Apple’s 2,300% gain under Cook is tough act for Ternus to follow

Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.HomeInvestorNewsApple’s 2,300% gain under Cook is tough act for Ternus to followTernus will face an early test at a critical event next week, when he’s expected to unveil a foldable version of the iPhoneAuthor of the article:Last updated 32 minutes ago Apple SVP John Ternus and Apple CEO Tim Cook attend the premiere of Apple TV's "Ted Lasso" season 4 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, Calif. on July 27, 2026. Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty ImagesApple Inc.’s Tim Cook handed over the reins to John Ternus on Tuesday, capping a tenure as chief executive that cemented the company as an iconic global brand and turned its stock into one of the most reliable bets.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountThe shares soared 2,258 per cent under Cook, who took over from legendary founder Steve Jobs after the close of trading on Aug. 24, 2011. Cook inherited a company with a market capitalization of less than US$350 billion and built the maker of iPhones and Mac computers into a diverse US$4.6 trillion business that also sells watches, AirPods and financial services.“Steve Jobs left huge shoes to fill, but Cook is also leaving big shoes, albeit of a different type, given his very different approach to expanding the company’s growth engines,” said Chris Brigati, chief investment officer at SWBC. “He’s certainly done amazing things as CEO, and every shareholder has benefited, probably more than was expected when he took over.”Canada's best source for investing news, analysis and insight.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Investor will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againTernus will face an early test at a critical event next week, when he’s expected to unveil a foldable version of the iPhone, along with other product updates. Apple shares were little changed in premarket trading Tuesday, the first day with Ternus at the helm.“The ideal for Ternus will be to blend the Jobs and Cook approaches,” Brigati said, citing Cook’s steady, positive reign against “the otherworldly innovation and massively impressive growth of the Jobs era.”Apple’s stock gains under Cook are even more impressive when accounting for dividends. During his time as chief executive, the shares climbed a whopping 2,716 per cent on a total-return basis. Over the same period, the S&P 500 Index was up 757 per cent, including dividends, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index jumped 1,499 per cent.The gain puts Apple among the 30 best performers in the S&P 500 over that stretch, but well behind Nvidia Corp., by far the biggest gainer with a more than 73,000 per cent surge. Several other Big Tech stocks outperformed Apple in the Cook era, including Tesla Inc. and Broadcom Inc.“Cook’s legacy will be that he was a steady hand on the wheel over not just a long period of time, but a period of time that featured huge changes in the technology landscape,” said Allen Bond, managing director and portfolio manager at Jensen Investment Management, which owns Apple shares.While several companies tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure — including Micron Technology Inc. and Seagate Technology Holdings Plc — have outpaced Apple, the stock has benefited from its image as an anti-AI play during periods of angst over the technology. Its 40-day correlation to the S&P 500 recently turned negative for the first time in more than a decade.“Under Tim Cook, Apple has created market cap growth at a rate of roughly US$32 million an hour, every hour, for nearly 15 years,” Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in an Aug. 20 report. It was the first firm to top US$3 trillion in market value and has repeatedly attained the status of the world’s largest company.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.The stock accounts for 7.1 per cent of the S&P 500, up from less than 3.3 per cent in 2011. Its weighting peaked at nearly 7.9 per cent last month.Cook oversaw a steady rise in revenue, with sales going from US$157 billion in Apple’s fiscal 2012 — his first full year as CEO — to US$416 billion in the most recent period. When Apple’s 2026 fiscal year closes at the end of September, revenue is expected to reach US$477 billion.A key driver of revenue growth has been Apple Services. In fiscal 2025, the company generated more than US$109 billion from the business, more than a quarter of its total sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In fiscal 2013, the earliest year for which data are available, services were just US$16 billion, or 9.4 per cent of Apple’s total.Cook did oversee successful product launches, such as AirPods and the Apple Watch. But others, like the Vision Pro headset and a failed foray into self-driving cars, fell flat, feeding into criticism that Apple lost its innovative edge. To some investors, the company’s underwhelming AI offerings have been a missed opportunity.“The push into services is perhaps the most successful thing Cook did, since it is high margin and recurring revenue that is among Apple’s fastest-growing categories,” Bond said. “His biggest flaw is probably AI. It’s hard to not notice that they’re bringing in someone with an engineering and products background to replace him.”One of the biggest legacies of Cook’s tenure has been his focus on stock buybacks, which have reduced Apple’s outstanding share count by nearly 45 per cent since a 2012 peak, taking it to its lowest since 1998.Apple has spent more than US$840 billion on buybacks since fiscal 2012, according to company data through the first quarter of 2026. In 2014, billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn urged the company to accelerate its buybacks, saying the stock was undervalued.Under Ternus, the company’s risk appetite could change, according to Bank of America’s Mohan. Apple has moved away from a net cash neutral objective, which “could signal a period of higher investment in R&D, Capex, and larger M&A,” he wrote. “The latter two have not been emphasized in the Tim Cook era but AI could require Apple to move with a higher rate of change.”While Cook has many fans, Wall Street is less effusive about the company. Of the 58 analysts tracked by Bloomberg who follow the stock, 34 have buy ratings. By contrast, roughly 95 per cent of the analysts covering megacap peers Microsoft Corp., Nvidia and Amazon are bullish on those stocks.A growing number of Apple bears are also emerging, many of whom take issue with the stock’s elevated valuation. Apple trades at roughly 33 times earnings estimated over the next 12 months compared with its 10-year average of 23. When Cook took over, the multiple was about 12.“While he isn’t the visionary showman that Jobs was, or as product focused, everything he did was to bolster Apple’s ecosystem and operations, which was a very effective way of increasing the company’s value,” Bond said. “The stock performance reflects that success.”Top tech storiesAnthropic PBC agreed to a US$35 billion computing deal with Lambda, a cloud provider backed by Nvidia Corp., part of an effort to quickly expand its AI capacity, according to a person familiar with the matter.Apple Inc. escalated its legal battle against OpenAI, claiming in a new court filing that OpenAI is actively destroying crucial evidence and that former iPhone engineer Chang Liu “not only downloaded a confidential Apple circuit schematic but also used it in his work” at the AI company.MediaTek gained 10 per cent in Tapei Tuesday after Nvidia agreed to buy bonds convertible into the company’s shares.The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and a group of U.S. states sued Amazon.com Inc. over claims the e-commerce giant systematically overcharged advertisers by more than US$20 billion since 2019.Airbnb Inc. is testing taking a smaller cut of rental fees from hosts, seeking to fight back against a trend of customers booking directly outside of its platform.With assistance from Carmen Reinicke, Subrat Patnaik and Charles RileyNotice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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