As Apple gears up to roll out its highly anticipated AI features later this year, a notable shift in its financial strategy is fueling speculation that the company could be preparing for a major acquisition soon.
hristine Ji for MarketWatch:
Apple’s next CEO, John Ternus, isn’t sharing his strategy just yet — but the company just made one notable change before he’s even started on the job.
On its second-quarter earnings call Thursday, Apple shared that it would be abandoning its longstanding target of achieving a net-cash-neutral position.
Back in 2018, the company started winnowing down its massive cash pile with the goal of maintaining equivalent cash and debt levels, but Apple said it will evaluate the two metrics separately going forward. The decision will help it “make more optimal economic decisions around how we best utilize our debt and cash portfolios to support the business,” CFO Kevan Parekh said.
“We believe the changing of the guard at Apple with a new CEO hints at acquisitions going forward, which is a relief for investors to hear,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told MarketWatch over email…
“This is a functional change, and they are signaling something we can only speculate,” Ben Bajarin, CEO and principal analyst at Creative Strategies, posted on X. “More capex spend, M&A, something is coming that is out of historical norms for [Apple].”
MacDailyNews Take: Buckle up, buttercups! Soon, there’ll be a new sheriff in town!
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