Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 561,622 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,726 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.5% of Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $158,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Apple Trading Down 0.1% Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $324.96 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $225.95 and a 52-week high of $344.57. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The business’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year. Apple Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.61.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple
More Apple News Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: CEO transition initially welcomed: John Ternus officially became CEO on Sept. 1 after 25 years at Apple, while Tim Cook remains executive chairman. Investors view Ternus’s hardware expertise as providing continuity, and Apple shares rose sharply during his first day in the role. Apple shares rise as John Ternus takes over as CEO Positive Sentiment: Constructive analyst outlook: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its overweight rating and set a $360 price target, while Bank of America reiterated Buy with a $380 target. Analysts see potential for Apple to strengthen its position in the AI era through hardware, services and a new product cycle. Positive Sentiment: Foldable iPhone could add significant revenue: Morgan Stanley estimates Apple’s anticipated foldable iPhone could contribute approximately $14 billion in December-quarter revenue, creating a potential new growth engine. Apple foldable iPhone revenue estimate Neutral Sentiment: Sept. 9 launch is the key near-term catalyst: Wall Street considers the upcoming iPhone event an important test of pricing power, consumer demand, AI capabilities and whether Apple can sustain growth beyond its mature smartphone franchise. Ternus has described the launch as “phenomenal.” Why the next iPhone launch matters Neutral Sentiment: Leadership incentives align with shareholders: Ternus’s approximately $55 million–$58 million compensation package is heavily tied to Apple’s performance relative to the S&P 500. Cook will receive about $47 million as executive chairman, supporting continuity but underscoring his continued influence. Negative Sentiment: Valuation and growth concerns remain: DA Davidson maintained a Neutral rating with a $270 target, and Rosenblatt kept Neutral despite raising its target to $303. Analysts warn that Apple may need the foldable iPhone and stronger AI execution to avoid a revenue slowdown next year, while its premium valuation leaves limited room for disappointment. Negative Sentiment: AI, memory costs and legal risks weigh on sentiment: Apple trails some rivals in AI, faces elevated memory-chip costs that could pressure margins, and is engaged in a contentious trade-secrets lawsuit with OpenAI. OpenAI denies Apple’s allegations, increasing uncertainty around the dispute. Insider Buying and Selling at Apple In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,576,357.55. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
About Apple (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
See Also Five stocks we like better than Apple Striking Oil: How the U.S. Play for Venezuela Fuels Supermajors J.M. Smucker Stock’s Rally Has More Than Tariffs Behind It Wendy’s Rally Fades After Trian Steps Back: Was It Ever Real? GitLab’s Earnings Beat Just Gave Software Bulls a New SaaSpocalypse Test
Receive News & Ratings for Apple Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Apple and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Axis Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 15.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,044 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,312 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.8% of Axis Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Axis Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 14.1% during the first quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 24,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,189,000 after buying an additional 3,014 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 21.3% during the first quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 108.3% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 18,188 shares during the period. Finally, Davis R M Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,151,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $292,202,000 after purchasing an additional 23,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Key Headlines Impacting Apple Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: CEO transition initially welcomed: John Ternus officially became CEO on Sept. 1 after 25 years at Apple, while Tim Cook remains executive chairman. Investors view Ternus’s hardware expertise as providing continuity, and Apple shares rose sharply during his first day in the role. Apple shares rise as John Ternus takes over as CEO Positive Sentiment: Constructive analyst outlook: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its overweight rating and set a $360 price target, while Bank of America reiterated Buy with a $380 target. Analysts see potential for Apple to strengthen its position in the AI era through hardware, services and a new product cycle. Positive Sentiment: Foldable iPhone could add significant revenue: Morgan Stanley estimates Apple’s anticipated foldable iPhone could contribute approximately $14 billion in December-quarter revenue, creating a potential new growth engine. Apple foldable iPhone revenue estimate Neutral Sentiment: Sept. 9 launch is the key near-term catalyst: Wall Street considers the upcoming iPhone event an important test of pricing power, consumer demand, AI capabilities and whether Apple can sustain growth beyond its mature smartphone franchise. Ternus has described the launch as “phenomenal.” Why the next iPhone launch matters Neutral Sentiment: Leadership incentives align with shareholders: Ternus’s approximately $55 million–$58 million compensation package is heavily tied to Apple’s performance relative to the S&P 500. Cook will receive about $47 million as executive chairman, supporting continuity but underscoring his continued influence. Negative Sentiment: Valuation and growth concerns remain: DA Davidson maintained a Neutral rating with a $270 target, and Rosenblatt kept Neutral despite raising its target to $303. Analysts warn that Apple may need the foldable iPhone and stronger AI execution to avoid a revenue slowdown next year, while its premium valuation leaves limited room for disappointment. Negative Sentiment: AI, memory costs and legal risks weigh on sentiment: Apple trails some rivals in AI, faces elevated memory-chip costs that could pressure margins, and is engaged in a contentious trade-secrets lawsuit with OpenAI. OpenAI denies Apple’s allegations, increasing uncertainty around the dispute. Insider Activity at Apple In other news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,576,357.55. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock. Apple Stock Down 0.1% Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $324.96 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $313.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.62. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $225.95 and a 52-week high of $344.57.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $330.61.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Apple Company Profile (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than Apple Striking Oil: How the U.S. Play for Venezuela Fuels Supermajors J.M. Smucker Stock’s Rally Has More Than Tariffs Behind It Wendy’s Rally Fades After Trian Steps Back: Was It Ever Real? GitLab’s Earnings Beat Just Gave Software Bulls a New SaaSpocalypse Test Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Apple Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Apple and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
This year has seen its fair share of major leadership transitions. After more than half a century at the helm, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett retired as CEO on Dec. 31. Similarly, Adobe's chief of 18 years, Shantanu Narayen, announced in March that he planned to step down once a new CEO is appointed.
But perhaps the biggest surprise of all was the April 20 announcement that Apple (AAPL -0.05%) CEO Tim Cook, who's held the top position since August 2011, would step down on Sept. 1 and turn the proverbial keys over to John Ternus. Although Cook is staying aboard as the executive chairman of Apple's board, the company's day-to-day operations and its innovative trajectory will now be charted by Ternus.
Apple's now-former CEO delivering remarks at the White House. Image source: Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok.
Since Cook was appointed CEO, Apple shares have soared by more than 2,700%, including dividends. While some investors will attribute these outsize gains to Cook overseeing iPhone innovation, a pivot to high-margin subscription services, and the launch of Apple's generative artificial intelligence (AI) system, Apple Intelligence, his legacy should be defined by the nearly $879 billion investment he oversaw that had nothing to do with AI.
Apple's now-former CEO bet big on his company As of the closing bell on Aug. 28, $879 billion was greater than the market cap of all but 12 S&P 500 companies, one of which is Apple. In other words, Cook could have used this capital to purchase all but 11 other companies in the benchmark S&P 500.
Instead, Tim Cook and Apple's board have spent $878.5 billion since the start of 2013 purchasing their most prized asset: shares of Apple:
2013: $22.95 billion in buybacks 2014: $45 billion 2015: $35.253 billion 2016: $29.722 billion 2017: $32.9 billion 2018: $72.738 billion 2019: $66.897 billion 2020: $72.358 billion 2021: $85.971 billion 2022: $89.402 billion 2023: $77.55 billion 2024: $94.949 billion 2025: $90.711 billion 2026: $62.094 billion (through the fiscal third quarter) During Cook's tenure as CEO, he oversaw a 44.5% reduction in Apple's outstanding share count.
AAPL Shares Outstanding (Quarterly) data by YCharts.
To say this aggressive buyback program had a positive impact on Apple's stock or its bottom line would be an understatement. For companies with steady or growing net income, a decline in the number of shares outstanding can increase earnings per share, making it more attractive to fundamentally focused value investors.
A little over a month ago, Apple shares hit an all-time high, with the company's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio tipping the scales at nearly 40. Without these aggressive share repurchases, Apple's P/E ratio would have been historically high.
Premium Feature
Moneyball Superscore
88/100
Today's Change
(
-0.05
%) $
-0.17
Current Price
$
324.96
You'll also note that Apple's buybacks really stepped up in 2018, once President Donald Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) took effect. The TCJA permanently lowered the peak marginal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% (the lowest level since 1939). With market leaders like Apple retaining more of their income, share repurchases became a priority.
With Cook staying on as executive chair of Apple's board and the company generating boatloads of operating cash flow, buybacks should remain a staple, even with Ternus now steering the ship.
Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Adobe, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2028 $330 calls on Adobe and short January 2028 $340 calls on Adobe. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,829,755 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 38,672 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.5% of Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super’s holdings in Apple were worth $529,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.61.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL Apple Stock Down 0.1% Apple stock opened at $324.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $313.87 and its 200-day moving average is $289.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.95 and a fifty-two week high of $344.57.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.
Trending Headlines about Apple Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: CEO transition initially welcomed: John Ternus officially became CEO on Sept. 1 after 25 years at Apple, while Tim Cook remains executive chairman. Investors view Ternus’s hardware expertise as providing continuity, and Apple shares rose sharply during his first day in the role. Apple shares rise as John Ternus takes over as CEO Positive Sentiment: Constructive analyst outlook: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its overweight rating and set a $360 price target, while Bank of America reiterated Buy with a $380 target. Analysts see potential for Apple to strengthen its position in the AI era through hardware, services and a new product cycle. Positive Sentiment: Foldable iPhone could add significant revenue: Morgan Stanley estimates Apple’s anticipated foldable iPhone could contribute approximately $14 billion in December-quarter revenue, creating a potential new growth engine. Apple foldable iPhone revenue estimate Neutral Sentiment: Sept. 9 launch is the key near-term catalyst: Wall Street considers the upcoming iPhone event an important test of pricing power, consumer demand, AI capabilities and whether Apple can sustain growth beyond its mature smartphone franchise. Ternus has described the launch as “phenomenal.” Why the next iPhone launch matters Neutral Sentiment: Leadership incentives align with shareholders: Ternus’s approximately $55 million–$58 million compensation package is heavily tied to Apple’s performance relative to the S&P 500. Cook will receive about $47 million as executive chairman, supporting continuity but underscoring his continued influence. Negative Sentiment: Valuation and growth concerns remain: DA Davidson maintained a Neutral rating with a $270 target, and Rosenblatt kept Neutral despite raising its target to $303. Analysts warn that Apple may need the foldable iPhone and stronger AI execution to avoid a revenue slowdown next year, while its premium valuation leaves limited room for disappointment. Negative Sentiment: AI, memory costs and legal risks weigh on sentiment: Apple trails some rivals in AI, faces elevated memory-chip costs that could pressure margins, and is engaged in a contentious trade-secrets lawsuit with OpenAI. OpenAI denies Apple’s allegations, increasing uncertainty around the dispute. Insider Activity at Apple In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,576,357.55. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock valued at $1,367,024 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Apple (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
Recommended Stories Five stocks we like better than Apple Striking Oil: How the U.S. Play for Venezuela Fuels Supermajors J.M. Smucker Stock’s Rally Has More Than Tariffs Behind It Wendy’s Rally Fades After Trian Steps Back: Was It Ever Real? GitLab’s Earnings Beat Just Gave Software Bulls a New SaaSpocalypse Test Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Apple Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Apple and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Apple (AAPL.O) is facing a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) London lawsuit brought on behalf of app developers over its app tracking rules, with the iPhone maker accused of abusing its power to unfairly impose greater restrictions on third parties.
