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Supply Chain

Cook’s $60 Billion Parting Gift: Apple Bets Big on Texas Before Passing the Torch

By Stefano September 1, 2026 5 min read

Tim Cook’s final major act as Apple CEO wasn’t a product launch or a splashy earnings call. It was a hard-hat moment in Houston — and a $60 billion signal to Wall Street that the supply chain is the product now.

As part of Apple’s sweeping $600 billion, four-year U.S. manufacturing commitment, Cook unveiled a new Houston facility set to produce Mac mini computers and advanced AI servers. The announcement came just weeks before Cook hands the CEO title to John Ternus — Apple’s head of hardware engineering — on September 1. Cook stays on as Executive Chairman, reportedly to keep working the geopolitical tightrope between Washington and Beijing. (A skill, it turns out, that doesn’t fit neatly into a job description.)

By the numbers:

  • Apple is earmarking $60 billion for Texas — 10% of its total U.S. commitment — to manufacture Mac mini units and AI servers at a Houston facility
  • Foxconn is making much of the capital investment at the Houston site; Apple commits to purchase the output, preserving its $147 billion cash position for buybacks rather than factory capex
  • A separate long-term Broadcom deal — expected to exceed $30 billion — covers custom silicon components and advanced wireless technologies
  • Apple sourced more than 20 billion chips from 24 U.S. factories last year, with 100 million-plus from TSMC’s Arizona plant this year
  • Q3 gross margin came in at 50.1%, boosted by 2 percentage points from tariff refunds following a February 2026 Supreme Court ruling
  • Q4 margin guidance is 47–48%, with management describing current memory pricing as a “100-year flood” — a near-term headwind worth watching

On the horizon… Ternus inherits a supply chain with more built-in tariff insulation than any of his predecessors. Think of it as margin insurance for the next policy shock. Long-term earnings growth is still pegged at a low double-digit rate by analysts — but the next few quarters may be choppy as memory costs bite. Meanwhile, Cook’s hard-won Washington and Beijing relationships move with him to his chairman role, leaving Ternus to focus on what he does best: building the hardware.

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Author
Stefano