Apple soars past Wall Street expectations as CEO Tim Cook prepares to step down

Apple blew past Wall Street expectations in its first earnings report since it announced CEO Tim Cook would be stepping down.

Cook reported Apple’s “best March quarter ever” and “double-digit growth across every geographic segment”. He also noted “extraordinary demand for the iPhone17 lineup”.

Apple crushed Wall Street expectations of $110bn in revenue, racking up $111.2bn for the second quarter of 2026. That trend held in greater China, where revenue reached $20.4bn. Apple also beat Wall street expectations of $1.96 in its earnings per share, and reported $2.01.

Apple’s stocks rose in after-hours trading after the release.

Apple’s 20 April announcement that John Ternus would take over as the company’s top executive in September comes at a critical juncture for the iPhone maker.

Apple has not invested as heavily in AI as its biggest competitors but it’s still bearing some of the costs from the AI boom. OpenAI, Google and Microsoft buying up much of the world’s memory chip supply has made them more expensive, increasing costs for Apple to build its products.

Ternus also inherits a complicated privacy legacy. While Cook has fought hard for these protections in the US, he has made significant concessions in China – Apple’s second-largest and fastest-growing market.

Ternus, currently senior vice-president of hardware, joined Apple’s product design team in 2001. Apple has said his contributions were instrumental in introducing many new products, including the iPad and AirPods, as well as many generations of iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch products. Ternus is expected to be in charge by the time Apple launches its first foldable iPhone later this year.