The lawsuit, filed at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal on Thursday, follows years of regulatory scrutiny over Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature, which was launched in 2021.
Apple has said it introduced that feature to allow users to control whether to grant apps permission to track their activity across other companies' apps and websites.
Lawyers bringing the new lawsuit against Apple, though, say the feature imposed stricter requirements on third-party app developers than on Apple's own services, giving its advertising ecosystem a competitive advantage.
Ann Pope, a former senior official with Britain's Competition and Markets Authority who is leading the lawsuit, said Apple's policy "resulted in very significant harm to businesses that depend on Apple as a gatekeeper".
"This action is important to protect the rights of British businesses that depend on Apple, to ensure that the rules that Apple applies are fair, and to compensate the losses that British companies have suffered," Pope said in a statement.
Apple, which has previously said its App Tracking Transparency provides "important privacy protections", did not immediately comment.
Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature has been the subject of investigations across Europe, in particular in Germany where Apple last month agreed changes to rules on how app developers can use personal data for targeted advertising.
The German competition authority had accused Apple of abusing its market power, after Facebook-owner Meta (META.O) plus publishers, advertisers and app developers – whose business models rely on advertising tracking – criticised the tool.
Regulators in France, Italy, Poland and elsewhere have also probed the App Tracking Transparency framework.
John Ternus took over as Apple's chief executive on Tuesday, inheriting a company that towers over the smartphone market but trails its rivals in artificial intelligence.
Tim Cook grew Apple (AAPL -0.05%) from a $350 billion company to a $5 trillion company over his 15 years as CEO, and the stock returned 2,740% to shareholders over that time.
Apple stock hit the $5 trillion mark as Cook gave his last earnings call as CEO, a fitting tribute to a leader who skillfully filled the big shoes of founder Steve Jobs.
The question on everyone's mind is whether new CEO John Ternus, who took over as of Sept. 1, can continue that streak. Apple stock has since pulled back slightly after management warned of skyrocketing memory prices and decelerating growth. Here's what investors should be watching as Ternus takes over.
Apple Intelligence Prior to its rise earlier this year, the market had viewed Apple negatively for its lack of artificial intelligence (AI) advances. All of the other mega-cap tech stocks, like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet, have been spending on AI development like it's going out of style, which it most definitely is not, and that's the problem. Apple has been touting its own Apple Intelligence, but it hasn't released a large language model (LLM) or any groundbreaking AI platform.
Image source: Apple.
Recently, Apple announced an upgraded Siri, its voice assistant, based on a customized LLM developed in partnership with Alphabet, and so far, management says it's getting great feedback.
Apple is about consumer devices, which is why it can get away with outsourcing some of its tech to partners. However, how it integrates AI into its product line will be a critical factor in its success over the next few years.
The user experience is everything That leads to Apple's advantage. According to Cook, "What sets Apple apart is the unique combination of massive unified memory bandwidth, industry-leading power-efficient performance, and deep on-device intelligence, all built around the customer experience from the ground up."
Premium Feature
Moneyball Superscore
88/100
Today's Change
(
-0.05
%) $
-0.17
Current Price
$
324.96
Apple's continued performance depends on delivering the best user experience to its loyal customers. That's what has generated 22% to 23% sales increases for its premier product, the iPhone, over the past three quarters.
Management said that supply is constrained by the memory component and that iPhone sales growth will be lower in the fourth quarter as a result.
The market was disappointed by the lower guidance for sales and gross margin, which is expected to narrow due to rising costs. However, the main factor to watch is how the iPhone user experience continues to evolve. Apple is raising some prices to cover higher costs, and there might be some short-term margin pressure. If the iPhone continues to deliver the experience its users expect, it won't matter in the long run for Apple stock. In fact, if the stock falls on lower margins, it could be an opportunity to buy. Apple stock isn't cheap today, trading at 36 times trailing 12-month earnings. That's a sign of long-term confidence, and investors might want to wait for a more attractive entry point.
You are now leaving Barron's websiteBy clicking on the “Proceed” button below, you will be redirected to a third-party website owned and operated by Hong Kong Tiimoot Information Technology Co., Limited. (“HKT”), which is located in Hong Kong. That website operates independently from Barron's and Barron's does not control the website. The privacy practices of HKT are subject to its Privacy Statement, so please read it closely. We are not responsible for HKT's privacy or other data-related practices.
Walter Isaacson, Perella Weinberg Partners advisory partner, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss Apple's new CEO, what investors would like to see and much more.
Atria Investments Inc trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 413,130 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,466 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.2% of Atria Investments Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $119,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 14.1% in the first quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 24,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 21.3% during the first quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 18,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,151,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $292,202,000 after purchasing an additional 23,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Apple Price Performance Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $325.13 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $225.95 and a twelve month high of $344.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $4.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $313.24 and its 200 day moving average is $289.18.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year. Apple Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.
Key Headlines Impacting Apple Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
Positive Sentiment: John Ternus takes over with an encouraging product message: The longtime hardware engineering chief officially became CEO, while Tim Cook remains as executive chairman. Ternus reportedly told employees that a “huge” and “phenomenal” iPhone launch is coming next week, supporting expectations for strong product momentum and potential interest in a foldable iPhone. John Ternus hypes huge launch next week in first memo as Apple CEO Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism is providing additional support: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and a $380 price target, citing an opportunity for Apple to achieve “device dominance” in the AI era. Rosenblatt also raised its target to $303, though it maintained a Neutral rating, underscoring the mixed outlook at current prices. Bank of America sees device dominance ahead Positive Sentiment: Services and Mac demand remain potential growth catalysts: Apple’s price increases for Apple TV and Apple One highlight ecosystem pricing power and could lift high-margin services revenue. Separately, reported shortages of high-memory Mac mini and Mac Studio models suggest developers and businesses may be using Apple Silicon for local AI workloads. Cook out, Silicon in: Will Ternus trigger Apple’s edge AI boom? Neutral Sentiment: Continuity may reduce transition risk: Cook’s $47 million compensation package as executive chair signals that he will remain influential, including on government and strategic matters. However, Ternus must establish authority while succeeding a CEO whose tenure produced extraordinary shareholder returns. Tim Cook to be paid $47 million as Apple’s executive chair Negative Sentiment: Key risks remain concentrated in AI, costs and valuation: Apple is still viewed as behind rivals in AI and faces pressure to improve Siri. Memory shortages could weigh on hardware margins, while shares trade near record levels at roughly 37 times earnings. Apple also faces an escalating trade-secret lawsuit with OpenAI, which has called the claims baseless. Apple enters John Ternus era as AI challenges and memory crunch intensify Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. BTIG Research began coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $330.61.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Apple
Insider Buying and Selling In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.95, for a total value of $447,457.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,229 shares in the company, valued at $11,576,357.55. This trade represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 4,433 shares of company stock worth $1,367,024 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Apple Company Profile (Free Report)
Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.
Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.
Further Reading Five stocks we like better than Apple Dutch Bros Sell-Off Creates a Growth Opportunity NVIDIA’s MediaTek Bet Shows How It Plans to Defend Its AI Moat Is Abercrombie & Fitch’s Hot Streak Just Getting Started? Medtronic’s Stars Are Aligning for a Price Recovery
Receive News & Ratings for Apple Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Apple and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
The September 9 launch must defend a franchise supplying nearly half of Apple's quarterly revenue. Summary
Apple needs product excitement that converts into premium pricing.
Apple AAPL, the consumer-technology and digital-services powerhouse, slipped roughly 0.4% to $323.91 Wednesday as the clock ticks toward its September 9 product event. New iPhones will grab the headlines. But speculation around Apple's first foldable model could be the catalyst investors really care about.
Apple is not walking into this launch cold. Its third-quarter results packed real firepower: revenue soared 16% to $109.42 billion, while earnings per share surged 29% to $2.02. The company's financial statements showed iPhone revenue reaching $54.25 billion. That is nearly half of Apple's entire quarterly revenue machine.
Now the pressure is on. A foldable iPhone could crack open a lucrative premium market and spark a fresh upgrade wave—but Apple must nail the hardware, software and supply chain. The valuation snapshot shows the stock trading at $323.91, a hefty 13.91% above its $284.36 GF Value. Investors are already paying for excitement. Apple now needs to deliver it.
Disclosures I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and have no plans to buy any new positions in the stocks mentioned within the next 72 hours.
Key Takeaways Apple shares gained 2.6% as John Ternus officially succeeded Tim Cook as CEO.Ternus faces pressure to accelerate Apple's AI strategy while maintaining its strong product ecosystem.Cook becomes executive chairman as Ternus prepares for a major product launch next week. Apple Inc.’s (AAPL - Free Report) shares gained about 2.6% on Tuesday as John Ternus officially took over as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), succeeding Tim Cook. The leadership transition marks the beginning of a new era for the iPhone maker after Cook’s nearly 15-year tenure.
Ternus joined Apple in 2001 and most recently served as senior vice president of hardware engineering. He played an important role in the development of several key Apple products, including the iPad, Mac, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro. Apple announced in April 2026 that Ternus would succeed Cook effective Sept. 1.
Cook, who became CEO in August 2011, officially moved into the role of executive chairman on Sept. 1. During his tenure, Apple expanded from a roughly $350 billion company into a more than $4.5 trillion technology giant, while substantially increasing its services business and global supply-chain capabilities. In his new role, Cook is expected to focus partly on Apple's relationships with policymakers worldwide.
