Apple announced in April that Cook will step down in September and become executive chairman. His successor is longtime Apple hardware executive John Ternus, who will lead the $4 trillion company.

Ternus said on the call that Cook is “one of the greatest business leaders of all time.” He also described CFO Kevan Parekh as a strategic partner. “One of the hallmarks of Tim’s tenure has been deep thoughtfulness, deliberateness, and discipline when it comes to the company’s financial decision-making,” Ternus said. “I want you to know that is something Kevan and I intend to continue when I transition into the role in September.” Parekh, who has served as CFO since January 2025, joined the company in 2013 and was previously VP of financial planning and analysis.

Apple (No. 4 on the Fortune 500) delivered its best March quarter ever in fiscal Q2 2026, posting revenue of $111.2 billion, up 17% year over year and above estimates of $109.46 billion, with diluted EPS of $2.01, up 22%. iPhone revenue reached $57 billion (up 22% year over year), slightly exceeding estimates of $56.66 billion.

The company has done a “great job navigating a very complex tariff situation and memory pricing headwinds so far in FY26,” Wedbush analysts wrote Thursday. They said they will look for more details on guidance and the CEO transition in September. Wedbush maintained an outperform rating and a $350 price target.

Apple’s Services segment hit an all-time revenue record of $30.9 billion, up from $26.6 billion a year ago. Parekh highlighted deepening enterprise support, citing risk management firm Marsh as an example of a large-scale Apple product refresh. He also said that AI remains an important area of investment the company plans to pursue incrementally.

Parekh’s forward-looking guidance for Q3 projects year-over-year growth of 14% to 17%, above the 9% previously expected. He reaffirmed Apple’s capital allocation philosophy: investing in R&D for organic growth, returning excess cash via dividends and buybacks, and maintaining a net cash-neutral position over the long term.

As CEO, Cook oversaw new product categories including Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro, as well as services ranging from iCloud and Apple Pay to Apple TV+ and Apple Music. Under his leadership, Apple’s market cap grew from roughly $350 billion to $4 trillion—an increase of more than 1,000%.

When asked what advice he would give Ternus, Cook emphasized a focus on product innovation: “Never forget the North Star for the company.”

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Fortune 500 Power Moves

Jamie A. Beggs was appointed SVP and CFO of PPG (No. 234), a global supplier of paints and coatings, effective July 6. Beggs is succeeding Vincent J. Morales as CFO, who announced earlier his planned retirement following a 41-year career with PPG. Beggs joins PPG with more than 25 years of experience in financial leadership positions in public and private organizations with a focus on specialty materials and diverse end markets. Since 2020, she has served as CFO of Avient Corporation. Before that, Beggs served as CFO of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. and also worked for 10 years at Celanese Corporation, where she served in a variety of leadership positions, including CFO of its materials solutions business.

Brent Norwood was promoted to CFO of Deere & Company (No. 89), effective May 1. Norwood has more than 20 years of experience at Deere and in the financial industry. Since 2023, he has served as VP and finance director for the company's construction and forestry division and John Deere Power Systems. He joined Deere as a program manager and later held roles in global marketing operations, corporate business development, and investor relations. Before joining Deere, Norwood worked in the investment industry.

Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.

More notable moves:

Mark Langer was appointed CFO of Puma SE, a global sportswear company. Langer will succeed Markus Neubrand, who will step down as CFO on April 30, and will leave the company on Sept. 30. Most recently, Langer served as CFO and member of the managing board at Douglas AG, where he led key transformation initiatives across the finance function. Before that, he spent over 17 years at Hugo Boss AG serving as CEO from 2016 to 2020 and as CFO from 2010 to 2017.

Rob L. Masson was appointed interim CFO of Fermi Inc. (Nasdaq: FRMI), an AI power startup. Masson's appointment follows the resignation of Miles Everson as CFO and secretary on April 19. Everson was elected to the company's board. Masson brings over two decades of experience. He most recently served as CFO of Noble Supply & Logistics, LLC. Masson previously served as CFO and treasurer at Latham Group, Inc., and as EVP and CFO at Hypertherm, Inc. Previously, he served as VP of finance at Flowserve Corporation and held multiple roles at Raytheon Technologies. 

Darren Snellgrove was appointed CFO of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HALO), effective June 8. Snellgrove brings more than 30 years of experience. Most recently, he led investor relations at Johnson & Johnson. Before that, Snellgrove served as CFO of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals sector. Earlier in his career, Snellgrove held CFO and senior finance leadership roles across pharmaceutical R&D, innovation, and M&A at Johnson & Johnson, as well as progressive finance roles at Centocor prior to its acquisition.

Mark Graff was appointed CFO of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (Nasdaq: RRGB), effective May 4. Graff succeeds Chris Meyer, who joined the company as interim CFO in December 2025. Graff has worked for more than a decade at Bloomin' Brands. Most recently, he served as president of Bonefish Grill and Fine Dining. Over the course of his tenure at Bloomin' Brands, Graff held senior leadership roles across finance, strategy, and investor relations.

Sheri Savage, CFO of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: UCTT), will be retiring from the company. Savage has worked at Ultra Clean for 17 years in leadership roles including VP of finance, SVP and chief accounting officer, and was appointed CFO in 2016. The board has initiated a search for her successor, considering both internal and external candidates. 

Matt Kosovsky was appointed CFO of Thrive, a global technology outsourcing provider. Kosovsky's experience includes working with high-growth, private equity-backed businesses. Before joining Thrive, he served as an operating director in the Portfolio Support Group at Berkshire Partners and previously held advisory roles at Deloitte & Touche. As CFO at Thrive, Kosovsky will advance financial strategy, support scalable execution, and strengthen the data-driven model.

Mark Hancock, a co-founder and first CFO of PACS Group, Inc. (NYSE: PACS), a provider of post-acute healthcare platforms, will retire on June 30. Hancock co-founded PACS in 2013 alongside Jason Murray, PACS’s chairman. Carey P. Hendrickson will succeed him as CFO. Hendrickson brings to PACS nearly four decades of financial leadership spanning public company CFO roles in health care, senior living, and media.

Big Deal

Over the past year, Skillsoft, a skills management platform, has found that learners on its platform are increasingly focused on demonstrating AI proficiency.

AI-related Skill Benchmark completions—which assess learners’ ability to apply knowledge and give organizations visibility into workforce readiness—have increased 994% year over year. This growth was accompanied by a 261% increase in AI content completions, a 222% rise in AI learning journeys, and a 241% increase in AI achievement badges issued.

These trends indicate that both companies and employees are seeking more opportunities to build AI skills and validate their ability to apply them effectively on the job, according to Skillsoft.

Going deeper

"For years, the risk Jamie Dimon was most concerned about was geopolitics. His answer has shifted" —Eleanor Pringle

"America’s largest Black-owned bank launches podcast with mission to unlock hidden shame holding back generational wealth" —Nick Lichtenberg

"Google and Amazon’s biggest profit driver last quarter was their Anthropic stakes—which they haven’t sold" —Eva Roytburg

"Meta wants to spend more even after it lost $80 billion on the Metaverse and over 20 million users" —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

Overheard

"AI-savvy preparation is more of a mindset and immersion in emerging platforms than mastering a library of analytic tools. John Dewey wrote in his 1916 work Democracy and Education: 'Education is not preparation for life—education is life itself.'"

—Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Stephen Henriques, Johan Griesel, Andrew Alam-Nist, and Peter Yu of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute (CELI), discuss in a Fortune opinion piece. This article is part one of a four-part series from CELI on the state of agentic AI adoption across industries and sectors.