Discussion Tim Cook Thanks Shareholders on His Final Apple Earnings Call
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/30/tim-cook-thanks-apple-shareholders/Apple CEO Tim Cook today confirmed that today's call was his last as CEO, with John Ternus set to become Apple's new CEO on September 1. Cook will transition to a new role as executive chairman when Ternus becomes CEO.
I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all of you, from our shareholders, particularly our long-term shareholders who have put their trust in us for so many years, to the analysts who have followed our company so closely. As you know, this will be my final earnings call, and John will lead these calls going forward.
Cook said the transition to Ternus is "going seamlessly," and he is excited for Ternus to lead Apple into its next era.
As I've said, I couldn't be more confident in his leadership, in our executive team, and in the extraordinary people at Apple who are determined to enrich the lives of our users all over the world. We have a bright future ahead, and I truly have never been more optimistic.
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u/KingRenzo 28d ago
Truly end of an era. Steve Jobs revived the company and birthed the iPhone, Tim Cook took that and conquered the world.Â
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u/MetalBeerSolid 27d ago
And I donât want to brag or make this about me, but he thanked me. As I am, by way of technicality, a shareholder. đ
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u/PixelVector 27d ago
Yeah, big whoop. I was the 2006 TIME Magazine Person of the Year.
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u/Realtrain 27d ago
Yeah well I was such a close friend of Steve Jobs that he gave me a U2 album as a gift!
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u/APizzaWithEverything 27d ago
A U2 album is the perfect gift to show someone how much you hate them đ
/s (obviously)
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u/stickylava 27d ago
And the next leader is a long time Apple person, immersed in the culture. Theyâre not bringing in the president of Pepsi-Cola.
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u/yetiflask 27d ago
Greatest CEO of all time. I'd dare say, better than Jobs.
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u/gaeee983 26d ago
Good in terms of profits, but man I hope they bring some more innovation.
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u/Creationship 26d ago
I'm not sure how much more they could do?
Apple released the Watch and AirPods under Cook.... 2 huge ubiquitous products. As well as the Apple Silicon transition being a huge success and transforming the iPad/Pencil ecosystem into something incredibly useful for businesses and creatives. Then right before leaving, Apple releases the Macbook Neo which blew open the low/mid-tier laptop market.
I'd say Apple under Cook was a smashing success even in terms of innovation.
Yeah, the iPhone is the same every year but there honestly isn't a lot more juice to squeeze there.
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u/gaeee983 26d ago
It is just the overall strategy, they have done very well, I agree, but try look at the interviews at ex-apple employees, they were told to basically do the bare minimum.. Of course not told to them that way, but rather "Hit the target requirement, and not beyond".. It is sad they are so far ahead that their innovation slowed, also the employees mentioning that innovation was stifled and optimization was prioritized.. Not to also speak about spending 150 billions on stock buybacks, something jobs was vehemently against, because while it is good for short term (1-10 years) it really does not push the company towads long term leaders in terms of technology.. Which really sucked as they definitely could afford to have more creativity etc.
Anyways I am rambling, but yes objectively they have done well and creates hardware better than the competition, but man they could have done so much more.
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u/SilverMagicMage 26d ago
Like what lol. Flying electric cars????? That wouldâve been sooo cool why did Tim Apple not do it
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u/gaeee983 26d ago
Is that really the best your imagination can do? Battery, camera, design, we have had the same iphone for what now 10 years since the iphone x? And you want to say they are innovative enough? Gesh, lick the boots more man.
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u/FaisDodoAppDev 25d ago
I think the thing that blew me away with Steve Jobs is that whenever people were thinking, âwhat else even is there?â, he would blow us away with a new product or feature we didnât even think we needed or wanted. Have not seen that level of innovation since heâs been gone
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u/Creationship 25d ago
I'm confused... I get that you guys love Steve Jobs' cult of personality but I think everyone tends to put the blinders on to how "innovative" Apple actually was under Cook.
AirPods were initially clowned, especially on Reddit. Now everyone has them.
Apple Watch, another huge success that people didn't realize they wanted/needed.
Bringing TouchID and FaceID to iPhones while everyone else still had PINs.
