--- title: "Needham analysts support Apple's decision to \"change leadership,\" while urging: sell more ads and acquire Disney" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/283592884.md" description: "Needham analyst Laura Martin supports Apple's decision to change its CEO, believing that the new CEO John Ternus will bring innovation and a sense of urgency to the company. Martin suggests that Apple should actively expand its advertising business, noting that its advertising revenue potential is significant, with an expected reach of $10 billion by 2025. She also mentioned that Apple should consider acquiring or partnering with Disney to enhance user engagement and market competitiveness" datetime: "2026-04-22T03:38:17.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/283592884.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283592884.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/283592884.md) --- # Needham analysts support Apple's decision to "change leadership," while urging: sell more ads and acquire Disney According to Zhitong Finance APP, on Monday, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) announced that John Ternus will succeed Tim Cook as the next CEO, a move that has garnered praise from many analysts and investors on Wall Street. Among them, Needham analyst Laura Martin also expressed support for this decision, despite having urged Apple to actively expand its business, move away from its core philosophy, and delve into advertising and mergers and acquisitions. In a report to clients, Martin wrote: "We support Apple's succession plan announced yesterday, with Tim Cook stepping down as CEO on September 1st (transitioning to Executive Chairman), and current Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus taking over as CEO. We are optimistic about the value creation brought by this transition, as we believe Ternus will inject a sense of urgency (i.e., speed) and a spirit of risk-taking (i.e., innovation) into Apple's product line." Martin has a "Hold" rating on Apple. She continues to advocate for Apple to further expand its advertising business. She even stated that she believes Apple has been "detracting from shareholder value by failing to fully capitalize on high-margin advertising revenue." She estimates that Apple will generate about $10 billion in advertising revenue by 2025, which is less than 10% of its services revenue and less than 3% of total revenue. Martin added: "We believe this revenue should be close to 50% of services revenue, with a profit margin of about 80%, which would become a key driver of Apple's profit growth." Last month, Apple opened up advertising on its Maps app and has recently expanded the scope of advertising within the App Store. Martin also stated that Apple needs to acquire (or at least partner with) media giant Walt Disney Co. (DIS.US), a deal she has repeatedly recommended but has not succeeded in achieving. Martin explained: "We believe Apple should collaborate with or acquire Disney to extend user engagement and to possess differentiated assets (such as movies and TV shows) that have pricing power and strong competitive advantages. We believe Apple should also leverage mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and industry leadership to accelerate value creation." The two companies have a long-standing partnership. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs became Disney's largest shareholder after selling Pixar to Disney in 2006 ### Related Stocks - [DIS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/DIS.US.md) - [AAPL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPL.US.md) - [AAPU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPU.US.md) - [AAPD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPD.US.md) - [AAPB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPB.US.md) - [AAPX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPX.US.md) - [AAPY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AAPY.US.md) - [APLY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/APLY.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Disney stock price prediction: Where will the stock be in 2027?](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283487310.md) - [$10 Million For 30 Seconds? Disney's Super Bowl Pitch Faces Advertiser Revolt](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283132099.md) - [Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by YHB Investment Advisors Inc.](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282996679.md) - [Apple is getting serious about ads](https://longbridge.com/en/news/282837385.md) - [Austin Private Wealth LLC Has $17.75 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283454506.md)