The transition comes as Apple faces significant challenges in artificial intelligence (AI), with investors expecting Ternus to accelerate the company’s AI strategy while maintaining its strong product ecosystem. Ternus is also preparing for a major product launch next week, giving investors an early opportunity to assess his leadership approach.
Apple’s strong share price reaction on Sept. 1 suggests investors broadly welcomed the planned succession and the continuity offered by Ternus’s long experience within the company.
Comparison With PeersAAPL, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is part of the Zacks Computer - Micro Computers industry. Its shares have gained 19.6% year to date against a 21.8% advance for the industry. Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL - Free Report) and HP Inc. (HPQ - Free Report) , two of AAPL’s peers from the same industry, have gained 237.6% and 40.6% in the same period, respectively. While DELL flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), HPQ carries a Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Bottom LineInvestor sentiment seems to be positive on the notion that the planned transition provides continuity while giving Ternus an opportunity to strengthen Apple’s AI strategy and product innovation.
John Ternus steps into the CEO role at Apple with the stock near a record high, but the hardware event eight days away demands something far harder than a good quarter: a convincing answer to why the iPhone stays at…
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
John Ternus starts as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) CEO with the stock near a historic high, and roughly 8 days remain before a September hardware event where he will address the entire audience for the first time. CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos said, “John Ternus era begins at a moment when Apple is facing historic headwinds.”
Shares rose 2.61% on his first day and traded at $325.13, up 40.58% over one year and 19.92% year to date on a market cap of $4.745T. The pressures Ternus inherits are real but uneven. Memory costs squeezing hardware margins will pass. The AI question is structural, and Apple has to answer it in a way that changes minds about where the next computing interface will actually live.
Margin Squeeze Is the Mechanical Problem Fiscal Q3 revenue was $109.42 billion, up 16.4% year over year, with EPS of $2.02 beating the $1.89 consensus, per Apple’s 8-K filing.
Gross margin was 50.1%, and tariff refunds added roughly 2 percentage points on top. Strip those out and Apple still ran a very good quarter.
September guidance points to gross margin between 47% and 48%. Tim Cook described memory pricing as “a 100-year flood on the memory pricing with exponential increases in memory prices” driven by only three DRAM suppliers.
Sigalos framed the tension precisely: “Push iPhone prices too far, and you risk slowing the device growth that ultimately feeds services.”
Services delivered $30.74 billion at 75.6% gross margin. Hardware volume feeds that annuity, and Ternus cannot let iPhone unit economics slip while he defends the average selling price.
AI Question Is the Structural One Siri AI shipped to developers after WWDC26, and Cook said early reviews were “phenomenal,” although that assessment comes from Apple itself.
The competitive set does not flatter Apple’s positioning. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) passed 30 million paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats, and Azure surpassed $100 billion in fiscal-year revenue, growing 41%.
Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) Gemini app hit 950 million monthly active users, and Google Cloud revenue grew 82% in Q2. Meta (NASDAQ:META) is putting personal agents on top of Family DAP of 3.60 billion.
Apple’s R&D of $11.73 billion a quarter is real spending, but Microsoft alone plans roughly $175 billion in FY27 capex, and all of that buildout has to be powered, cooled, and networked by somebody (we rounded up seven of those infrastructure suppliers in a free report).
Sigalos captured the real risk: “The AI challenge goes well beyond fixing Siri. As agents become the front door to apps and services, Apple has to make sure that the iPhone stays at the center of that experience, even as rivals start experimenting with entirely new AI native devices.” If the agent becomes the interface, the operating system becomes plumbing.
Foldable Would Be Loud But Not Sufficient Sigalos reported that “A recent operating system leak directly from Apple exposed clues to ten plus still unannounced devices, including a foldable iPhone, potentially the first major change to the phone’s form factor in 20 years, something that we might see as soon as next Wednesday.” Treat that as reported and unconfirmed.
Polymarket puts the probability of an Apple foldable iPhone before 2027 at 0.949, while a broader “new product line” market sits at only 0.305.
A foldable would help Apple close ground on Samsung and reset the upgrade cycle, although the AI question would remain open.
Apple is also in an escalating legal dispute with OpenAI over hardware and trade secrets, per Sigalos, while OpenAI has been buying Macs by the tens of thousands.
Hardware theater buys Ternus time to prove out Siri AI at scale, while the interface question stays open.
Is AAPL Stock a Buy? Apple trades at a P/E of 37x and a forward P/E of 33x against an analyst target of $324.45, so the average Street target sits at roughly today’s price.
Samsung leads foldables and will not be caught by novelty alone. Alphabet and Microsoft are ahead on models, cloud economics, and the distribution of agents into enterprise workflows.
Meta Platforms is spending $130 to $145 billion in 2026 capex to put personal agents into billions of hands. Apple’s counter is the installed base of more than 2.5 billion active devices, silicon integration, and a services flywheel most rivals cannot replicate.
That mix is enough to hold the position because Apple still monetizes its users better than anyone, though adding on strength should wait until Ternus proves the platform still leads.
The margin squeeze looks likely to pass, as memory cycles always do, and paying 33x forward for a company in the middle of a platform transition reads as fair value, given the unresolved AI question.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
The Tim Cook era at Apple (AAPL +2.61%) has come to an end. Cook took over from Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs, who was then in ill health and passed away soon after. During his tenure, Apple's stock rose by nearly 2,300%.
Amid that gain, incoming CEO John Ternus will have a tough act to follow. Such a move is not necessarily the time to give up on Apple stock, but Apple will probably have to make some changes before becoming a buy.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
The problem with Apple stock Much like Cook's beginning, Ternus takes over Apple at a significant inflection point. Jobs was Apple's chief innovator, and with him gone, Cook had to figure out how to grow Apple without that level of innovation.
Cook performed as well as anyone could have expected in that position. He established a successful wearables segment and greatly expanded the Apple ecosystem through Apple Services. He also transitioned Apple onto its own silicon and streamlined its supply chain. His approach made Apple one of the most profitable businesses in the world.
Unfortunately, Apple struggled to keep up in the AI race. For now, it has made a deal with Alphabet to build Apple's foundational models on Google Gemini's models and cloud technology.
However, that is arguably an embarrassment for Apple on some level, since Alphabet owns Android, the main competitor to Apple's iOS smartphone operating system. The move amounts to a tacit admission of the company's AI shortcomings, and one has to wonder whether that was a factor in Cook's decision to step down as CEO.
Premium Feature
Moneyball Superscore
88/100
Today's Change
(
2.61
%) $
8.28
Current Price
$
325.13
What Ternus must do Now, Apple's current market position speaks to the difficulties Ternus will face in his new job. His success or failure, at least in the foreseeable future, probably hinges on whether he can make Apple a leader in some form.
Another company's experience offers some insight. Although Microsoft led the way in PC operating systems, it failed to foresee the advent of smartphones and did not apply its expertise to the mobile world. Still, it made itself prominent in the cloud, implying that Apple does not necessarily need to be an AI leader.
Nonetheless, Apple will have to succeed somewhere to avoid the same kind of irrelevance that Microsoft seemed to be facing before Satya Nadella turned the company around. Where that will come from, if it happens at all, remains to be seen.
Moreover, Apple investors will have to temper expectations for returns, as it is unlikely Ternus will generate a 2,300% return starting out from a market cap already at $4.6 trillion.
Additionally, Apple's P/E ratio is 36, above the S&P 500's average of 30. However, Apple traded at only 15 times earnings when Cook took over, meaning more than half of his returns came from multiple expansion. Ternus does not appear to have a similar advantage, making it all the more critical that Apple find its way back to the cutting edge of the tech industry.
As Ternus takes the helm at Apple, the stock is a hold at best, and Ternus will probably have to establish tech leadership in some area to make it a buy.
Ternus takes over from Cook, who had a mostly successful tenure at Apple that generated outsize returns for shareholders. His track record of success seemed to hit a wall in the AI era, meaning it will be Ternus' job to bring Apple back to the cutting edge of tech, either in AI or another emerging technology.
Ternus also takes over an Apple that's much more mature than the one Cook took over 15 years ago. Hence, investors should not expect another 2,300% gain, no matter how well he succeeds.
In the end, as long as Apple's next forward move remains uncertain, investors should probably treat the stock as a hold.
Jim Cramer called Apple's balance sheet pristine while slamming hyperscalers for wrecking theirs on AI data centers, but the actual filings tell a more complicated story about who is really carrying the heavier debt load.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
On Tim Cook’s final day as chief executive, Jim Cramer delivered a verdict that reframes the entire hyperscaler debate. Speaking on Mad Money on August 31, 2026, he called Apple’s balance sheet “pristine…the envy of the industry, maybe any industry” while accusing the AI infrastructure giants of the opposite sin.
“The hyperscalers have wrecked their balance sheets to build these data centers. They’re the ones to worry about, not Apple.”
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) closed FY2025 with $112.377 billion in total debt, $73.733 billion in equity, and retained earnings of negative $14.264 billion. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), the poster child for AI capex excess, closed the same year with $415.265 billion in equity and only $59.291 billion of debt.
Reading the Filings Side by Side Apple carries nearly twice the total debt Alphabet does, and its debt-to-equity ratio sits at 1.5241 versus Alphabet’s 0.1428. The negative retained earnings are the direct arithmetic of the buybacks Cramer praised in the same breath: Apple has repurchased $62.094 billion of stock in the nine months through June 27, 2026, on top of $90.711 billion in FY2025.
Alphabet’s leverage jumped fast this year. Long-term debt more than doubled from $46.547 billion at year-end 2025 to $98.165 billion by June 30, 2026, funding CapEx guided to $175 billion to $185 billion for 2026. The buyback program was suspended in Q2 2026. Free cash flow flipped to negative $5.86 billion.
Why the Market Isn’t Punishing Apple Cramer’s framing survives scrutiny for a reason: liquidity. Apple holds $39.544 billion in cash and $84.118 billion in long-term investments, a cushion that dwarfs the near-term maturities. Net debt to EBITDA sits at 0.528, and interest coverage on Alphabet’s side remains at 175.3x. Both companies remain financially sound.
Investors have voted with their wallets. Apple is up 16.87% year to date through September 2, 2026, versus Alphabet’s 8.56% gain. Apple trades at a 42 P/E multiple, roughly triple Alphabet’s 14.