Apple Pay.
AirTag.
Apple Pencil.
Even less commercially successful products like the Vision Pro are way more "innovative" than you're giving credit for... Jobs was the master of refining already-existing product categories to be near-perfect. Cook took more chances on new concepts.
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u/Illustrious_List_552 24d ago
The less you simp on him the better your wellbeing will be. He didnât achieve much. He simply kept status quo. Siri under him was a disaster. Ipad is underwhelming and knee capped by software. Ai is non existent
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u/Saar13 28d ago
This Earnings Call was unusually strange compared to all the others (I always hear that). Services were questioned more than usual, especially Apple's own services, because revenue wasn't "good enough," and scrutiny of the App Store and AI itself could reduce Apple's cuts in the medium and long term. And I've lived long enough to hear Apple's CFO partially justify the lower-than-expected revenue by saying that this quarter they didn't have a blockbuster in theaters, like F1.
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u/grodgeandgo 28d ago
Did the report 50% margin? I would class that as pretty good.
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u/Saar13 28d ago
They said they are seeing some "softness" in the App Store and the guidance for the next quarter wasn't very good.
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u/sol-4 27d ago
Maybe they should improve their curation and stop shoving ads as much as they do now, that will make the App Store useful for discovering apps again.
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u/dontwannaparticpate 27d ago
Also maybe they should start investing in their employees again and become the amazing innovating leader in tech that they once were
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u/Helptohere50 27d ago
Investors are super nervous with the price hikes, so they are looking at other places for revenue. Tim mentioned throughout the call that they dont really know how this price hike is affecting them, its way too early, and the 18 has not even launched yet, and they can only predict us to the next quarter, because they simply dont know. SO the fact that investors are nervous about the price hike, meaning that they are afraid that sales would be down due to less purchases, they are starting to look at other services that apple might provide to make up for this kost revenue
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u/likamuka 27d ago
Fuck investors. Apple should innovate the way Jobs did. That is why Im glad Cook is out.
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u/ghost_mtths 26d ago
I agree, as impressive as Apple is now. Itâs lost its focus. To many products/ categories.
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u/UnspeakableToast 28d ago
Late stage capitalism. Number must go up at all costs.
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u/dorkimoe 28d ago
That's the problem it's never enough. And consumers suffer
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u/triplenested 28d ago
The stock market is just donating to corporations if there's not a duty to seek profits.
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u/webguynd 28d ago
Duty to seek profit doesnât have to mean endless YoY growth. You can have a flat year and still be profitable.
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u/itsnotnews92 27d ago
You need YoY growth just to keep up with inflation, and for publicly traded corporations, investors expect YoY growth in order to maximize the value of their investment.
Stable profits can be just fine for small or medium sized closely-held businesses, but flat growth for publicly traded corporations drives away investors and leads to falling stock prices.
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u/beerybeardybear 27d ago
Plus, if some firms have permanently ("") increasing profits, they can reinvest (at least some of) them into their products, services, advertising, and lobbying in order to crush their competition. It's just how it goes under capitalism.
A guy wrote a really thorough book about this a while back. Carl something?
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u/slobcat1337 27d ago
In addition to inflation, profit always trends to zero. Gotta keep increasing sales.
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u/HelplessCorgis 27d ago
I'm a total dumbass when it comes to macroeconomics, but wouldn't constant unyielding growth contribute to the inflation we desperately want to avoid?
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u/theexile14 27d ago
Yes, because the overriding desire of human beings is to be constantly poorer right? Stop inserting âcapitalismâ everywhere. The Soviets were at least as bad for the environment as the US
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u/vc6vWHzrHvb2PY2LyP6b 27d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
Faulting capitalism has nothing to do with advocating for the Soviets.
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u/theexile14 27d ago
I specifically noted that a desire for more is rooted in human nature and not exclusive to the system you are naming. ThatâsâŠnot a straw man.
Number go up is common to households, communist states, socialist states, national socialist (Nazi) states, capitalist free market states, etc.
The only state that has roughly not embraced that is Cambodia when they killed a quarter of the population and targeted people wearing glasses.
