Prediction: Apple Stock Will Flourish Under New CEO

For the first time in 15 years, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is set to get a new voice at the top, with Tim Cook stepping down as CEO in September 2026 and transitioning to executive chairman. While the news came as a surprise, I think it will be good for the company and its stock.

Cook did a nice job stepping in for Steve Jobs after he passed away. He led Apple to become the first trillion-dollar market cap company in 2018 and saw the stock grow in value more than 20-fold after taking over. He oversaw solid new introductions with the Apple Watch and Airpods, while Apple's margins expanded nicely as a higher percentage of revenue has come from its high-gross-margin services business.

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That said, to put it in football terms, Cook has been much more of a game manager at the quarterback position than anything else. Apple has one of the best business models on the planet; its ecosystem locks in customers and keeps them there, where it then continues to sell them more high-margin services. That's why perhaps Cook's biggest win wasn't a fancy new tech product, but the introduction of Apple Pay, which turned the iPhone into a digital wallet for its affluent customer base.

Renewed innovation could boost Apple stock

At this point, I think it would be difficult for most people to screw up running Apple. It has just a great flywheel business that should continue to run smoothly, barring any major missteps. However, the introduction of John Ternus as CEO could inject some additional life into the company. Unlike Cook, who was an operations guy, Ternus is a tech guy, having managed the hardware engineering for Apple's top products over the past 25 years. That background could help bring some much-needed product innovation to a company that has been much more of a tech follower over the past decade.

Ternus takes over at an important time as the company decides what to do with its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. It's been lagging in this area, although Apple has proven in the past to have a second-mover advantage and not leap into untested areas. But if Ternus can help the company introduce some new products that bring excitement to the Apple brand, it can feed more into its flywheel business model.

Apple has the cash and means to be bolder, whether with innovation or acquisitions. While you can't fault Cook's track record, you can argue he played it too close to the vest and that he should have gone out and made some bigger acquisitions (like buying Netflix, for example, when he had the opportunity).

Ternus now has the opportunity to take the company in a bolder direction, which should be good for Apple shareholders.

Geoffrey Seiler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.