Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs took a leave of absence as a rare form of cancer he’s been battling since 2004 and a more recent liver transplant worsened his health, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Jobs has been unable to keep on weight as he undergoes treatment, said the person, who requested anonymity because the matter is private.
The announcement that COO Tim Cook will handle day-to-day operations came yesterday, preceding the first-quarter earnings report due at today’s market close. Apple is projected to report profit of $5.39 a share on sales of $24.4 billion, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
“2011 is already in the bag,” said Michael Binger, a fund manager at Thrivent Asset Management, which holds Apple stock. “My guess is it’ll be a blowout.”
Discussion of results may be overshadowed by questions about Jobs’s health and his future involvement in the company, said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos in Minneapolis. Apple benefitted from rising demand for the iPhone and the iPad tablet computer in the fiscal first quarter, typically the company’s strongest because it includes year-end gift-giving season.
Futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index, of which Apple makes up 21 per cent, sank to 2,303 at 10.20 am in Frankfurt, down 0.7 per cent from their close on January 14. Apple shares fell 5.5 per cent in US pre-market trading to $329.47. Exchanges in the US were closed yesterday for Martin Luther King Jr Day.