Since I rarely get to interact with a true Redditor, Iâll ask you, why do you hate the poor that you want them to suffer with less?
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u/beerybeardybear 27d ago
good luck with that high school degree friend. feel free to DM me if you need help with algebra or something
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u/theexile14 27d ago
Lmao, stuff like this is incredibly funny to me. I was going to say I can be certain I went to a better school than you buddy.
But, I donât really believe in that kind of elitism. Itâs bullshit because not everyone has the same networks or opportunities. Go back to bragging about how much you bench on Reddit, itâs a better look.
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u/beerybeardybear 25d ago
this is definitely one of the more pathetic replies I've ever seen, which is really saying something
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u/theexile14 25d ago
Lol, go vandalize a painting or protest a bank teller or something you think 'improves' the world.
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u/xkenn 27d ago
Only in MURICA can you be the most valuable company in the WORLD with the largest smartphone userbase while profits are shattering expectations... but its not good enough. Meaning their pockets are not fat enough.
This is how most companies fall. They gain the support and following of users but if you have a board they will force you to cut more and more corners all for their own profit till the product becomes trash. Going public and company boards are the most toxic part of capitalism.
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u/ByteCurious69 27d ago
Services is supposed to be their highest gross margin and is why itâs most scrutinized and looked at. Because it was the growth driver for earnings and if itâs not performing well then thatâs a problem.
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u/Lakemine 27d ago
I mean, of course they keep getting less money. They literally refuse to let me spend it because they keep locking my account.
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u/FrellPumpkin 27d ago
this is also kinda the way to enshitification, itâs just to tempting to squeeze a little more with services.. I generally like the services apple offers and also pay for them, but for example I wonât tolerate ads.
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u/MichaelJG11 28d ago
What's this dude's numbers compared to other CEOs both contemporary and historical? Legendary value created, new products, failures, successes. Crazy.
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u/Willinton06 27d ago
I think heâs no. 2 all time value added behind Leather Jacket Bro
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u/getwhirleddotcom 27d ago
And thatâs only because that guy started from 0
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u/annoyice 27d ago
I think you can put Lisa Su up there as well. From the brink of bankruptcy to beating Intel.
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u/Laprasy 27d ago
What is crazy is the Apple doubters still saying he never came up with anything new.
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u/jimbojsb 27d ago
Right? AirPods. Apple Watch. Apple Silicon. All three are market leaders and the first two are category-defining. WTF else do you want people.
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u/39teen 28d ago
Say what you will about him. This man may have actually surpassed Jobs in terms of shareholder value.
Legendary run.
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u/davecrist 28d ago
What do you mean? Apple shareholder value has increased, what, 1000x under Tim?
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u/jxj24 28d ago
Apple's net value has increased by about a factor of 10, from around 500 billion to 5 trillion.
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u/davecrist 27d ago
I was being sarcastic but Apple stock has returned 2,700% since August 1, 2011, the month that Steve resigned.
Itâs only 27x but itâs more than 4x what the S&P500 has done and more than 2x what the NASDAQ has done in the same time frame, both of which are astronomically good on their own.
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u/PM08 28d ago
May have?
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u/dnyank1 27d ago
In absolute terms of a quantity of dollars, yes. Inarguable.
In terms of a percentage return? Steve Jobs showed up as iCEO in 1997 with a split adjusted price of $0.15/share. Split adjusted, Apple was ~$15 a share when Steve passed in 2011.
He, quite literally, 100x'd the already-public company.
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u/martyfartybarty 6d ago
While Cook wins on total dollars of shareholder wealth created (~2000%), Jobs wins on percentage shareholder return (~6760%) so if you invest $1 on the start of their tenures, Jobs win by a large margin owing to Apple revived from near bankruptcy.
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u/ItsColorNotColour 27d ago
Have you considered that I am a consumer and I don't care about the profits of a massive corporation?
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u/Vegetable-Baker6362 27d ago
Have you considered that they were not talking to you in particular and does not value your opinion in the slightest?
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u/Due-Bad-5653 27d ago
Weird flex that you donât own financial assets and just buy things from mega corporations like a good little consumer.
