Apple will be the safest tech stock over the next 6 months, Gene Munster says

• Apple is probably the safest tech stock to invest in over the next six months, Gene Munster said.
• He pointed to Apple's plans to boost spending with its suppliers, which could lead to more output.

Apple will probably be the safest tech stock over the next half year, according to Deepwater Asset Management's Gene Munster.

In an interview on CNBC on Wednesday, Munster dismissed the Nasdaq's recent surge, which saw the tech-heavy benchmark jump 17% in the first two months of the year.

That movement is unlikely to last through the next six months, Munster said, though he believed Apple would be a place of refuge in the market, which is now being hit by a banking crisis.

"Apple is still doing probably the best job of any big tech in terms of navigating this storm," Munster said.

He pointed to Apple's plans to increase spending with its suppliers, which could translate to increased output, and expects the iPhone maker to beat industry growth forecasts of 1%.

"No company is immune, but I think Apple is probably the safest place to be when it comes to navigating at least these next six months," Munster said.

That comes after a wild week for the market, punctuated by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank last Friday. SVB, whose collapse sparked a steep sell-off other bank stocks, has mounted pressure on the Federal Reserve to ease up on its monetary tightening efforts in order to avoid overstressing the financial system. That could also be bullish for tech stocks, which were weighed down by rate hikes throughout 2022.

Amid the recent turmoil, markets have cut views for the next Fed rate hike, now expecting a quarter-point increase, and see up to 100 basis points in rate cuts by the end of the year.

But inflation is still a top concern for central bankers, who are unlikely to pull back on rates until the labor market softens, Munster said, meaning tech stocks could face more trouble through the first half of the year.

"I wish there was more optimism," he said. "I'm glad to hear about some of the potential pause in rate hikes, but I think that in terms of investing in tech stocks, in the near term, it's a little of a head fake."

Munster has called Apple "one of the world's greatest companies," and has touted the company as a bright spot in the tech sector. Previously, he said Apple stock had a true value of $250 a share, 65% above its current share price of $151.