Constellation Analysis CEO R ‘Ray’ Wang discusses the market sell-off, his expectations for Amazon and Apple earnings, the Federal Reserve assembly and AI governance on ‘Mornings with Maria.’
CUPERTINO, Calif. – Apple delivered its strongest June quarter on report, reporting $109.4 billion in income and beating analysts’ estimates of $108.65 billion within the firm’s closing earnings report earlier than CEO Tim Prepare dinner steps down.
A 22% bounce in iPhone gross sales, mixed with report spring-quarter Mac income, helped drive the outcomes. Tariff refunds additionally boosted Apple’s backside line, including roughly 5% to revenue in the course of the interval.
However the earnings numbers have been solely a part of the story. In an interview following the report, Prepare dinner addressed Apple’s method to open-source synthetic intelligence, the state of U.S.-China relations, quickly rising reminiscence chip prices and the legacy he leaves after 15 years on the helm.
APPLE CHIEF TIM COOK SAYS IT WAS THE ‘RIGHT TIME’ TO STEP DOWN AS CEO
Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner delivers the keynote tackle in the course of the Apple WWDC at Apple Park on June 8, 2026, in Cupertino, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Pictures)
Prepare dinner mentioned he has “nothing detrimental” to say about open-source AI fashions, including that “they’re helpful.” His feedback come because the expertise business debates whether or not probably the most highly effective AI programs ought to stay proprietary or be made extra broadly accessible to builders.
That debate has intensified after Chinese language AI firm Moonshot launched Kimi K3, a brand new mannequin that has drawn consideration for efficiency that rivals a few of the strongest programs from Anthropic and OpenAI. Apple, in the meantime, is making ready to launch its long-awaited AI-powered Siri this fall utilizing Google’s Gemini.
Prepare dinner’s feedback recommend Apple intends to stay pragmatic relatively than ideological in selecting the fashions that energy its merchandise. The corporate has historically exercised tight management over its {hardware} and software program ecosystem, however the fast-moving AI market could require it to attract on a wider vary of outdoor applied sciences.
WHO IS JOHN TERNUS, SET TO SUCCEED TIM TOOK AS APPLE’S CEO?
China stays one other important a part of Apple’s AI technique and its broader enterprise.
Apple workers assist prospects on the Fifth Avenue Apple Retailer on new product launch day on Sept. 19, 2025 in New York Metropolis. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Pictures)
“By way of the U.S.-China relationship, I used to be over in April for the state dinner, and I feel the engagement between the nations are actually good, and I’ve acquired a positive view, and I am very optimistic at this level about the place the connection is,” Prepare dinner mentioned.
Apple Intelligence has lastly been permitted in China after a delay of almost two years in contrast with its U.S. launch. The approval may assist Apple compete extra successfully in one in all its largest markets, the place home smartphone makers have moved rapidly so as to add generative AI options.
Apple’s China gross sales rose 22% in the course of the spring quarter to $18.81 billion. Even with that sharp improve, income nonetheless fell wanting analysts’ estimates of greater than $19.5 billion in Apple’s third-largest market.
Tariff refunds supplied one other elevate to the quarter. Prepare dinner mentioned Apple is directing that cash again into home manufacturing.
APPLE TO LEASE IPHONES, OTHER PRODUCTS TO USERS THROUGH KLARNA PARTNERSHIP
“We’re taking our tariff refunds and reinvesting these in the USA’ superior manufacturing,” he mentioned.
Apple has already dedicated to spending $600 billion over 4 years on the U.S. financial system. The reinvestment offers the corporate a method to body the refunds not merely as a short lived earnings profit, however as extra help for its long-term manufacturing technique.
On the similar time, Apple is contending with a pointy improve in the price of reminiscence chips. The corporate not too long ago raised costs on some Mac computer systems and iPads by as a lot as $300 as reminiscence chip costs soared by as a lot as 600% over the previous two years.
“As I would talked about on the decision final time round, the reminiscence prices have been greater in March than December quarter, after which in June they have been considerably greater than within the March quarter,” Prepare dinner mentioned.
| Ticker | Safety | Final | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 333.43 | -4.76 | -1.41% |
These greater prices are arriving simply as synthetic intelligence is driving demand for extra computing energy and reminiscence. Regardless of the worth will increase on some units, Prepare dinner mentioned Apple’s new, lower-priced MacBook Neo, which begins at $699, was the corporate’s best-selling laptop in the USA throughout its first full quarter available on the market.
Demand for Apple’s higher-powered Mac Studio computer systems has additionally surged, creating provide shortages and serving to push Mac income above $10 billion for a brand new spring-quarter report.
Prepare dinner will step down as chief govt on Sept. 1 after main Apple for 15 years. He’ll stay chairman, whereas Apple’s {hardware} engineering chief, John Ternus, takes over as CEO.
Prepare dinner grew to become chief govt in 2011, succeeding Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Since then, Apple’s market worth has elevated by greater than 1,000%. This week, the corporate grew to become solely the second company to surpass $5 trillion in market worth, briefly overtaking Nvidia to reclaim the title of the world’s most beneficial firm.
Apple’s CEO Tim Prepare dinner attends the premiere of season 4 of the Apple TV collection “Ted Lasso” on the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, California, on July 27, 2026. (David Swanson/Reuters / Reuters)
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Reflecting on his tenure, Prepare dinner mentioned, “I’ve had an unimaginable alternative to work with people who I like to work with… and it is simply been the privilege of a lifetime.”
Requested how he needs to be remembered, Prepare dinner demurred.
“How individuals will write about that will probably be theirs to determine,” he mentioned. “However for me, it has been a privilege.”
Prepare dinner arrived within the prime job going through doubts {that a} supply-chain professional may protect the product imaginative and prescient and tradition related to Jobs. Fifteen years later, he leaves behind an organization working at a scale few may have imagined in 2011 – and one now getting into a brand new period outlined by synthetic intelligence, geopolitical competitors and the problem of sustaining development from the world’s most beneficial shopper expertise franchise.
