Apple's stock is up 20 times under CEO Tim Cook. What do analysts expect after him?

During Tim Cook's tenure at the helm of Apple, the stock has returned nearly 2000% to investors. Analysts call Cook's departure timely and anticipate a strong quarterly report. Wall Street remains calm: on the news of the change in leadership Apple's quotations fell slightly, and investment banks left the securities of the iPhone manufacturer in the lists of attractive assets for purchase, predicting growth above $300 per share.

- B. Riley Wealth Management's Art Hogan saw a positive in the fact that Tim Cook announced his resignation as Apple CEO right before the quarterly earnings report. "He would never have left if the numbers were expected to be bad," the expert said. "Apple is about to publish its statements (publication is scheduled for April 30. - Oninvest), and it is obvious that the financial results will be good. There can be no doubt that the forecast benchmarks will be positive. And we'll probably start hearing more about how the company intends to use artificial intelligence to improve its products," Reuters quoted Hogan as saying.

- The change of Apple's head did not come as a shock to the market: Cook, 65, is already at retirement age, and rumors about Ternus as a successor "have been around for a long time," stated eMarketer analyst Jacob Bourne. Cook's decision to remain at the helm of the company until September and head the board of directors will reassure investors in a short period of uncertainty, and Ternus' engineering background suggests that Apple will maintain its focus on consumer electronics, while narrowing the gap in AI, the expert said.

- The platform TECHi, specializing in the analysis of shares of technology companies, notes that historically, the change of CEO in the largest companies leads to fluctuations in quotes by 3-6%, if the name of the successor becomes a surprise. The decline in Apple shares by only 1% "tells the market that the change in leadership was built into prices long before the official announcement" - the scenario with the appointment of Ternus became the basic more than a year ago, noted in TECHi.

- "I believe his (Ternus. - Oninvest) main task will be to build a more compelling AI narrative and product line, relying on Apple's own development rather than third-party solutions," Bloomberg quoted Bob O'Donnell, head of technology consulting firm TECHnalysis Research, as saying.

- "Ternus' promotion indicates that the company will focus on new devices such as foldable smartphones, glasses, VR headsets and wearable AI devices," said D.A. Davidson & Co. managing director. Gil Luria.

- "Cook was an operations executive, while Ternus is a development engineer. His appointment makes the market realize that Apple's next decade will be defined by product reinvention - Vision Pro, iPhone Fold, M-series mobile chips, industrial design - rather than supply chain discipline," TECHi summarized.

Wall Street investment giants Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase reaffirmed their "Buy" ratings on Apple shares with price targets intact. Goldman Sachs estimates a 21% upside potential for the iPhone maker's stock over a one-year horizon to $330 a share, expecting strong smartphone and Mac sales with quarterly earnings above consensus estimates, according to Investing.com. JPMorgan is betting on Apple shares rising to $325, MarketScreener reports. Their example was followed by New York-based investment boutique Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. - it maintained a Buy rating with a $315 per share benchmark on Apple.

By focusing on devices and user experience rather than pure software, Apple's new CEO has more in common with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs than with his predecessor Tim Cook, Reuters writes. Jobs was also not interested in technology for its own sake, stating, "You have to start with customer experience and move toward technology, not the other way around." Ternus, who worked under Jobs at the start of his career, promised to preserve "the values and vision that have defined this special place for half a century."

Jobs' former advisor at Apple, Mike Slade, called the decision to appoint Ternus the right one, GeekWire writes. According to Slade, Apple needed to choose an internal candidate who understands the company's culture and, ideally, someone who has a thorough understanding of how hardware is built. Ternus meets both of those requirements, GeekWire states.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor