Why Tim Cook stepping down as CEO isn’t shaking Cramer’s faith in Apple
Tim Cook’s act is a tough one to follow. It doesn’t mean Apple ‘s future is any less bright. The company said late Monday that John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, will take over for longtime chief executive officer Cook, who will become executive chairman. It’s “very sad” news, Jim Cramer said Tuesday, but it doesn’t shake his conviction on the stock. Ternus, who will assume the role on Sept. 1, joined Apple’s product design team way back in 2001, giving him immense experience in bringing some of the company’s most popular devices to market, including the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Apple Watch. “I think this new fellow really understands hardware, which they have to have,” Jim said during Tuesday’s Morning Meeting. “A lot of the different products that we all really like are his.” Ternus is credited with being part of the team that developed AirPods and redesigned Mac computers. Cramer isn’t alone in his optimism: several Wall Street firms issued positive notes after the succession announcement. “John Ternus was clearly the right choice given his background as an engineer at the company for 25 years,” Melius Research said. “He clearly knows how to focus on great hardware …. that drives a great customer experience.” Meanwhile, Bank of America said that Apple “might be entering a new era of devices” and that 2027 “could be a big product year” as a result of Ternus’s design experience. To be sure, Ternus has big shoes to fill. One of his biggest challenges will be stepping out of Cook’s shadow to define his own path to success, much as Cook did when he took over from founder Steve Jobs in 2011. Since then, Apple has jumped from roughly $350 billion to $4 trillion in market cap, with shares gaining an incredible 1,900%. Annual revenue nearly quadrupled, from $108 billion in fiscal year 2011 to more than $416 billion in fiscal year 2025. Cook did it by turning Apple’s services unit into a high-margin business, which has become increasingly crucial to the company’s bottom line. “The Apple success story is on the Mount Rushmore of tech stalwarts in the history of U.S. companies,” Wedbush said in a note, describing Cook as among the factors that were “instrumental to that.” President Donald Trump also praised Cook’s tenure. “I got to know him very well. He’s a fantastic person. He did an unbelievable job,” he said Tuesday during Squawk on the Street . “He gets things done.” We praised Cook in the past for deftly navigating Trump’s tariff threats in 2025, with Apple’s additional investments into U.S. manufacturing. Despite the high bar, Ternus is entering the CEO role with many exciting things in the works, including an AI upgrade to its Siri assistant and a foldable iPhone. “He’s leaving the company with a great hand,” Jeff Marks, the Investing Club’s director of portfolio analysis, said during the Morning Meeting. “We’ll look to see the new CEO, Ternus, take it to the next level.” Ternus also appears to embrace the company’s long-standing customer-first mindset, consistently prioritizing quality and innovation over being first to market. Case in point: The iPhone wasn’t the first smartphone, but its dominance is unmatched. Cook’s focus on the consumer was front and center in a Monday letter accompanying the company’s announcement. “For the past 15 years, I’ve started just about every morning the same way, I open my email, and I read notes I received the day before from Apple’s users all over the world,” Cook said. “You share little pieces of your lives with me and tell me things you want me to know about how Apple has touched you.” Ternus has taken the same page from Cook’s book. “I think he’s from the school that the customer is always right, which is terrific,” Cramer said. The icing on the succession cake? Ternus could have a long tenure ahead of him, given that he’s only 50. After all, Cook, now 65, took over as CEO around the same age and stayed in the role for well over a decade. “He could have a long run,” Cramer said. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