What to Watch as Ternus Takes Over Bloomberg reports the John Ternus era begins after Cook’s 2,300% stock gain, with CNBC flagging AI challenges and a memory crunch ahead. If Apple accelerates its own AI infrastructure build, the buyback pace will collide with capex needs, and the “pristine” label will face its first real test. All that hyperscaler spending has to be powered, cooled, and networked by someone, and we pulled together seven suppliers doing exactly that in a free AI infrastructure report.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Tim Cook scores $47 million pay deal to stay on as Apple's chairman By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Tim Cook is Apple's executive chair and former CEO. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Tim Cook is no longer Apple's CEO, but he'll continue to collect a CEO-sized paycheck.
This week, Cook handed Apple's reins to John Ternus after 15 years in charge, and took on the role of executive chair.
Cook's new job pays a $2 million salary instead of $3 million, and comes with an annual equity award with a target value of $45 million for fiscal 2027, Apple said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
Half of that award comprises performance-based restricted stock units (RSUs) that will vest based on Apple's total shareholder return relative to other S&P 500 companies. The other half is time-based and will vest over a four-year period.
As CEO, Cook earned around $74 million — including $14 million in cash bonuses and other compensation — in each of 2024 and 2025
Apple disclosed that Ternus will receive a $3 million annual salary and restricted stock with a target value of $55 million for his first year as CEO. A full 75% of the RSUs will be tied to Apple's relative performance, while 25% will vest over four years.
The iPhone maker didn't say how much Ternus and Cook stand to earn in cash bonuses.
The Buffett approachThe size of Cook's pay package signals he'll continue to play a central role at Apple.
Warren Buffett has taken a similar approach at Berkshire Hathaway, retiring as CEO at the turn of this year but staying on as chairman, serving as a close advisor to new CEO Greg Abel, and even picking stocks for Berkshire's portfolio.
Cook's compensation as chairman can also be seen as a reflection of the value he created for Apple. As CEO, he scaled Apple's manufacturing and distribution, strengthened its global supply chain, and successfully catered to China's burgeoning middle class.
Apple's split-adjusted stock price rocketed by nearly 2,300% during his tenure, from about $13 to $317 at the close of Cook's last day as CEO on Monday. It closed almost 3% higher at $325 on Tuesday.
That performance has fueled huge gains for shareholders. Buffett said during Berkshire's shareholder meeting in May that, under Cook, his $35 billion investment in Apple grew to $185 billion in value before taxes, including dividends.
"Tim Cook has made Berkshire a lot more than I have made Berkshire," Buffett told his shareholders last year.
Cook has also cultivated strong relationships with President Donald Trump and the Chinese government, which helped Apple navigate geopolitical turmoil in recent years. Ternus might call on him to work those connections in the future.
As Ternus grapples with challenges such as nailing down Apple's AI strategy and halting its talent exodus, Apple's senior leadership may have decided that keeping Cook on the payroll is worth the price.
Read next
Theron Mohamed You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Theron Mohamed is a London-based correspondent on the International team at Business Insider. His coverage spans finance, investing, wealth, markets, and the economy.Theron joined BI in 2019 as a reporter at Markets Insider and rose to the rank of correspondent before moving to the Trending team then the broader International team. He previously covered tech, media, and telecom stocks for Investors Chronicle magazine and had a brief stint on the Financial Times' Data team. He interned at the Wall Street Journal in New York where he primarily wrote for Heard on the Street.Theron has freelanced for The Independent, The Telegraph, WIRED, and several smaller publications. He holds an undergraduate degree in geography from the London School of Economics, and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.Theron often covers Warren Buffett, Michael Burry, and other elite investors. He also writes about the world's wealthiest people and shares financial advice from all manner of rich and successful people.Email Theron at [email protected] and follow him on X @theron_mohamed.
Tech Apple Tim Cook More Stocks Wealth AI Trump China Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway
John Ternus spent 25 years building the gadgets that made Apple a $4.75 trillion company, but now every rival is betting that software and AI will make the hardware irrelevant. His first moves as CEO will reveal whether Apple's device…
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) second CEO transition of the modern era became official on September 1, when Apple hardware chief John Ternus formally took the reins from Tim Cook. Ternus arrives with 25 years in product development behind him, inheriting a $4.75 trillion franchise that is minting record hardware revenue while the entire technology industry reorganizes around generative AI.
The handoff arrives on a strong tape. Shares closed at $325.13 on September 1, up 19.92% year to date and 40.58% over one year. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman compared the succession to “an Andy Jassy, Jeff Bezos type of situation” where Cook stays on as an advisor into 2028 or 2029, handling government relations while Ternus sets the daily agenda.
Hardware Is Still Doing the Heavy Lifting Ternus’s home turf remains Apple’s growth engine. Q3 FY2026 revenue reached $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, with iPhone at $54.3 billion (up 22%) and Mac up 29%. EPS of $2.02 beat consensus by 6.80%, extending the streak to nine consecutive quarters. Cook called it “our strongest June quarter ever”.
Services, the moat Cook built, delivered $30.7 billion at a 75.6% gross margin, crossing $1.5 billion in paid subscriptions. That recurring stream is what keeps Apple’s 42x P/E defensible.
AI Is the Test Ternus Must Pass Apple’s counter to ChatGPT and Gemini is Siri AI, unveiled at WWDC26 and described by Cook as “a completely reimagined version of Siri that is profoundly capable, deeply personal, and integrated seamlessly across our platforms.” R&D climbed to $11.73B in Q3, and operating expenses rose 23% year over year on AI investment.
“Apple is a company that makes money off of the hardware. They have not shown an ability to roll out AI products that you’re going to be willing to pay for on a standalone basis… How are they going to make money? By making AI at the very core of the hardware and software and services features that people are willing to pay for.”
Gurman’s framing captures the Ternus thesis: monetize AI through the devices themselves.
Frictions Facing the New Chief The challenges are real. Cook flagged a “100-year flood on the memory pricing” that will lift September-quarter costs. Supply constraints are expected to worsen. Siri AI’s European Union rollout remains blocked by the Digital Markets Act, and China approval covers only original Apple Intelligence features. Reddit sentiment sat at a neutral 42 on transition day, and Polymarket’s composite score of 50.11 reads neutral.
Ternus, asked about competition in AI devices, kept it brief: “There is so much opportunity for us with everything that’s happening in this space, and we’re really focused on our plans and very excited about it.” With $147 billion in cash, a $600 billion U.S. investment commitment, and a $30 billion Broadcom silicon deal, the toolkit is intact. Whether gadgets alone can carry Apple through the AI era is the question Ternus now owns.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financials) new chief executive John Ternus is getting $58 million as he takes over the post previously held by Tim Cook.
Apple said Ternus' projected fiscal 2027 remuneration includes a $3 million base salary and an equity award with a target value of $55 million.
Most of that stock award is performance-based. About 75% of the equity package will vest based on Apple's overall shareholder return relative to other S&P 500 businesses, while the other 25% will vest over time.
Cook, who has moved up to executive chairman, will be compensated $47 million, comprising a $2 million salary and a $45 million stock reward.
The structure provides Ternus with a large financial incentive to maintain outpacing Apple. That may matter during what is a very pivotal transformation for the organization.
Ternus picks up an Apple with issues about AI, future hardware categories and how to follow an era in which Cook supervised massive shareholder returns and one of corporate America's biggest repurchase schemes.
One thing his pay package makes clear: A lot of his remuneration will rise and fall with shareholders.
A price rise on a television subscription might not sound like the sort of thing to move the needle on one of the world's most valuable companies. Yet the increase Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL pushed through last week, lifting the cost of its Apple TV service and its flagship Apple One bundle by up to 20%, speaks volumes about the strategy now driving the business, and by extension, its stock.
The timing is interesting. Apple shares are up 20% so far this year, and have been consolidating comfortably just below the all-time highs they set back in July. Layered on top of that is the fact that the new CEO, John Ternus, formally takes the reins this week. All told, last week’s seemingly straightforward price hike is actually a useful window into where the company, and its shares, might be heading next.
Get Apple alerts:
Squeezing More From the EcosystemThe price rises themselves are straightforward enough. The monthly cost of Apple TV climbs to just under $15, its annual plan jumps to $119, and the all-in-one Apple One bundle edges up to nearly $22 a month. Taken alone, each is a modest sum, but together they reveal a clear direction.
What makes the move so significant is what it says about Apple's pricing power. The company is confident it can charge its enormous customer base up to 20% more for the same service without sending them running for the exits. For context, Apple TV's monthly price has tripled since it launched in 2019.
Underpinning that confidence is the sheer scale of Apple's ecosystem, with more than 1.5 billion paid subscriptions and an installed base topping 2.5 billion active devices. Bundling services together, as the Apple One subscription does, encourages customers to sign up for more of them and makes it harder to leave, quietly boosting both loyalty and the average revenue squeezed from each user.
Why Services Hold the KeyTo understand why any of this matters for the stock, you have to appreciate just how central services have become to the Apple story. Once a company defined almost entirely by the iPhone, Apple now leans heavily on a services division that has become its most prized growth engine.
The numbers explain the enthusiasm. Services revenue hit a record nearly $31 billion in the most recent quarter, up 12% year over year despite currency headwinds, with records across advertising, the App Store, music, and video. Crucially, Apple’s services unit is far more profitable than its hardware unit, so every dollar earned there has an outsized impact on Apple's bottom line.
This is the crux of the bull case. As rising memory and other component costs squeeze the profitability of Apple's hardware, a thriving, high-margin services business offers a powerful counterweight. Price rises like last week's feed directly into that engine, which is precisely why investors should be so excited.
The Other Side of the CoinNone of this is to say the path ahead is entirely smooth, and the more cautious voices have some fair points to make. For one, Apple's shares are hardly cheap, trading on a valuation that already assumes durable services growth, resilient iPhone sales, and successful execution of an AI strategy that has many investors scratching their heads. That leaves little margin for error should any of those pillars wobble.
More immediate pressures remain, too. Rising memory costs are set to weigh on hardware margins for the foreseeable future, and there's obviously a limit to how far Apple can keep raising prices before price-sensitive customers begin to balk. Even the mighty services arm isn't immune, and its growth rate has somewhat cooled from the brisker pace it set earlier in the year.
Then there is the great unknown of AI. Apple has been notably more cautious in this space than its rivals, and questions linger over whether it can turn its AI efforts into tangible sales and services revenue. For John Ternus, the new leader who stepped in Sept. 1, price rises like this one may buy some time, but proving Apple can hold its own in the AI age is likely to be the defining challenge of his tenure.
