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Apple Inc.'s shining holiday-quarter results diverted Wall Street's attention, at least temporarily, from news that CEO Steve Jobs is taking another medical leave of absence.
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's shares rose $4.25, a mild 1.3 percent, to $344.90 in extended trading after the release of results. In the regular session, shares dipped 2.3 percent to close at $340.65 as investors grappled with Jobs' undisclosed health problems.
Jobs had surgery in 2004 that he said cured him of a rare form of pancreatic cancer. In 2009, Jobs announced a half-year leave during which time he had a liver transplant; this time, Apple did not say whether Jobs is acutely ill again or when it expects him to return.
While some analysts question how long Apple can prolong its run of smash-hit products without Jobs' day-to-day oversight, most agree the gadget maker can keep going apace for the next few years with updates to the iPad, iPhone and other devices already in the pipeline.
That the quarter, which also included stronger iPod sales than expected and a surge of store traffic and sales in China, blew past expectations and should give Wall Street more confidence on that point.
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's shares rose $4.25, a mild 1.3 percent, to $344.90 in extended trading after the release of results. In the regular session, shares dipped 2.3 percent to close at $340.65 as investors grappled with Jobs' undisclosed health problems.
Jobs had surgery in 2004 that he said cured him of a rare form of pancreatic cancer. In 2009, Jobs announced a half-year leave during which time he had a liver transplant; this time, Apple did not say whether Jobs is acutely ill again or when it expects him to return.
While some analysts question how long Apple can prolong its run of smash-hit products without Jobs' day-to-day oversight, most agree the gadget maker can keep going apace for the next few years with updates to the iPad, iPhone and other devices already in the pipeline.
That the quarter, which also included stronger iPod sales than expected and a surge of store traffic and sales in China, blew past expectations and should give Wall Street more confidence on that point.
