What happened Typically one of the better-performing stocks, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) couldn't escape the bear's claws on Thursday. For once, it wasn't the big tech company hitting the headlines that day. This, combined with a disquieting news item on the legal front, pushed the company's shares down by 1.9%, more or less matching the decline of the S&P 500 index. So what That morning, the bulls were stampeding to get a piece of Activision Blizzard. As the entire tech world knows by now, that company is being acquired by Microsoft for the price of a small country (OK, $68.7 billion). With a nearly $3 trillion market cap, Apple isn't about to be purchased by anybody. Image source: Getty Images. Generally speaking, tech stocks have fallen out of favor somewhat with investors. The prospect of sooner- and higher-than-expected interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve has investors spooked about more speculative investments. At this point, the very well-established Apple hardly fits that description, but as it's lumped in with the broader tech stock universe, it's guilty by association to some. Another development is also giving investors pause to think. Sweden-based tech and telecom company Ericsson has filed a new set of patent infringement lawsuits. This is the latest round in a sporadic fight between itself and Apple centered on royalty payments for 5G wireless patents utilized in the American company's iconic iPhones. Now what The Apple/Ericsson tussle has been dragging on since 2015, and at this point we shouldn't expect any judgment to hammer the American company badly enough to put a massive dent in its operations. Apple still has a very bright future, with its solid and durable lineup of enduringly popular devices anchoring a business that continues to develop promising new revenue streams. 10 stocks we like better than AppleWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Apple wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of January 10, 2022 Teresa Kersten, an employee of LinkedIn, a Microsoft subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Eric Volkman owns Apple. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Activision Blizzard, Apple, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source