P 500® Index rising 10.94%. The equity market’s strength was due to reduced concerns over the possibility of President Trump quickly imposing harsh tariffs. Later, the administration put a pause on the tariff implementation. In this environment, the Macquarie Core Equity Fund’s Institutional Class returned 11.94% surpassing the benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. Eighty percent of the relative performance was driven by sector selection, and individual security selection accounted for the remainder. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, the Macquarie Core Equity Fund highlighted stocks such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is an American multinational company that designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. The one-month return of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was 4.44%, and its shares gained 4.24% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 18, 2025, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock closed at $237.88 per share, with a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion.
Macquarie Core Equity Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) declined in the quarter and meaningfully underperformed the S&P 500. The security contributed to relative performance due to our underweighting, approximately 50% lower than the benchmark weight. While Apple continues to have laudable attributes and strong repurchase intent, the company is failing to grow at historical rates given the maturation of many key products.”
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in 8th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 156 hedge fund portfolios held Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of the second quarter, which was 159 in the previous quarter. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported revenue of $94 billion in the June quarter, reflecting a 10% year-over-year increase. While we acknowledge the potential of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.