loading
loading
The shares have soared 2,275% since Cook took over from legendary founder Steve Jobs on Aug. 24, 2011. Cook inherited a company with a market capitalization of less than $350 billion and built the maker of iPhones and Mac computers into a diverse $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.” Ternus 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. “The ideal for Ternus wis ill 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.” The gain puts Apple among the 40 best performers in the S&P 500 over that stretch, but well behind Nvidia Corp., by far the biggest gainer with a more than 72,000% 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. The stock accounts for 7.1% of the S&P 500, up from less than 3.3% in 2011. Its weighting peaked at nearly 7.9% last month. Cook oversaw a steady rise in revenue, with sales going from $157 billion in Apple’s fiscal 2012 — his first full year as CEO — to $416 billion in the most recent period. When Apple’s 2026 fiscal year closes at the end of September, revenue is expected to reach $477 billion. 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.” Apple has spent more than $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.” 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.” (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips, Budget 2025, Share Market on Budget 2025 and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .) Subscribe to ET Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today. Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips, Budget 2025, Share Market on Budget 2025 and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .) Subscribe to ET Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today. Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price
document fetched 2026-09-02 02:58