A Confident Signal in a Time of ChangeViewed as part of a bigger picture, last week's price rises point to a company executing confidently on the strategy investors most want to see: extracting ever more value from its vast, loyal customer base through high-margin services.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) Price Chart for Wednesday, September, 2, 2026
That's a reassuring signal at a moment of transition, and it suggests continuity in the approach that has served Apple so well in years past. The fact that its shares have been steadily recovering from their post-earnings dip to sit just shy of record highs, while the stock carries a MarketBeat consensus rating of Moderate Buy, makes it hard to bet against Apple as the new era begins.
Continue following MarketBeat
Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.
Should You Invest $1,000 in Apple Right Now?Before you consider Apple, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Apple wasn't on the list.
While Apple currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
The space race is growing fast, and you don’t have to have gotten in early on SpaceX to profit. This report shows seven space stocks you can buy today that may grow as rockets, satellites, defense, space internet, and new space technology become more important.
Amid questions about the durability of the artificial intelligence complex and fears of a global rate sell-off, Apple is suddenly investors' safety trade of choice.
Shares rose 2.6% Tuesday amid a broader tech rout, continuing its outperformance of the broader market.
In fact, Apple stock hasn't been this inversely correlated to its tech peers since 2005, according to a CNBC analysis using ThinkOrSwim data. The 30-day correlation between the second-largest company in the world and the Nasdaq-100 Index of which it commands a 7.5% weighting reached a low of negative 0.86 on Thursday and is currently at -0.82. In the past month, shares of the iPhone maker are up 7% versus a 1% gain for the Nasdaq-100.
Apple has gone through periods of inverse correlation to the Nasdaq throughout moments the past decade, but never to this extent for this long. Fittingly, the only comparable period was in the first quarter of 2024, when the 30-day correlation was nearly as inverted as it is today. At that time, Apple was in the middle of a selloff, as investors shifted money into the leading AI disruptors.
"When the AI trade gets questioned, Apple doesn't sell off with it, because it was never carrying that risk in the first place," said Dave Mazza, chief executive officer at Roundhill Investments, who runs an Apple ETF that uses swaps to generate weekly income. "It has become the hedge inside the Nasdaq."
AAPL year to date
After lagging the Nasdaq the first six months of the year, Apple is now up 20% compared to the index's 15% return. Over the past three years, the two are close to even, with the Nasdaq up 90% compared to Apple's 82 percent advance.
Options traders seem to think Apple's relative strength is sustainable. Almost 1.5 million calls traded in Tuesday's session, compared to less than 700,000 puts, and 543,000 calls were likely initiated by buyers, compared to under 220,000 put-buyers, according to ThinkOrSwim data.
The net delta exposure to underlying contracts, a measure of sensitivity of an option's value to changes in Apple price, was strongly imbalanced towards bullish positioning, according to flows analysis on Barchart.
Heavy volume underpinned the positioning as well. Apple options were second-most traded Tuesday on volume that was about twice the 30-day average, SpotGamma and Cboe LiveVol data show.
Tim Cook has received a $47m (£35m) pay deal as Apple’s executive chair, a remuneration package that nears the level set for his successor as chief executive.
Cook, who handed over to John Ternus on Tuesday, will be paid a base salary of $2m and $45m worth of shares. Half of the share award will be based on performance targets being met, while the remaining half will be paid out over four years.
Ternus will receive a base salary of $3m and a $55m share award, with the latter more weighted to performance. Cook’s total compensation as CEO for 2025 exceeded $74m.
Cook took over from the late Steve Jobs in 2011 with a reputation as an operations specialist. The stock has risen 2,200% since he took charge, with Apple now valued at about $4.7tn.
He built the tech company’s sophisticated supply chain and is succeeded by a 51-year-old engineer and longstanding Apple employee, who built products as senior vice-president of hardware engineering.
Ternus’s role meant he ran the engineering teams behind Apple’s entire product lineup, including the iPhones that generate most of the company’s revenue. Analysts are not only anticipating new products but also further progress on integrating AI into Apple hardware.
Ternus’s first big public moment at Apple will be at its annual iPhone event on 9 September, where a foldable handset is expected to be revealed.
Cook’s new mandate includes engaging with policymakers around the world and will involve maintaining the company’s relationship with Donald Trump. In a final memo to employees on Monday, he focused on Apple’s products.
“Few people understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does,” he said.
Apple holds its iPhone launch event next week. The implications of what takes place couldn't be more important for Apple stock, according to Morgan Stanley.
Today marks a historic turning point for Apple. After 15 years at the helm, Tim Cook is no longer the company’s CEO. Instead, John Ternus is stepping into the role—only the third person to do so this century.
The first, of course, was Steve Jobs, whose impact on the company and industry has not lessened in the years since his passing.
One his last day as CEO, Cook sent a final message yesterday to Apple employees. What is most interesting about the message is its striking similarity to the first message Cook sent to employees upon assuming the role in 2011.
Here’s how both messages compare, and how each touches on Jobs’s legacy.
Subscribe to the Daily newsletter.Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day
Cook invokes Jobs’s legacyOn August 29, 2011, it was hard to overstate the anxiety that Apple’s own employees felt about the company’s future.
Steve Jobs had just stepped down as CEO of Apple, and that day Tim Cook assumed the role. Jobs brought the company back from the brink of failure upon his return in the late 1990s and subsequently changed the tech industry with the introduction of the iMac, iPod, and iPhone.
More importantly, Jobs reintroduced a culture of creativity and innovation at Apple.
Tim Cook played a big part in linking Apple up to China's supply chains. How will Apple push forward on tech innovations in China – from AI and local partners like Alibaba, to AI & memory chips?
Apple raises new concerns around clawing back trade secrets from an AI By You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
Apple raised concerns in a recent filing that trade secrets fed into an AI agent or model could create an "irreversible" use of that information. Abdul Saboor/Reuters Here's a novel problem companies may have to deal with in the AI era.
A nefarious Big Tech employee leaves for a competitor with trade secrets, feeds them to an AI agent or model while employed by the competitor, and runs some tests using those secrets.
Maybe the bad-apple employee then creates a new solution using that confidential knowledge, which the competitor benefits from. Or perhaps those secrets are stored in some knowledge base that an AI could retrieve if the nefarious employees' colleagues have a relevant question.
Apple raised that possibility in a supplemental brief filed Monday in support of its request for expedited discovery in its trade-secret lawsuit against OpenAI.
In the filing, Apple's attorneys said a former employee's use of company secrets while employed by OpenAI and his "use of AI agents to learn to run simulations raise concerns extending beyond ordinary document theft."
"Where trade secret information is fed into an AI agent or model that 'learns' from it, such 'learning' may create irreversible and continually propagating uses of the trade secret — harm that, at a minimum, is uniquely challenging to undo and requires prompt investigation," Apple's lawyers wrote.
The continued use of confidential information by a rival company is not a new problem. Artificial intelligence, however, is introducing a new wrinkle to the matter: How should companies regain control of their secrets after they've entered an AI system at a competing organization?
New risk, same remedies"Employees are already real loose cannons, walking around with knowledge in their heads," Camilla Hrdy, a law professor at Rutgers whose work examines trade-secret law and generative AI, told Business Insider. "Now they're taking that knowledge and plugging it into AI, and that could be a real loss of control. That is new."
Elon Musk's xAI raised a related but distinct AI-linked concern when it sued OpenAI, accusing Sam Altman's company of poaching staff to steal Grok's underlying technology.
That lawsuit said that, while Xuechen Li, a former xAI engineer, "had xAI's entire codebase stored in his personal cloud storage account, Li also had his personal ChatGPT account directly connected to his personal cloud storage account, set up as a connected 'Source' in OpenAI's ChatGPT." It added: "OpenAI had a means to access Li's files, which included the stolen copy of xAI's entire source code, through its ChatGPT service."
A judge dismissed the lawsuit in June.
Hrdy said these cases don't immediately call for novel legal solutions. Potential remedies often include telling a company to stop using the trade secrets, not to disclose any secrets, and to take steps to protect said secrets.
There are also damages to be assessed, Hrdy said: actual losses incurred from losing those secrets, or, in some cases, royalties to be paid to the affected company.
Can an AI unlearn secrets?Stopping trade-secret use by a rival company could pose technical challenges, depending on exactly how an employee applied confidential information to an AI system.
Sijia Liu, a computer science professor at Michigan State University, co-authored a paper on "machine unlearning" — the process of removing the influence of certain data, or capability, from an AI model.
He told Business Insider that if a document containing sensitive information is stored in a repository an AI system retrieves from, the remedy could be as relatively straightforward as deleting the file.
On the other hand, if sensitive information were used to train or fine-tune a model, it would require an entirely different, and likely resource-intensive, process.
"The second case could be more difficult because the influence of something is really difficult to evaluate," Liu said, adding that "you have to precisely define the boundary of unwanted capability."
A more immediate approach to containing secrets could be to build a "detection system" that flags sensitive user requests or sensitive information being passed between agents, Liu said. The detector could then trigger a hard stop in response to the request. Liu said that's not "true unlearning," but it is more practical.
To be clear, Apple did not say how the former employee may have used trade secrets with an AI, whether it was a one-off AI-assisted simulation or whether there was training that could affect a broader model.
An Apple spokesperson did not return a request for comment on this story.
Either way, AI may be bringing up new ways for companies to lose control of their secrets.
Read next
Lloyd Lee You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.
MoffettNathanson Research co-founder Craig Moffett discusses John Ternus taking over as Apple CEO after Tim Cook stepped down on 'The Claman Countdown.' #fox #media #breakingnews #us #usa #new #news #breaking #foxbusiness #theclamancountdown #apple #johnternus #timcook #technology #tech #business #ceo #leadership #ai #artificialintelligence #innovation #investing #investors #stocks #market #products #siliconvalley #finance
Gene Munster, Deepwater Asset Management managing partner, joins 'Fast Money' to talk what he expects to see and what Apple needs to work on under its new leadership.
Apple CEO John Ternus marked his first day in the top job at the tech giant on Tuesday, with the company embarking on a new era after former CEO Tim Cook stepped down from the role after 15 years.
Cook, who will remain with Apple as the company's executive chairman, saw the diversification of its product offerings with the release of devices including the Apple Watch and AirPods, as well as its growth into services through offerings like Apple Pay.
The company also saw explosive growth, becoming the first publicly traded U.S. company to surpass $1 trillion in market capitalization in 2018 – which has since surged to about $4.75 trillion.
