Overview
- Apple said on its Q2 earnings call that it will no longer use a net cash neutral goal and will judge cash and debt separately.
- The board approved an additional $100 billion share buyback, showing that returns to investors remain a priority.
- Management framed the change as creating room to fund artificial intelligence work, new hardware, hiring, and possible acquisitions, as industry reporting described.
- Hardware chief John Ternus takes over as CEO on September 1, 2026 and has pledged to keep financial discipline even with more flexibility.
- Under Tim Cook, Apple returned more than $1 trillion to investors and cut net cash by over $100 billion, while avoiding big deals since its $3 billion Beats purchase in 2014.