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Steve Jobs died a year ago today. Seemingly within minutes, skeptics and cynics alike claimed Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was in trouble. How wrong they were.
At the time of their brilliant founder’s death, Apple shares were trading at $378 a pop. Today they’re trading at $660 – and that’s on the heels of a recent 5.9% drop-off.
Apple has not merely survived since Steve Jobs’ death, but flourished. Here’s what the company has accomplished over the past year with Jobs’ successor Tim Cook at the helm:
- Released two iPhones, including last month’s iPhone 5
- Became the most valuable company in the world, with a current market cap of $617 billion. Apple surpassed Exxon (NYSE: XOM) in valuation early this year. It’s now $190 billion richer than Exxon.
- Released a new iPad in March. Rumor has it they’re on the brink of introducing an iPad mini, perhaps as early as this month.
- Posted earnings of $13.1 billion in their 2012 fiscal first quarter – the first quarter after Jobs’ death. It was the second-most profitable quarter by any company ever.
- May be introducing a new Apple TV that would supposedly revolutionize the way people watch television.
- Crossed the $700-a-share mark last month for the first time in the company’s history, before pulling back a bit in the last two weeks. Only a handful of stocks – Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), The Washington Post (NYSE: WPO), Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN), to name most of them – have ever traded for more than $700 a share.
Steve Jobs’ death was tragic. His genius is irreplaceable.
But he had already left a permanent stamp – on both the history books and his wildly successful company. In terms of innovation, profitability, popularity and reliability, there is no company quite like Apple.
And that will continue to be the case for years – even long after Steve Jobs is gone.