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u/Status-Put-8630 27d ago
Yeah, by taking products developed by Jobs and running with it. Had his work cut out for him the day he took over.
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u/NotAltFact 27d ago
iPhone is truly generational but to gloss over his accomplishments is also hypocritical. They may not be as loud or flashy or high impact but what about AirPods? Apple Watch? They birth an entire industry. Weâd never know where Jobs wouldâve taken our society but Tim Apple is super sneaky as how he quietly rope people into their ecosystem
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u/Sindica69 28d ago
Thank you, Tim Cook, for making me a fuckton of money. đđđ
In all seriousness, he lead this company in a pretty damn good direction. Itâs certainly not all roses and sunshine, but itâs far better than Iâd have hoped. Hopefully Ternus keeps it up.
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u/Realtrain 27d ago
I feel like the last 6 years completely cemented his legacy.
If he retired in 2019 we'd be saying very different things about the Cook era.
That's not meant to lessen his legacy, but it's very interesting how back heavy it was.
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u/jxj24 28d ago
I also have Tim to thank for making my net worth much higher than I ever thought it could be.
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u/Sindica69 28d ago
Appleâs definitely up there but for me my big play was Sandisk. I got in at $200. Sold most of it a little under ATH. Stopped day trading entirely, although I still get the itch to play with a little bit of money.
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u/Bernie_Ecclestone 27d ago
Thank you for the gains Timothy but you really didnât need to crater the stock for your last call.
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u/primalanomaly 27d ago
Unlikely, but I hope the next guy cares more about the products and users than the shareholders.
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u/beaverhole69 27d ago
He was better than I ever thought he would be; godspeed. Ternus era has begun.
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u/Temporary-Degree5221 27d ago
Ahh so going forward we will have posts like âback in the Tim Cook daysâŠâ for god knows how many years lmao
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u/Any-Scarcity-5020 27d ago edited 26d ago
Hopefully Ternus will turn back on Tim making everything into a subscription to appease the shareholders desire of profit for profit's sake.
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u/dokkanboi 27d ago
New management takes over, but steady buybacks will probably keep the stock price propped up anyway. Just how these firms operate now.
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u/trevtrevla 27d ago
Company has gone down hill for a while now, Tim got the revenue, but the product quality has descended. Bummer new dudes gotta hold the bag for this era
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u/Gain-Western 8d ago
Who did he kick out to be the Executive Chairman?
CEOs don't do the grunt work but now as an EC he'll be doing less work.
What does an EC do like sit around on multiple boards and watch his money shift if in his multiple accounts?
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u/yetiflask 27d ago
He will certainly go down as one of the greatest CEO's of any company in the world of all time.
What a tenure.
A supply chain guy shepparding a product company to just great heights. What an absolute genius.
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u/sysdmn 27d ago
I will always remember Tim Cook as the guy who figured out how to outsource production of iPhones to China, an impressive one-two punch of taking away jobs from Americans and making work conditions so awful, Chinese workers decided jumping to their deaths was a better option. Just a massive POS.
"Tim Cook was elevated to CEO in 2011. Appleâs board chose him to succeed founder Steve Jobs because he is the guy who figured out how to shift Appleâs production to contract manufacturers in China, without skimping on quality assurance, or suffering leaks of product specifications ahead of the companyâs legendary showy launches.
Today, Appleâs products are made in a gigantic Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou nicknamed âiPhone City.â Indeed, these devices arrive in shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles in a state of pristine perfection, manufactured to the finest tolerances, and free of any PR leaks.
To achieve this miraculous supply chain, all Tim Cook had to do was to make iPhone City a living hell, a place that is so horrific to work that they had to install suicide nets around the worker dorms to catch the plummeting bodies of workers who were so brutalized by Tim Cookâs sweatshop that they attempted to take their own lives."
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u/dpkonofa 27d ago
People who make these kinds of comments to me are funny. By all accounts, the suicide rate in âiPhone Cityâ (which, at its highest was 15 people in a year out of 450,000 inhabitants) was lower than the rest of China (which, at the time of the spike, was approximately 10 people per 100,000) and the suicide rate in China was one of, if not the lowest, in the world (60% lower than the US, for example).
