Well, now we have an answer to the question “How will Apple do without Steve Jobs?” Apparently, very well indeed.
While the rest of the market declined yesterday, Apple shares hit an all-time high, reaching $413.23 before falling to $411.63 by the end of trading—itself a record closing price. In fact, yesterday saw the company become the most valuable company on the stock market, worth an estimated six times as much as the Walt Disney Corporation, eight times as much as News Corp., or 11 times as much as Time Warner, which owns Time magazine and Techland. In other words, Apple had a very good day yesterday.
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The rise in price was thought to be related to rumors of two new iPhones from Apple before the year is out, as well as the longstanding rumor that Sprint will soon be added as an iPhone carrier. Other potential reasons include the expected launch of iCloud, as well as the Apple HDTV rumors, leading one analyst to comment that “I think it’s because of much bigger reasons Apple [is expected] to do well.”
That said, nervousness still exists in some areas about the loss of Steve Jobs as CEO. Group Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told AdWeek that the market “should be cognizant of the fact that the products coming from Apple today are the brainchildren of Steve Jobs and probably the product line…for the next two or three years. But what happens after that is still a question mark.” I look forward to the market’s reaction to the future revival of printers.
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Graeme McMillan is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @Graemem or on Facebook at Facebook/Graeme.McMillan. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.