Apple announced on Tuesday morning that long time CFO Peter Oppenheimer will be retiring later this year and will be replaced by current Corporate Controller Luca Maestri. Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um didn't see the announcement as a surprise and he expects the transition to go smoothly.
Apple CFO retiring, but it's all good.
Mr. Um told investors,
The transition doesn't come as too much of a surprise to us as Mr. Maestri left his position as Xerox's CFO to become Apple's corporate controller, which we felt was an indication that there must be an eventual path to CFO. While we view Mr. Oppenheimer's retirement as a loss to the company, we expect the transition to be fairly seamless.
Mr. Oppenheimer will begin transitioning his responsibilities to Mr. Maestri in June and plans to retire by the end of September. Mr. Maestri has already been involved in the company's financial operations, and phasing in his responsibility over the CFO's functions over time should make the move to his new job as seamless as possible.
Mr. Maestri has over 25 years experience with GM, Xerox, and Nokia Siemens. He joined Apple in March 2013 as Corporate Controller, and Apple CEO Tim Cook said it was immediately clear he would be Mr. Oppenheimer's successor.
The news of Mr. Oppenheimer's retirement hasn't taken a hit on Apple's stock, or Mr. Um's expectations for the company. He is maintaining his "Market Weight" rating and US$385 to $576 target range for the company's stock.
Apple is currently trading at $531.44, up 3.68 (0.70%).
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