Apple shares AAPL fell nearly 2% on Tuesday as investors assessed reports that Chief Executive John Ternus is considering changes to the company’s management structure and product development process.
According to Bloomberg, Ternus is weighing measures aimed at making Apple more engineering-focused, faster and leaner.
One potential change would involve reducing layers of middle management separating engineers from senior leadership.
The report did not specify how many positions could be affected or provide a timetable for any changes.
The potential restructuring would come less than a month after Ternus officially succeeded Tim Cook as Apple’s CEO on Sept. 1, 2026.
Apple weighs management and launch changes
Ternus is also reportedly considering changes to Apple’s traditional spring and fall product-launch cycles.
The moves would represent some of the first significant organizational changes under his leadership.
The reported restructuring forms part of a broader cost-cutting effort and an attempt to identify additional revenue opportunities, including increasing revenue from existing products and services, said the Bloomberg report.
Ternus previously led Apple’s hardware engineering organization.
Apple’s hardware engineering division has also started cutting engineering program manager positions over the past two weeks, according to the report.
Roughly half a dozen directors were affected. The roles are responsible for managing timelines and coordinating work between teams.
Affected employees will have an opportunity to find other positions within Apple before leaving the company.
Apple has also reduced teams associated with the Vision Pro and Siri digital assistant, according to previous reports.
The company has cut some employees working on its Fitness+ service and has reportedly been evaluating the service’s future as its Health app increasingly overlaps with it.
The company also considered cutting roughly 5,000 AppleCare customer service positions during the summer, although that plan was ultimately put on hold.
Bank of America highlights AI competition
Apple’s stock decline also came as Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on the company while warning about potential changes to consumer behaviour driven by artificial intelligence.
The bank said concerns surrounding Meta’s Muse AI assistant may be overstated but identified a potential risk to Apple’s ecosystem.
Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan said Apple could continue to retain handset sales while losing some activity related to product discovery, referrals and transaction initiation.
Muse is an AI agent designed to perform tasks including browsing websites, completing forms and continuing work after users leave the app.
It has also gained access to commerce services from Shopify, Expedia and PayPal.
Amazon has blocked Muse.
Siri faces comparison with AI agents
Bank of America said Apple’s large installed base, user trust and privacy-focused technology could help offset the emerging competitive pressure.
Apple’s updated Siri, released with iOS 27, uses Apple Foundation Models and Private Cloud Compute.
However, Mohan said Siri currently lacks some of Muse’s background task capabilities and broader third-party actions.
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