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Of the 535 members of Congress, 100 bought or sold stocks in 2023, according to options trading platform Unusual Whales. One-third of them outperformed the S&P 500.

With FAANG stocks skyrocketing in 2023, you might think representatives and senators loaded up on the widely followed growth stocks. But that wasn't the case. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill were net buyers of only one FAANG stock last year.

The Apple of politicians' eyes

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) turned out to win the votes of politicians in 2023. Representatives and senators bought $2.4 million of the tech stock, enough to land it in the No. 2 spot, narrowly trailing ConocoPhillips. Apple also ranked fifth among stocks traded by members of Congress based on number of shares.

Twenty lawmakers traded Apple last year. This made the stock slightly less popular than Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase with 23 and 21 members of Congress trading each stock, respectively.

Apple buyers on Capitol Hill included Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and the most active trader by far among members of Congress. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another California Democrat, also aggressively scooped up shares of the iPhone maker.

The stock wasn't just attractive to Democrats, though. Republican representatives Dan Newhouse of Washington, Blake Moore of Utah, and Michael Guest of Mississippi bought Apple. So did GOP senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.

Why just Apple?

It makes sense that Apple was a top pick for lawmakers -- it was the biggest company in the world based on market cap in 2023 and has been one of the most popular stocks among all investors for years. What is surprising, though, is that Apple was the only FAANG stock for which members of Congress were net buyers.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms generated much greater returns last year than Apple, with the social media stock nearly tripling. But politicians didn't jump on the bandwagon for some reason.

Amazon, Netflix , and Google parent Alphabet also outperformed Apple. Again, representatives and senators weren't excited enough about these stocks to aggressively buy them.

Perhaps politicians suffered from recency bias: the tendency to place more emphasis on recent experiences. In 2022, all of the FAANG stocks plunged. However, Apple fell much less than any of the others.

Is Apple stock a smart pick now?

So far in 2024, members of Congress are selling Apple stock much more than buying it. But is it a smart pick now?

There are reasons to be skeptical about the stock. Apple's growth is lackluster. The company's revenue rose by only 2% year over year in its quarter ending Dec. 30, 2023. That's not enough growth to justify the stock's valuation (shares currently trade at a forward earnings multiple of 25.6).

Rumors are flying that the early sales of Apple's new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset are disappointing. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote, "Apple cut orders before launching Vision Pro in non-U.S. markets, which means that demand in the U.S. market has fallen sharply beyond expectations."

On the other hand, Apple is expected to soon reveal new artificial intelligence (AI) innovations. CEO Tim Cook has hinted at a major announcement about AI this year. Cook said at the annual shareholder meeting in February that the company would "break new ground" in generative AI.

Perhaps Apple's AI news will disappoint investors. It's possible, though, that new AI technology could set the stage for a "supercycle" of iPhone upgrades. If so, investors -- including members of Congress -- could be better off buying Apple than kicking the stock to the curb.

Should you invest $1,000 in Apple right now?

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Keith Speights has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, JPMorgan Chase, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.