Apple's new CEO Ternus likely to get earnings spotlight as strong results loom

By Akash Sriram and Aditya Soni

April 29 (Reuters) - Apple investors volition beryllium keen connected getting a person look astatine John Ternus arsenic CEO of the iPhone shaper connected Thursday, erstwhile it reports quarterly results that Wall Street is expecting to ‌be strong.

Ternus formally takes implicit from Tim Cook successful September, but Apple's determination to unveil the succession days earlier net has ‌convinced analysts that helium volition articulation the post-results call.

The erstwhile hardware chief, who has overseen immoderate of Apple's biggest bets successful caller years, including the displacement to custom-designed chips ​for the Mac, is expected to support a product-first attack arsenic the institution navigates the AI era.

He indispensable determine however acold to unfastened Apple's tightly controlled ecosystem to support gait successful the artificial quality contention that has truthful acold rewarded velocity and experimentation implicit curation and control.

"The AI communicative remains 1 up successful the air, but this 4th isn't conscionable astir the numbers," said Jay Woods, main marketplace strategist astatine Freedom Capital Markets. "Investors volition beryllium focused ‌on however enactment alteration could signifier merchandise innovation, ⁠capital allocation and Apple's adjacent section successful AI."

Cook is handing implicit Ternus a institution that's been riding 1 of its strongest iPhone upgrade cycles successful years, with margins that are the envy of the user tech world.

The ⁠MacBook Neo, which Ternus launched successful March, has created the benignant of buzz that fewer Apple devices person managed successful caller years and drawn beardown aboriginal sales.

At $599, it represents Apple's boldest determination yet to pat the lower-priced laptop marketplace and widen its lawsuit base. But it besides risks diluting Apple's premium marque and ​cannibalizing ​demand for the MacBook Air astatine a little terms point.

Ben Bajarin, CEO astatine ​tech consultancy Creative Strategies, said the Neo was perchance a ‌new $20-billion-per-year marketplace for Apple.

"Neo gives Apple a credible merchandise successful parts of the notebook marketplace wherever it has historically been structurally absent, particularly education, first-time buyers and value-oriented Windows replacement cycles," Bajarin said.

IPHONE SALES GROWTH REMAINS ROBUST

Mac income are expected to borderline backmost into growth, rising 0.8% to $8.02 cardinal successful the January-March period, Apple's fiscal 2nd quarter, according to information compiled by LSEG.

Overall, gross is expected to summation 15% to $109.66 billion, successful enactment with the vacation quarter, arsenic iPhone income maturation remained astir dependable astatine 22%, rising to $57.21 billion.

The beardown iPhone income defied the diminution successful ‌the smartphone marketplace successful the archetypal quarter, according to IDC, with show expected to ​be peculiarly beardown successful China.