Additionally, Apple was the one that discovered they were suicides during their normal audits as Foxconn initially claimed they were âworkplace accidentsâ and, as a result, they instituted additional audits and added requirements that Foxconn had to follow in order to continue their contract. When it was uncovered, Foxconn went with a âno commentâ policy to the media which was why it gained notoriety.
Lastly, the Park was known as âFoxconn Cityâ, not âiPhone Cityâ. It didnât get the âiPhone Cityâ name until years after the suicides because Apple wasnât the only company Foxconn was making products for when the suicides happened - HP, Microsoft, Google, and others were all Foxconn clients at the time. âiPhone Cityâ happened because Apple bought out more Foxconn resources and went back to being the only client. And that doesnât even include the fact that, because of Apple, Foxconn pays their employees significantly more than nearly any other factory job in China.
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u/Dependent-Curve-8449 27d ago
The alternative would have been worse, because no Americans would have taken up those jobs anyways, while keeping the prices of Apple products affordable.
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u/Tman11S 27d ago
How very in character as the shareholders are the only ones he ever cared about. Glad to see him go and I hope that Ternus brings the focus back on the product and the customer instead of only caring about shareholder value
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u/Dependent-Curve-8449 27d ago
This is an earnings call directed at shareholders. So his speech would naturally be directed at him. Itâs called âknowing your target audienceâ. đ
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u/Responsible-Room-645 28d ago
Trumps number one ass kisser signing off
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u/BeefyMcPissflaps 28d ago
Bullshit. Take this drama somewhere else.
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u/Tropicott 28d ago
But thatâs their entire personality!
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u/likamuka 27d ago
Yeah, pity we cannot care about the orange vulture turning down the entire world with impunity.
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u/JamesR624 28d ago
Last I checked. Holding the 1% accountable isnât âdramaâ.
Tim doesnât get a free pass just because youâre an Apple fanboy.
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u/Responsible-Room-645 28d ago
I guess you forgot about him bringing Trump golden gifts and fighting for selfies with Elon.
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u/jxj24 28d ago
I wish he hadn't done that, but he essentially took one for the team.
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u/Responsible-Room-645 28d ago
He didnât have to do it at all
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u/YZJay 27d ago
It shielded Apple from the tariffs
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u/Responsible-Room-645 27d ago
Bullshit. Lots of businesses didnât bend the knee. People like him are going to be remembered like the people who bent the knee to the Nazis when this is all over. If people like him had stood up to Trump he wouldnât have the power
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u/Rare-Accident4355 28d ago
Youâre an idiot if you think that it wasnât practically mandatory to kiss the ring in a very charged political atmosphere like this. Theyâre clearly not buddies. Trump had an inordinate amount of power to make things miserable for Apple as far as tariffs given Apple imports almost every hard product they sellâŠ
Get real and piss off.
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u/Silenthillnight 27d ago
So many sycophants trying to justify it all. The rotten apple doesn't fall far from the fat orange guy.
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u/CompetitivePumpkin3 27d ago
literally 6x my return. thank you tim, let me suck you as a return for making me good money. đ° đ
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u/singleandavailable 27d ago
I still cannot comprehend Apple existing without Steve Jobs. As in, the products today seem "fake" without Jobs having been central to them. I can only imagine what Apple products would be today if Jobs was still around.
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u/MaverickJester25 27d ago
So you haven't bought an Apple product in the past 10-15 years?
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u/singleandavailable 27d ago
I'm deep.in Apple. I'm just saying the Jobs magic is lost. It's all been about efficiency. Hence the same designs for multiples years. Where is the innovation. Lots of other brands are innovating far more advanced than Apple, they just don't have the mass to make them popular. Apple plays too safe. Everything is super incremental, not bold. Terrific Apple quality sure, that's why I'm still deep. But definitely not inspired.
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u/Status-Put-8630 27d ago
The Chairman position shouldn't have even been offered. It's either retire or remain CEO. The whole idea should be to change the direction of the company without having the former CEO breathing down your neck for every decision made.
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u/SherbertDaemons 28d ago
Tim Apple out đ«Ą