Apple Shares Rise

After a modest selloff, Apple shares are trading higher today following the death of Steve Jobs, the company’s visionary chairman and co-founder. They opened at $373.33 and slipped briefly to $372 before rising again — almost as if in tribute — and heading upward past $384.

Clearly, the sentiment that Jobs created a company and culture that will continue to innovate and succeed in his absence is widely held among investors. As Jobs wrote in his Aug. 24 resignation letter, “I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it.” Evidently the market agrees. To wit, the flood of analysts’ notes this morning reaffirming confidence in the company:

Scott Kessler, Standard & Poor’s

One could argue that Jobs was the most celebrated innovator and businessperson of our time, and his loss to AAPL is immeasurable. Nonetheless, we think he created a company and culture that will continue to innovate and succeed, with countless executives and employees who will carry on. We think AAPL was largely prepared for this loss.

Shaw Wu, Sterne Agee

Steve has been a great inspiration for us as analysts in the investment community and as consumers of its products. He has made AAPL the platinum standard by which we measure other technology companies and has helped create an “insanely great” amount of shareholder value. He is one of the forefathers of Silicon Valley and his contributions are immeasurable. We find it remarkable that he not only revolutionized and transformed the technology industry but media and retailing as well. We believe his impact will still be felt in the decades to come. In our view, iCloud has just gotten started and the iPhone and iPad are still relatively early in their adoption curve. And there are still untapped markets like broadcast television and streaming video.

Mike Walkley, Canaccord Genuity

While Mr. Jobs’ passion, creativity, and keen eye for consumer preference will be missed, we believe Jobs and Apple’s executive team have built an unparalleled talent base and corporate culture that sets the table for future success and innovation. We continue to anticipate strong earnings growth for Apple over the next several years with very strong demand and relatively low global market penetration for iPhone, iPad and Mac products.

Brian White, Ticonderoga Securities

Steve Jobs has arguably executed the biggest turnaround story in corporate history, reinvented the consumer electronics landscape, destroyed powerful competitors, upended entire industries and improved the lives of consumers around the world with Apple’s innovative products. We believe Steve Jobs’ presence will always be felt at Apple and inspire employees to continue to innovate for many years to come. Steve Jobs’ acceptance of nothing but the highest quality work has been thoroughly ingrained in the Apple culture during his tenure, creating a team that we believe will continue to thrive.