“Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that he is gay,” Gene Munster and Doug Clinton, analysts at Piper Jaffray, write via CNBC. “It may seem strange to have Wall Street analysts weigh in on such a personal topic and we recognize that the announcement is bigger than shares of AAPL. But Cook’s decision to announce that he is gay had the potential to impact the stock and many wondered if it would. We were happy to see investors vote through a roughly unchanged stock price that Tim Cook is just as capable a CEO today as he was before the announcement.”
“Investor reaction to shares suggests they are making the bet that consumers around the world will not change how they view Apple or consume its products,” Munster and Clinton write. “Beyond Apple, as many have already commented, Cook’s announcement could open the door for more public company CEOs to live without fear of negative reaction from investors, business partners, or customers regarding personal details of their lives.”
“As analysts, we are frequently asked to evaluate management teams and their ability to lead their companies to growing revenue and profit. It’s rare and refreshing that we get the opportunity to evaluate a management team’s ability to drive positive change on a societal level,” Munster and Clinton write. “Given their history, it’s hard to imagine a more fitting person than Tim Cook or company than Apple to push Wall Street and the world toward a better place.”
Read more in the full article here.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me’ – October 30, 2014
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Apple releases video highlighting employee participation in San Francisco’s LGBT Pride Parade – July 8, 2014
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Apple inviting employees to march in annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade – May 7, 2014
Apple donates $100,000 to fight same-sex marriage ban in California (Proposition 8) – October 24, 2008
