Can Ternus Come Up with the New Story That Apple Stock Badly Needs

Apple (AAPL) has announced a leadership transition plan, and long-time CEO Tim Cook will become the executive chairman, handing over the baton to John Ternus, who is currently the senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. In its release, Apple said that the transition, which would be effective Sept. 1, 2026, “follows a thoughtful, long-term succession planning process.”

To be sure, the leadership transition isn’t unexpected, even though it came somewhat sooner than most expected. Markets, however, didn’t give the stamp of approval that the company might have wanted, and AAPL stock closed over 2.5% lower yesterday, April 21, underperforming the S&P 500 Index ($SPX).