Whatever the impact of the Steve Job's announcement that he was taking a medical leave did to the stock price, the subsequent financial release of earnings and performance caused a swift bounce back. Apple excels and continues to outperform all expectations. "Investors focused on Apple's success in boosting production of iPads, which happened faster than analysts predicted. Shoppers also bought iPhones as fast as Apple could make them, helping drive the company's fiscal first-quarter net income up 78 percent from the prior year." Apple knows what the customer wants and is the leader in getting it to market first.
Without Steve Jobs at the helm, the concern is whether there are others inside the company with the same vision to innovate. At least for now, there seems to be much in their pipeline to sustain them for quite a while. Heck Microsoft has been selling the same product for decades.
Other interesting news, while Jobs has stepped down at Apple, he is still retaining his seat on the Disney board. Certainly not as essential a position, but one that hopes means that Jobs will be back from his medical leave to continue to run Apple. Here's to hoping for his good health.
