ii Tech Focus: Apple, Tesla, IBM, AST SpaceMobile

Longstanding Apple staffer John Ternus will take over from Tim Cook in September. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

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Apple

Apple announced that hardware boss John Ternus will take over as CEO from 1 September, succeeding Tim Cook. After leading the firm for almost 15 years, Cook will stay in the role of executive chair. Cook succeeded co-founder Steve Jobs, driving record iPhones sales at the tech giant and expanding the business into recurring revenue services such as TV streaming and music.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price has risen more than 1,900% since Cook took the helm in August 2011 and its price/earnings multiple has surged too, according to The Wall Street Journal, which ranks Apple as the 38th best-performing stock in the S&P 500 over that period, behind NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, which is up 61,881%, and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), up 24,564%.

Shares have struggled in 2026, trading roughly flat year-to-date but are up 36% year-on-year. According to Refinitiv, there is a consensus buy recommendation among analysts.

Tesla

Tesla reported a mixed bag of results on Wednesday – first-quarter earnings hit 41 cents a share, ahead of forecasts for 37 cents a share and a surprise positive free cash flow of $1.44 billion (£1.07 billion). However, revenue came in at $22.39 billion, below expectations for $22.6 billion. Shares initially reacted positively to the earnings announcement. However, Tesla reversed course as traders expressed concerns about the company’s spending – it is planning capex of more than $25 billion this year on AI, robotics and chips.

CEO Elon Musk said, “You should expect to see very significant increase in capital expenditures that are, I think, well justified for a substantially increased future revenue stream.”

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Musk has been trying to diversify Tesla away from the highly competitive electric vehicle (EV) market into other areas such as autonomous cars and robotics. Tesla shares are down 14% so far this year but have rallied more than 60% year-on-year.

IBM

IBM reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.91, beating forecasts for $1.81 on revenues of $15.92 billion, growing 9% year-on-year, also ahead of expectations for $15.62 billion. However, shares in International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM) fell in after-hours trading as the company dashed hopes of a guidance upgrade by reiterating its full-year outlook. However, IBM’s CFO Jim Kavanaugh said, “I don’t think we’ve ever raised guidance in the first quarter”.

IBM said its Middle East business had the strongest growth in decades in Q1, and it expects similar in Q2. However, it said there might be an energy impact in Europe if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for another few weeks but that the company will be able to absorb it.

JP Morgan cut its price target on the stock to $270 from $283 following the earnings release. Shares are down around 15% year-to-date but are up 5% year-on-year. According to Refinitiv, there is a consensus buy recommendation on the stock with 12 buys, 10 holds and 2 sells.

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Source: interactive investor, 20-22 April 2026.

AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile is among the most-bought tech stocks on the ii platform so far this week. Shares fell on Monday after its communications satellite Bluebird 7 aboard a rocket designed by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin was placed in the wrong orbit. Bluebird 7 will be de-orbited because of insufficient altitude for operations. The cost of Bluebird 7 is expected to be recovered under AST SpaceMobile Inc Ordinary Shares - Class A (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s insurance policy. However, the negative sentiment from the event could impact the company.

AST SpaceMobile says it is still planning an orbital launch every one to two months in 2026, targeting 45 satellites in orbit by year-end.

Shares are up almost 300% over the last year and 16% year-to-date. However, shares have struggled lately, shedding 3% over the last week. According to Refinitiv, there is a consensus hold recommendation on the stock among analysts. 

Week Ahead

US tech earnings

Mega-cap tech earnings are front and centre for investors in the week ahead, with quarterly earnings from Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms Inc Class A (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Wednesday 29 April followed by Apple a day later.

After multiple years of outperformance, US mega-cap tech had a tough start to the year. Valuations were very high and there were concerns about an AI bubble late last year, prompting investors to turn to more traditional sectors after a long stretch of tech dominance.

There has also been nervousness about the heavy levels of AI spending required to keep up in the highly competitive AI arms race, with tech giants increasingly relying on debt to fuel their capex sprees.

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Adding further pressure, geopolitical tensions and the energy shock that began in late February prompted risk-off sentiment, fears of stagflation and general market unease, landing the Nasdaq 100 into correction territory, down over 10% from its recent high.

However, since the end of March, sentiment has improved and tech stocks have been staging impressive bounce backs. For example, Meta is up around 28% and Microsoft is up over 20% off their recent lows. The S&P 500 is back at its record high thanks to optimism that the Iran war will end, positive sentiment around earnings season, and a weaker US dollar.

Focus for investors in the coming earnings reports will be on whether demand can keep up with the heavy levels of AI spending. Investors need to see strong revenues and guidance that supports the hundreds of billions being ploughed into AI among the hyperscalers.