Ternus is an Apple veteran who has worked at the company since 2001, primarily in its product design and hardware engineering teams. He joined the executive team in 2021, and his tenure has involved designing and managing the hardware for Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch and Airpods, while he also oversaw the transition to in-house Apple Silicon chips across most of its major product lines.
TIM COOK'S LAST DAY AS APPLE CEO: HOW HE LED THE TECH GIANT'S RISE TO $4T
Newly-minted Apple CEO John Ternus has worked at the company since 2001 with a focus on hardware design and engineering. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Leander Kahney, the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac and the author of six books about Apple, told FOX Business that he thinks it's "a great thing that he comes from a product background because he has that sort of product focus, and Steve Jobs obviously had that too… he was the consummate product guy."
"I think there's a continuum between Jobs and Cook and now Ternus, and it's that focus on products," Kahney said. "John has worked on every major product that Apple has put out in the Tim Cook era, and he's deep in the weeds."
Kahney said that Apple's focus on manufacturing allows it to make a range of consumer products, but that requires a "deep, deep expertise in how to make things, and Ternus definitely has that."
"He's deeply invested in Apple culture, he knows how Apple works, he's got a great team of people around him," Kahney added.
APPLE RAISES IPAD AND MACBOOK PRICES AS MEMORY CHIP COSTS SURGE
Apple is moving to diversify its base of chip manufacturers amid the memory chip shortage. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
One area where Apple has been perceived by some observers as lagging in recent years was in the deployment of AI tools, particularly following the rollout of OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini and other competing chatbots.
Kahney said that Apple was moving much more slowly and taking a cautious approach to developing AI models, and has avoided privacy issues related to the deployment of those tools. He added that the company's development of hardware that's capable of running AI models presents "a good argument that Apple isn't lagging at all."
He said that Apple has been building neural engines and AI hardware into its devices which has helped drive demand for Mac products amid the AI boom, creating an "enormous installed base of very, very capable AI devices that they can take advantage of when they start rolling out the models for it."
APPLE TO WORK WITH INTEL ON US CHIP DESIGN AND PRODUCTION, TRUMP SAYS
Tim Cook will remain with Apple as the company's executive chairman. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Apple has recently announced price increases for various products due to the shortage of memory chips, as well as the time it takes for new chip fabs to be built and begin production.
TSMC, a key partner of Apple, is building plants outside of Phoenix that are expected to eventually produce cutting-edge chips and also handle the packaging of them in the years ahead – though the chip manufacturer also faces heavy demand from AI hyperscalers that can strain its capacity in the near-term.
"It's a huge challenge, but it's a challenge for everyone in the consumer electronics space. Everyone's coming up short of the chips they need because the AI companies are pouring such enormous amounts of money into the data center buildout," Kahney said.
He noted that Apple has sought to diversify its base of chip suppliers by turning to Intel, which it relied on exclusively for more than a decade to power its Mac product line, as well as some iPhone designs, before it opted to shift its chip design work in-house.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
"This is smart of Apple to diversify its suppliers and to support a previous partner that was obviously very successful for them in the Intel era before it went a bit sideways," he said.
AAPL daily chart shows short-term price action. Source: TradingView Daily Strength from Earnings Low On the daily chart, AAPL showed strength last week by reclaiming both the 20-day and 50-day moving averages. Support was confirmed on Monday when the session low bounced from the 50-day moving average, extending the short-term advance that began from the July low. That low formed in reaction to Apple’s Q3 2026 earnings release and has since acted as the base for the current swing higher.
Earnings Gap First, Then $344 Since then, AAPL has moved higher overall and printed a new high for the current advance on Tuesday at $327.30. The gap down that followed the July earnings release fills at $329.55, and AAPL is now close to that level. The same area is marked by the midline of a rising trend channel, which argues for at least a short-term resistance zone before any run at the July peak.
Even so, AAPL’s July peak of $344.57 sits less than 6% above Tuesday’s high, so it comes into play if bullish momentum picks up after the gap is filled. Key near-term support on the daily chart is the recent higher swing low at $307.01, where the 20-day and 50-day moving averages and an uptrend line also cluster. Those daily support levels sit just above the weekly floor around $300 to $306. Hold $307.01 and the completed pullback can still feed a push through the earnings gap. Lose it, and the long-term uptrend stays intact on the weekly map, but Tuesday’s advance toward $329.55 loses its footing.
Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook handed over the reins to John Ternus on Tuesday, capping a tenure as chief executive officer that cemented the company as an iconic global brand and turned its stock into one of the most reliable bets. The shares soared 2,258% under Cook, who took over from legendary founder Steve Jobs after the close of trading on Aug. 24, 2011.
Apple has followed Google’s lead and officially changed the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its Apple Maps service less than a week after President Trump ordered the change.
Apple Maps users in the United States will begin to see Lake America, not Lake Ontario — one of the five Great Lakes in North America — when using the website or mobile app. The change will only be shown to users in the United States. Apple Maps users in Canada will continue to see Lake Ontario, while those outside the two countries will see both names.
The change is in response to an executive order signed by Trump on August 27 that gave the Interior Department 30 days to update the lake’s name in the U.S. geographic naming service and other federal databases.
“In recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that the Lake officially be renamed as Lake America,” the order reads.
Trump’s directive — and Apple and Google’s compliance — has escalated an already strained relationship with Canada after trade talks between the two countries broke down.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Google Maps explained its reasoning for the change, noting in its announcement last week that it updates names to reflect changes in official government sources such as the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
However, not every map service has adopted that same policy. MapQuest said that it would not change the name of Lake Ontario on its maps, choosing to continue using the name that people are familiar with. (It also did not change the name of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America last year.)
Apple and Google’s actions over the name of this lake have driven a significant boost in users to MapQuest. Downloads of the so-called OG of mapping services have skyrocketed, pushing the iOS app to the No. 1 position in the U.S. App Store’s Top charts. That even put MapQuest ahead of perennial chart-topper ChatGPT as of September 1.
MapQuest also reached the No. 6 position overall in Google’s Play Store across both apps and games. And the company doesn’t appear to be budging. The company posted on X a GIF of an apple, with the line “Them Too.” In another post showing a screenshot of MapQuest as the No. 1 downloaded app, the company wrote “The people have spoken. We are working.”
There is precedent to Apple and Google’s deference to Trump. Last year, both of these tech companies changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America after that name-changing order by Trump.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Kirsten Korosec is a reporter and editor who has covered the future of transportation from EVs and autonomous vehicles to urban air mobility and in-car tech for more than a decade. She is currently the transportation editor at TechCrunch and co-host of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. She is also co-founder and co-host of the podcast, “The Autonocast.” She previously wrote for Fortune, The Verge, Bloomberg, MIT Technology Review and CBS Interactive.
You can contact or verify outreach from Kirsten by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at kkorosec.07 on Signal.
In July, Apple sued OpenAI, accusing its one-time partner of stealing trade secrets. The legal battle continued this week, with Apple now alleging that an OpenAI employee has destroyed evidence in the case, and OpenAI saying Apple has no one to blame for the suit but itself.
Apple Inc (AAPL +2.68%) stock is rising today, up 2.5% as of 1:41 p.m. ET, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, as John Ternus officially takes over for Tim Cook as CEO of the tech giant.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both down, sliding 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively.
Premium Feature
Moneyball Superscore
88/100
Today's Change
(
2.68
%) $
8.50
Current Price
$
325.35
Ternus is Apple's first new CEO since Tim Cook took over in 2011 Today marks the first time in 15 years that a new CEO takes the reins. Not since Tim Cook stepped into the role, replacing Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has the iPhone-maker transitioned its chief executive.
Investors should know that while Ternus now serves as CEO, Cook is not leaving the company. Instead, he will serve as Executive Chairman and continue helping with "certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world." https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/apple-ceo-john-ternus-tim-cook-rcna341096
Apple's revenue topped $416 billion in fiscal 2025 under Cook What exactly that rather vague definition really means remains to be seen, but his continued presence seems to have helped reassure many investors worried about what happens next.
Apple Inc
Cook leaves an incredible financial record at Apple. By FY 2025, Apple was generating more than $416 billion in annual revenue -- about four times its sales when Cook began his tenure.
These are big shoes to fill, but I have faith in Apple's future. I think the company is well placed to take advantage of AI without bearing most of the enormous costs.
Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
After 15 years, Tim Cook has handed off the Apple CEO role to John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering. As of Tuesday, Ternus now leads one of the world’s most valuable companies. But if you’re not a dedicated Apple enthusiast, you’ve probably never heard of this man, who has largely remained out of the spotlight until he was announced as Cook’s successor in April.
Ternus is assuming the CEO role at a crucial time for Apple. Next week, the company will host its iPhone launch event, ushering in its newest line of hardware. Apple will also soon roll out its new-and-improved Siri AI experience, which is powered by Google’s Gemini.
“I take enormous comfort in handing the helm to someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John,” Tim Cook wrote to staff on his last day as CEO. “Few people understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does and I could not be more excited for his leadership.”
Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman.
How long has John Ternus worked at Apple? Ternus has worked at Apple for nearly half of his life — now 51 years old, he has been with the company for 25 years.
He joined Apple’s product design team in 2001 as only his second job out of college (his first was at a small maker of virtual-reality devices called Virtual Research Systems). By 2013, Ternus was a VP of hardware engineering and was promoted to the SVP role in 2021.
Ternus — who is 15 years younger than Cook — was among the youngest of top Apple executives who had been rumored as a possible successor, implying that Apple could be looking for someone to lead the company for a long time. After all, Apple has only had two CEOs in this millennium, so it seems that leadership continuity is important to the company.
Ternus previously reported to Cook, who he considers a mentor, and led all of hardware engineering at Apple. That’s a pretty big deal for a company that’s known for ubiquitous hardware like the iPhone and the MacBook.
In his 2024 commencement speech at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania’s engineering school, Ternus reflected on the lessons he learned at Apple, which perhaps can tell us a bit about his character — or at least a sanitized version of it.
“Always assume you’re as smart as anyone else in the room, but never assume that you know as much as they do,” Ternus said in the speech. “With this mindset, you’ll find the confidence you need to push forward, but more importantly, the humility to ask questions.”
In a tech ecosystem populated with abrasive egos, it’s refreshing to hear Ternus utter the word “humility.” Better yet, he only just joined X!
Image Credits:Apple What projects did John Ternus lead at Apple? Ternus’ earliest project at Apple involved scrutinizing parts for the Apple Cinema Display, an early desktop monitor.
