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John Ternus opened his first earnings call as Apple’s CEO with a simple line. “A privilege to be with you for the first time as Apple CEO.”
The numbers backed him up. Revenue of $114.5 billion, up 12%. iPhone at $57.6 billion. Services hit another all-time record at $31.6 billion. EPS of $2.10, up 14%. The September quarter was, by almost every measure, the strongest in Apple’s history for that period.
But I was not listening for the revenue number.
He passed Duo supply questions to COO Sabih Khan, pushed margin detail to CFO Kevan Parekh, and would not touch the iPhone 18 roadmap. Memory costs he took himself. Pricing is “unprecedented,” he said. Rising costs will persist. The carry-in inventory cushion shrinks over time. That answer was specific, unhedged, and his.
That pattern matters more than the quarter.
Ternus spent 25 years building things. Investor communication is a different skill. The December guidance (7% to 10% revenue growth, gross margin of 45% to 46% under memory pressure, Duo still supply-constrained with no timeline on balance) was delivered without flinching. That part was fine.
What I want to see over the next two or three calls is whether he develops the instinct for what analysts actually need to hear, or whether Parekh carries that weight permanently.
What did the call tell you about the kind of leader he intends to be?
🔗 Source: Apple Outpaces Sales Expectations as It Continues to Battle Surging Memory Chip Costs
