Is A Jobs-Less Apple (AAPL) A Death Knell For The Stock?
After months of speculation and cover-ups, yesterday the world learned that Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs' health issues are "more complex than originally thought" and that he is taking a medical leave of absence until the end of June.
The letter from Jobs still leaves much speculation about the seriousness of his health problems and if he will return at all. Today, it has been speculated that Steve Jobs may have to have his entire pancreas removed due his cancer returning or enzyme leaks. Either way it is not a good sign for Mr. Jobs.
So what if he doesn't return? Is the stock finished?
The simple answer is NO!
Everyone knows that Jobs has provided much of the magic at Apple since his return in 1997, after Apple bought Jobs' company NeXT. Jobs has a keen understanding of what customers "must have" and a way to deliver it to them. Since his return, Apple has introduced break-thrus like the iMac, Mac OS X, iPod, iPhone, Apple retail stores, PowerBook G4, MacBook Pro.
What would a Job-less Apple look like? Well the good news is that we already have data on that. After co-founding Apple in 1976, Jobs left Apple on September, 13 1985 after a power struggle with the board of directors. Jobs went on to start NeXT and bought Pixar. Jobs returned to Apple on December 23, 1996 after Apple bought NeXT for $400 million.
In the time Jobs was gone, 9/13/85 thru 12/22/1996, shares of Apple rose 213%. In the time Jobs has been back, 12/23/1996 thru today, shares of Apple rose 1293%.
So while clearly Apple performs better with Jobs, a Jobs-Less Apple is no death knell.
The letter from Jobs still leaves much speculation about the seriousness of his health problems and if he will return at all. Today, it has been speculated that Steve Jobs may have to have his entire pancreas removed due his cancer returning or enzyme leaks. Either way it is not a good sign for Mr. Jobs.
So what if he doesn't return? Is the stock finished?
The simple answer is NO!
Everyone knows that Jobs has provided much of the magic at Apple since his return in 1997, after Apple bought Jobs' company NeXT. Jobs has a keen understanding of what customers "must have" and a way to deliver it to them. Since his return, Apple has introduced break-thrus like the iMac, Mac OS X, iPod, iPhone, Apple retail stores, PowerBook G4, MacBook Pro.
What would a Job-less Apple look like? Well the good news is that we already have data on that. After co-founding Apple in 1976, Jobs left Apple on September, 13 1985 after a power struggle with the board of directors. Jobs went on to start NeXT and bought Pixar. Jobs returned to Apple on December 23, 1996 after Apple bought NeXT for $400 million.
In the time Jobs was gone, 9/13/85 thru 12/22/1996, shares of Apple rose 213%. In the time Jobs has been back, 12/23/1996 thru today, shares of Apple rose 1293%.
So while clearly Apple performs better with Jobs, a Jobs-Less Apple is no death knell.
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