John Ternus Will Become Apple’s New CEO in September. Is Now a Good Time to Buy the Stock?

Key Points

Ternus may pick up where Apple co-founder and former chief executive officer Steve Jobs and current CEO Tim Cook left off.

The incoming CEO is a longtime Apple employee and brings hardware engineering strengths to the job.

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Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has built a device empire, topped by its crown jewel: the world-famous iPhone. Last year, the iPhone was the best-selling smartphone globally, according to Counterpoint Research, and iPhones held seven of the top 10 positions. The company has also conquered the world with other related innovations, from the iPad to the Apple Watch.

All of this has helped Apple grow earnings into the billions of dollars and market value to $4 trillion. Behind these innovations are two leaders: Apple co-founder and former chief executive officer Steve Jobs and current CEO Tim Cook. The former is often described as a creative innovator, while the latter is known as an operations expert. In both cases, they helped shape Apple into one of today's top technology players.

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Now, a third individual may join this list of leaders. As of Sept. 1, Cook will hand the Apple reins over to John Ternus. The current senior vice president of hardware engineering will take on this role, while Cook becomes executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. Ahead of this major transition, is now a good time to buy Apple stock? Let's find out.

Tim Cook’s successes

So, first, let's consider the Apple path so far. In recent years, Cook has scored many wins, from maintaining the leadership of Apple products to translating the company’s massive user base into a services revenue opportunity. Under Cook’s leadership, Apple’s active installed base of devices has reached beyond 2.5 billion, and the variety of services available to these users has created massive recurrent revenue for Apple. The idea is that revenue doesn't end with the purchase of an iPhone, and instead continues as users pay for digital storage, entertainment, and more. Cook made this a focus, and as a result, the services business now tops $100 billion.

All of this is fantastic, but one area has held Apple back in recent years, and that’s the company’s slow adoption of one of the hottest technologies of the past few decades: artificial intelligence (AI). The company launched certain AI features, known as Apple Intelligence, in 2024, but the rollout continues -- and after delays, Apple customers are eagerly awaiting an update to the voice assistant Siri, potentially this year.

As tech players that more quickly embraced AI saw their stock performance take off, Apple’s has remained a few steps behind. So, the company’s efforts in AI as well as product innovation may be two areas of focus -- and if new chief John Ternus makes a positive mark here, investors may cheer.

What we know about John Ternus

What do we know about Ternus? He’s been with Apple for almost his entire career and became an executive team member in 2021 when he took on his current position. Ternus may be seen as a "product guy" as he’s been involved in the hardware engineering that makes devices such as the iPhone or AirPods what they are today. And speaking of AirPods, his team drove work on technology such as noise cancellation and a hearing aid feature.

Apple also said that the recent decision followed a "thoughtful, long-term succession planning process," so the company may have evaluated Ternus’ potential for the role for quite some time.

Considering all of this, should you buy the stock now, ahead of this key transition? Cook clearly accomplished a great deal at Apple, but there’s more to be done -- and the next step that could supercharge growth, as I mentioned above, may have a lot to do with AI strategy and product innovation.

Ternus, with product engineering expertise, may bring a valuable perspective and sound experience to the table. And with Cook still around as executive chairman, any shifts in strategy might not be drastic or happen overnight. So, I don't see this transition as a high-risk one for the company or investors.

That doesn't mean it will be a non-event, however. Ternus may be eager to add his touch to the Apple story -- and take action to address areas of weakness or areas that hold potential. So, picking up shares of this tech giant today may be a good idea: It offers investors the opportunity to get on board early, potentially ahead of a new era of growth.

Should you buy stock in Apple right now?

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Adria Cimino 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.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.