“At some point in my first year, I found myself at a supplier facility. I was far away from home. Well past midnight, I was using a magnifying glass to count the number of grooves on the head of a screw … and I was arguing with the supplier because these parts had 35 grooves. They were supposed to have 25,” Ternus recalled in his commencement speech. “I distinctly remember stepping back for a minute and thinking, ‘What the hell am I doing? Is this normal?’”
As Ternus climbed the corporate ladder, his responsibilities grew. He may no longer spend as much time analyzing screws, but he still seems to take pride in getting the little details right. In a recent interview, when Ternus was asked about his favorite memory of Steve Jobs, he mentioned the former Apple co-founder’s attention to craftsmanship.
“[Jobs] was moving a piece of furniture, a chest of drawers, and pulled it away from the wall and looked at the back and was just reflecting on, you know, that the carpenter who made it had made it beautiful,” Ternus said. “It finished the back as beautifully as the rest of it, even though nobody was going to see it, right? And I think about that all the time because I think that perfectly exemplifies what we do here.”
From there, he went on to lead the hardware development behind products across the Apple ecosystem, overseeing launches like AirPods, Apple Watch, and the Vision Pro. He also had a hand in major technical upgrades at Apple, like Apple’s transition from Intel chips to its own proprietary Apple silicon.
Most recently, Ternus was involved in the production of the MacBook Neo, Apple’s new, more affordable laptop model that lowers costs through some clever trade-offs in hardware design, like using an iPhone chip to power the device.
“We never want to ship junk. We want to ship great products that have that Apple experience, that Apple quality. To do that with the Neo required building something completely new from the ground up … leveraging both the technologies we’d been developing like Apple silicon, but also the kind of expertise that we’ve developed over many, many years of building Macs, and building phones, and building iPads, and all of these things,” Ternus told Tom’s Guide.
As CEO, Ternus will have to steer Apple through its challenge to catch up in the AI race and figure out what to do with the underlying tech behind the Vision Pro.
What else do we know about John Ternus? Ternus was on the swim team at Penn. For his senior project, he built a feeding arm that people with quadriplegia could control with head movements.
According to public records of political donations, Ternus donated $2,900 to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in 2021.
Otherwise, Ternus has maintained a relatively low profile.
This article was originally published on April 20, 2026, and has been updated to reflect that Ternus has now assumed the CEO role.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
John Ternus begins his first day as Apple CEO as the company prepares for one of its biggest product launches in years. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman explains how the longtime hardware chief will manage Apple's veteran leadership team and what to expect from the company's first foldable iPhone, including a price tag above $2,000.
Tim Cook hands the reins of Apple to John Ternus after a 15-year run that transformed the company into a $4.6 trillion giant and delivered a nearly 2,300% stock gain. Bloomberg's Ryan Vlastelica looks at Cook's market legacy and why Apple shares are increasingly moving against the broader AI trade.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, XETRA:APC) shares climbed 2.7% as John Ternus officially became chief executive, succeeding Tim Cook.
Ternus, previously Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, was announced as Cook's successor in April 2026. Cook will remain with the company as executive chairman.
In an email to Apple staff on his first day as CEO, Ternus thanked colleagues for their support and praised Cook's leadership.
"I also want to extend my deep appreciation to Tim for sharing so much of his knowledge and experience during this transition, and more importantly, for everything he contributed to Apple over the years," Ternus wrote. "We're so lucky to have had a CEO who led with his values and with such decency and humanity."
Ternus said he was "honored" to take on the role and pointed to a major product launch next week, along with other projects already underway.
"I'm just as excited about what lies beyond that, including the incredible products already in the works and the ones we haven't even imagined yet that we'll dream up and create together," he wrote.
Ahead of his appointment, Ternus had already begun shaping the company's direction. Moves have included layoffs within Apple's Vision Products Group and the return of retired hardware engineering vice president Laura Legros to the company.
Bank of America analysts said in a note last month that Ternus's real test will be restoring a sense of technological surprise to a company too large for incremental excellence alone to redefine it. The bank said it expects much of Apple's core business to remain unchanged under Ternus, citing strong capital returns, potential leadership in AI at the edge, and optionality from new products and markets as reasons behind its rating.
BofA credited Cook with building roughly $4.5 trillion in market capitalization over nearly 15 years, a pace it calculated at about $32 million per hour, by growing Apple's installed base of devices and monetizing it through services such as Apple Pay, the App Store, Apple Music and Apple TV+.
The bank said Apple's next era will likely move away from the cloud-services model that enabled apps like Uber and Maps, toward one where devices themselves carry AI functionality and drive productivity. It cited wearables such as glasses, rings and AirPods with cameras, smart home automation, and virtual and physical personal assistants, including robotics, as potential areas of expansion.
BofA also pointed to Apple's departure from a net cash neutral objective as a signal the company could increase spending on research and development, capital expenditure and mergers and acquisitions, areas it said were not emphasized under Cook but that the pace of AI innovation may now demand.
Ternus is next expected to appear publicly at Apple's iPhone 18 Pro launch event on September 9.
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, John Ternus officially became the CEO of Apple Inc. (AAPL +2.68%). Ternus replaces Tim Cook, ending his 15-year tenure leading one of the largest public companies on the planet, currently second only to Nvidia.
However, while Ternus is taking over as CEO, Cook is not leaving the company. Instead, he will serve as executive chairman of Apple's board and will, according to Apple, help with "certain aspects of the company, including engaging with policymakers around the world." John Ternus also joins the board as part of the leadership transition.
Apple's stock moved higher on the news today, even as markets fell. As of 3:15 p.m. ET:
The S&P 500 is down 0.7%The Nasdaq Composite is down 1.0%The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.7%
Premium Feature
Moneyball Superscore
88/100
Today's Change
(
2.68
%) $
8.49
Current Price
$
325.34
John Ternus has been with Apple since 2001John Ternus started at Apple in 2001, was promoted to vice president of hardware engineering in 2013, and joined senior leadership in 2021. His 25-year career at Apple has been entirely on the product side, working on everything from the iPhone to the Mac to the Apple Watch.
Cook took Apple from a $350 billion market cap in 2011 to about $4.6 trillion in 2026A leadership change is never easy, but that is especially true when you're talking about a company as large and influential as Apple. John Ternus has a lot to live up to in replacing Tim Cook, whose tenure saw the company grow from a $350 billion market cap in 2011 into the $4.7 trillion behemoth it is today.
Of course, when Tim Cook took over, he had just as much to live up to. Cook took over for the inimitable Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, in 2011, just four years after the iPhone hit the market and changed society's relationship with technology.
Tim Cook's succession turned out to be a fantastically successful move for Apple. Cook was a very different CEO than Jobs -- more managerial wizard than visionary leader -- and it was exactly what Apple needed.
Take a look at the company's financial growth under Cook's leadership in the table below:
Metric20112026Market capitalization$350B$4.6TRevenue$108.2B (FY2011)$466.8B (TTM)Net income$25.9B (FY2011)$128.9B (TTM)Stock total return+2,275%Cook's chairman seat smooths the handoff, but could blur who is in chargeAn interesting thing to watch moving forward is what exactly Tim Cook's role will be. Apple's former CEO has a wealth of experience and deep relationships across tech and government that could help Ternus more effectively focus on the business itself. I think having Cook as chairman will be a good thing in the long run. In the short run, it will certainly make the transition smoother.
That said, it introduces some ambiguity about who is ultimately in charge. There could end up being some confusion around who's really calling the shots. If Cook disagrees on strategic direction, it could impact Ternus's ability to lead effectively.
More than 2.5 billion active devices give Ternus an AI platform without the capexIn the end, I believe Ternus takes over with Apple in a great position. The company has more than 2.5 billion active devices and access to invaluable data. In my view, that makes it a perfect platform to benefit from AI without having to spend enormous sums building AI infrastructure.
There are short-term issues -- Apple's margins will likely be squeezed by the current memory shortage -- but these are transitory. Apple is still a great stock.
Image Credits:Adam Gray/Bloomberg / Getty Images John Ternus has officially taken the reins as Apple CEO, succeeding Tim Cook, who held the role for fifteen years.
The company’s former senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, Ternus enters the CEO role at a critical time for Apple. On September 9, the company will host its annual iPhone event, which is rumored to include the launch of Apple’s first foldable iPhone. Apple is also expected to roll out its new-and-improved Siri AI more broadly, which marks an important opportunity for the company to position Siri as an equal to chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude.
“We have a huge launch next week that’s going to be phenomenal,” Ternus wrote in a memo to staff on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. “I’m just as excited about what lies beyond that, including the incredible products already in the works and the ones we haven’t even imagined yet that we’ll dream up and create together.”
Apple is rumored to be working on several new products, like camera-equipped AirPods, smart glasses, and a touchscreen laptop.
“I take enormous comfort in handing the helm to someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John,” Tim Cook wrote to staff on his last day as CEO. “Few people understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does and I could not be more excited for his leadership.”
Americké akciové indexy úvodní zářijové seanci ztrácí v čele s technologickým Nasdaqem, který odepisuje 1 %, širší index S&P500 oslabuje o téměř 0,7 % a tradiční index Dow Jones o 0,8 %.
Děje se tak na pozadí opětovně zvýšeného geopolitického napětí na Blízkém východě. Nová vlna ostřelování iránských cílů v oblasti Hormuzského průlivu ze strany USA se přetavuje ve výrazný růst ceny ropy. Ta aktuálně atakuje hladinu 90 USD se ziskem téměř 5 %. Současně posunuje tržní výnosy na vyšší úrovně a apetit k rizikovým aktivům slábne, notabene v historicky slabším měsíci září.
Výnos 10letého vládního bondu se posunul k hladině 4,8 %, stahují se tak mračna na prudší zvyšování úrokových sazeb v USA. Aktuálně jsou do ledna zaceněna již téměř 2 zvýšení, v součtu tedy posun o 50 bazických bodů výše. Další růst dlouhodobých výnosů by mohl zesílit tlak na Trumpovu administrativu k přijetí dalších opatření. Americké ministerstvo financí vedené S. Bessentem již oznámilo zdvojnásobení objemu zpětných odkupů desetiletých až třicetiletých státních dluhopisů, oficiálně s cílem podpořit likviditu trhu.
Dnes oslabuje i další třída aktiv, a to drahé kovy. Zlato odepisuje 2,5 % na 4337,2 USD, stříbro ztrácí dokonce 3,2 % na 64,4 USD/oz.
