Hedge fund manager Dan Niles said Monday that he won’t invest in Apple when the company’s quarterly earnings are overvalued. “I’m not going to touch Apple,” Niles said on CNBC’s “Blind Bell” on Monday. “This company didn’t grow revenue in 2019… and let’s not forget smartphone sales for the entire industry fell for the fourth year in a row.” Apple is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday. The tech giant is expected to post its first annual revenue decline since Q3 2019. The stock is up 10% this year following a sell-off of nearly 27% in 2022. The Satori Fund founder and senior portfolio manager says the stock is still expensive after the 2022 slump. Niles said it’s trading at 24 times forward earnings, which is high. much better than the S&P 500, which is trading at about 18 times earnings. “The market didn’t grow before the pandemic and people still love it because let’s face it, most of us carry an iPhone in our pocket,” Niles said. “You don’t want to confuse a product with inventory. And that’s a big mistake, especially if the multiples are high.” Apple issued a rare warning to investors last November, explaining that production problems would lead to lower-than-expected shipments. “I think what you’re going to see is a period of digestion this year. You can walk into any store you want, pick any iPhone you want, so it tells you that demand isn’t. too strong to run out of stock,” Niles said.