TL;DR Apple dropped its net cash neutral policy after seven years, signalling that incoming CEO John Ternus will have greater flexibility to invest in AI infrastructure and acquisitions rather than returning all excess cash to shareholders. The shift came alongside Q2 2026 results of $111.2 billion in revenue and a new $100 billion buyback, but analysts read the policy change as preparation for a more investment-led strategy. For nearly 15 years, Apple’s financial strategy has been defined by a single number: more than $1 trillion returned to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends. Tim Cook inherited a company sitting on a cash mountain that Steve Jobs had accumulated out of institutional memory of near-bankruptcy in the 1990s. Cook reversed Jobs’ stance against buybacks, restored the dividend in 2012, and in 2018 adopted a formal policy of net cash neutrality, the commitment to keep Apple’s cash and debt roughly in balance by steadily reducing the cash pile. The strategy worked.…