UBS Analyst Pisses off Tim Cook during Quarterly Earnings Call

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“Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, normally goes through the quarterly earnings call without skipping a beat. Nearly every time he speaks, Cook reminds everyone ‘This is Tim’ and then gives a polished answer to whatever question he’s answering,” Mark Rogowsky writes for Forbes. “Yesterday, though, something different happened and it wasn’t just the dropping of the self introduction. Apple had just delivered a quarter that narrowly exceeded expectations — even though the company reported its first annual revenue decline since 2001.”

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“Cook reeled off some highlights: Apple saw a record number of switchers from Android to iPhone, the company’s services business grew 24% to $6.3 billion, Apple Music has industry leading customer satisfaction in streaming. Then, as always, the question-and-answer segment followed and one moment seemed to set Cook off,” Rogowsky writes. “Steve Milunovich, currently at UBS but a Wall Street analyst for decades, asked: “The question is … does Apple today have a grand strategy for what you want to do? I know you won’t tell us what it us, but do you know what you want to do over the next three to maybe five years?””

“Cook replied more politely than many might have. ‘We have the strongest pipeline that we’ve ever had and we’re really confident about the things in it. But as usual, we’re not going to talk about what’s ahead,’ he said,” Rogowsky writes. “Milunovich tried to follow up and Cook essentially blew him off with a one-sentence reply. I can’t be in Cook’s head. But given that Apple is typically working 2-3 generations ahead on iPhone, Apple Watch, et al. and has been upping R&D spending by billions of dollars, it’s likely he was churning through less generous replies. The idea that Apple doesn’t have a 3-5 year plan is so beyond absurd it is a bit odd that a veteran analyst would pose that question. That the very asking implies Apple is rudderless suggests a captain lost at sea.”

Read more in the full article here.