The Trial Balance is CFO.com’s weekly preview of stories, stats and events to help you prepare.
Part 1 — Apple’s new CFO, an internal promotion, gets started
Kevan Parekh, now the new CFO at Apple, is just days into what is likely one of the most challenging jobs in corporate finance. However, Parekh’s nearly dozen years of experience working for the company throughout the FP&A function, as evidenced by the confidence bestowed upon him by Apple CEO Tim Cook and the board, has prepared him for his first executive leadership position.
Parekh’s predecessor, Luca Maestri, who has been rumored to be pursuing a CEO role, had CFO experience before joining Apple in 2013. But as data and financial strategy become increasingly important — particularly in Apple’s case as it strives to remain at the forefront of global consumer tech offerings — the company chose to promote an internal hire who likely has a deep understanding of the business from a planning and analysis perspective.
Parekh worked as director of FP&A at Apple in 2020 and was promoted to vice president of FP&A in 2023. Both Maestri and Parekh worked at GM Europe in the mid-2000s, with Maestri as CFO and Parekh as a regional treasurer.
“He knew how to turn it into a competitive advantage,” wrote Wouter Born, general partner at Born Capital and an FP&A advisor to CFOs, in a LinkedIn post. “His rise highlights a growing trend. Today’s most impactful CFOs don’t just protect value. They create it.”
Though Parekh was likely hired for his ability to communicate data and develop strategic initiatives based on it, his hands are full. The company has faced increased global competition in the cellphone market, backlash over its AI initiative and data security partnership with OpenAI, stagnation in its CarPlay software, struggles in gaming initiatives and the decline and underwhelming performances from credit card partnerships.
Parekh will also likely have a role in shaping shareholder confidence around Apple’s strategic plans. As a result of the aforementioned challenges, many have said Apple is overvalued, leading institutional investors like Berkshire Hathaway to shed the stock in recent years.
Part 1 — This week
Here’s a list of important market events slated for the week ahead.
Monday, Jan. 6
- Factory orders, Nov.
Tuesday, Jan. 7
- U.S. trade deficit, Nov.
- ISM services, Dec.
- Job openings, Nov.
Wednesday, Jan. 8
Thursday, Jan. 9
- Initial jobless claims, week of Jan. 4
- Wholesale inventories, Nov.
Friday, Jan. 10
- Consumer sentiment (preliminary), Jan.
- U.S. employment report, Dec.
- U.S. unemployment rate, Dec.
Part 3 — New budgeting growth tools, Metric of the Month, Revvity CFO Q&A
This week, CFO.com will publish a story on zero-based budgeting as a strategic growth tool (1/7), a new edition of the Metric of the Month series on the cost of financial management (1/8) and a Q&A with Revvity CFO Max Krakowiak (1/9).