Sektorově dnes logicky září energie s více než 1% ziskem. Výrazné ztráty naopak vykazuje segment zbytných statků (-1,9 %) a průmyslové společnosti.
Na korporátní úrovni dnes nejhorší výkonnost zaznamenává výrobce bezpečnostních technologií pro policii či záchranné složky, spol. Axon Enterprise (AXON -8,2 %) bez významných kurzotvorných zpráv. Předchozí tučné zisky koriguje také přední společnost se zaměřením na kyberbezpečnost, spol. Crowdstrike (CRWD -7,2 %) s našponovanou valuací. V čele růstu se dnes drží Moderna (MRNA +6,3 %), při pokračujícím zájmu investorů po nedávném zveřejnění závěrů studie protinádorové vakcíny. Solidní výkonnost zaznamenávají také akcie technologického gigantu Apple (AAPL +2,2 %) poté, co vedení společnosti převzal John Ternus, jenž nahradil Tima Cooka, který firmu úspěšně vedl od roku 2011, kdy ve funkci vystřídal spoluzakladatele Steva Jobse.
Index S&P 500 -0,69 % na 7633,16 b. Nejsilnější sektory S&P Změna Nejslabší sektory S&P Změna Energie +1,4 % Zbytná spotřeba -1,9 % Zdravotní péče +0,6 % Průmysl -1,5 % Nezbytná spotřeba +0,5 % Informační technologie -1,1 % Nejsilnější akcie S&P Změna Nejslabší akcie S&P Změna Moderna (MRNA) +6,3 % Axon Enterprise (AXON) -8,2 % GoDaddy (GDDY) +4,0 % Crowdstrike Holdings (CRWD) -7,2 % Mosaic (MOS) +3,7 % Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) -7,1 % Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +3,7 % Ciena Corp (CIEN) -6,7 % S&P Global (SPGI) +3,5 % Palo Alto Networks (PANW) -6,1 %
David Lamač, Fio banka, a.s.
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--System1, Inc. (NYSE: SST) (“System1” or the “Company”) today announced that its MapQuest mapping service has surged to become the No. 1 overall free app in the Apple App Store in both the United States and Canada. The milestone follows a rapid ascent for the app. On August 31, 2026, MapQuest announced it had reached the No. 1 Navigation app ranking and the No. 8 and No. 2 overall free app positions in the U.S. and Canada Apple App Stores, respectively. Driven by us.
Apple's new CEO John Ternus takes the helm of the iconic tech giant on Tuesday, ending Tim Cook's 15-year tenure during which the company's value skyrocket to $4.6 trillion thanks to the iPhone's enormous popularity.
OpenAI slammed a lawsuit from Apple alleging it stole the iPhone maker’s trade secrets by hiring its employees, saying it’s “a mess of Apple’s own making,” according to a new legal filing.
The Sam Altman-led firm argued Apple’s lawsuit was a “baseless” attempt to keep the company from recruiting more employees and slow its progress on its consumer devices.
Many of the accusations that Apple made in its lawsuit are the result of its own bizarre offboarding process for workers, and there’s nothing illegal about Apple employees deciding to leave for new jobs at OpenAI, the company alleged in the late Monday filing in the Northern District of California.
OpenAI lashed out at a lawsuit from Apple alleging it stole the iPhone maker’s trade secrets. REUTERS “This dispute is a mess of Apple’s own making, and it is trying to blame everyone else,” OpenAI said in the document.
“Apple blames employees who left the company for taking their personal accounts with them – even though Apple encouraged them to use personal accounts for work.
“It blames employers who interview Apple employees for asking questions – even though those unremarkable questions are standard in tech and every other industry.”
Apple did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
In July, Apple sued OpenAI for allegedly coordinating the theft of product designs, manufacturing processes and supply chain strategies – saying former Apple workers had brought confidential information with them at OpenAI’s behest.
The bombshell suit specifically named OpenAI’s chief hardware officer, Tang Tan, who worked at Apple for 24 years, and Chang Liu, another former Apple worker who joined OpenAI’s technical team.
OpenAI said Tan only sent non-confidential documents to his personal email, along with congratulatory messages from friends and colleagues and a copy of an Apple manager’s checklist for exiting employees.
Apple also alleged that Tan encouraged employees to bring “actual parts” of Apple devices to OpenAI interviews, but OpenAI said any parts that candidates brought were components of old, publicly available products, a common practice in engineering interviews.
In July, Apple filed a bombshell lawsuit against OpenAI alleging coordinated theft of product designs, manufacturing processes and supply chain strategies. Getty Images OpenAI said in Liu’s case, Apple staffers contacted him after he left and asked for help locating files, and he obliged — an example of what OpenAI characterized as a dysfunctional offboarding process at Apple.
The AI firm jabbed at Apple’s, saying it’s “no wonder” 400 of their employees have left the company to join OpenAI.
“Apple cannot stop the next 400 employees from leaving by filing baseless lawsuits,” OpenAI said in the filing.
“Employees have choices. They can leave a company like Apple that has struggled to adopt AI and move to an exciting startup that builds innovative products. Apple may not like those choices. But it cannot claim those choices are unlawful, and it cannot use its own sloppy procedures to blame others for its own mess.”
In a separate filing Monday, Apple asked for expedited discovery, alleging Liu only recently handed over a MacBook he used after leaving Apple that showed he downloaded confidential Apple information and instructed an OpenAI colleague to destroy evidence.
Apple has been rushing to ramp up its AI efforts. Robert Miller The legal battle is part of the fallout from a 2024 partnership between the two companies to have OpenAI’s ChatGPT work with Apple’s Siri.
Apple’s newest Siri, announced in June, is powered by Google’s Gemini.
OpenAI has since emerged as a potential threat to Apple’s business, as the company plans to release its own consumer devices – trying to chip away at the iPhone’s tight grip on the market.
In its legal filing, OpenAI said its first expected hardware device “is a new type of consumer device that differs materially from known Apple products.”
As Apple has been rushing to ramp up its own AI efforts, it sought a preliminary injunction to slam the brakes on OpenAI’s hardware ambitions in August. A judge is yet to rule on the request.
OpenAI, bought io Products – founded by longtime Apple designer Jony Ives – for $6.5 billion last year. Tan left Apple to join Ives’ startup, and is now working for OpenAI post-merger.
The Post’s parent company, News Corp, has a content-licensing deal with OpenAI.
John Ternus stepped into the CEO role at Apple on a day when rising Treasury yields cracked the AI infrastructure trade wide open, and the reason Apple surged while Oracle cratered reveals a structural fault line forming beneath the entire…
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
A global bond selloff is splitting mega-cap technology today, and Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) untouched balance sheet has become the reason it’s leading the sector while its debt-funded peers stumble. The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) is down 1.16% to $708.45. At the same time, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is down 0.66% to $761.99, showing large-cap tech falling harder than the broad market and pointing to rotation within technology rather than an outright bid for defensives.
Apple stock is up 3% to $325.92 in midday trading on John Ternus’s first day as chief executive officer, succeeding Tim Cook. The stock was up 17% year to date through Monday’s close, and today’s move stands out against a session where the NASDAQ 100 is red and rate-sensitive growth names are giving back gains.
Meanwhile, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) stock is down 5% to $141.72, providing a clear example of what’s hitting AI infrastructure names on a session when the 10-year Treasury note yield sits at 4.79%, above its prior 12-month peak of 4.75% set on July 31. The pairing of a rising Apple and a falling Oracle on the same session is the story, and the mechanism is what makes it move.
The Debt Mechanism Behind the Split Oracle raised $43 billion in debt markets to fund fiscal 2026 capital expenditure of $55.7 billion, and higher long-end yields reprice that buildout directly by lifting the discount rate applied to future cloud revenue and raising rollover costs on new tranches. Apple carries no comparable capex cycle and generates enormous free cash flow. That structural difference is doing the work today rather than a fresh verdict on either company’s AI strategy.
This setup explains why capital is rotating within technology rather than out of it. Investors selling Oracle to buy Apple are moving toward the mega-cap tech name with no debt-funded compute buildout repricing against rising rates (we profiled seven suppliers behind the AI buildout, from power to cooling, in a free report). The slower AI push has been a bear argument for a year, and today it flips into a defensive feature against yields near their 12-month high.
What Ternus Inherits Ternus takes over from Cook, who grew Apple’s market capitalization from $350 billion to more than $4 trillion across 15 years as chief executive. Cook remains chair of Apple’s board. Bloomberg has reported that the two sides in the Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple in 2024 have held settlement talks without reaching an agreement, leaving that overhang unresolved for the new chief executive.
Deepwater Asset Management managing partner Gene Munster stated that Ternus’s first job is recruiting, specifically bringing in top AI engineers. Apple has scheduled a product event for September 9, where the company is widely expected to introduce the iPhone 18 line and its first foldable iPhone, alongside a closer look at its generative-AI version of Siri. The Siri update was announced at WWDC in 2024 and has been delayed repeatedly, making the September 9 keynote Ternus’s first real launch as chief executive.
Skeptics have real ammunition. Rosenblatt raised its Apple price target to $303 from $300 while keeping a Neutral rating, and that target sits below Monday’s close. Wall Street’s average 12-month price target on Apple sits at $324.45, which is close to current levels, meaning consensus already prices in most of the good news heading into Ternus’s first launch.
What to Watch Next The real question for Apple is whether a leadership handover justifies a rerating on its own, or whether the September 9 event is the actual test. Today’s Apple stock move looks driven by rate mechanics and rotation, and mechanics can reverse as quickly as they arrive if Treasury yields ease and money rotates back into the AI infrastructure trade.
Investors can watch for whether Apple stock holds the rally into the September 9 keynote, when the iPhone 18 line, the foldable device, and the reworked Siri become the scorecard for Ternus’s tenure. Traders may want to keep an eye on whether the 10-year Treasury yield extends above 4.79% or reverses, since that variable is doing more to move Apple and Oracle stock today than any product news.
For investors weighing their exposure to Apple, the disciplined framing is to separate today’s rate-driven bid from the durable business case and size their positions to survive a session where yields fall and the rotation trade unwinds. Their allocation into the September 9 event should account for Rosenblatt’s below-market target, the modest gap to consensus, and the reality that Apple has yet to prove its AI story to hardware customers. Sizing their risk to the possibility that the keynote disappoints, rather than assuming the handover alone reprices the multiple, is the discipline that matches today’s setup.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
