(Adds background on Apple's succession plan from company spokesman)
By Ben Charny Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Steve Jobs' disclosure that he has a "hormone imbalance" eased concerns prompted by the Apple Inc. (AAPL) chief executive's weight loss last year and lifted the company's share price. But it also raised more questions about the handling of his personal health information.
Analysis of Jobs' appearance and health - and the debate over how much the company needs to disclose about its CEO - have weighed on Apple shares since last summer. Concerns kicked into high gear last month, with Jobs' unexpected decision to pull out of the high-profile MacWorld trade show.
Monday, following Jobs' admission of a hormone imbalance, Apple shares rose as much as 6% to $96.18, their highest point since the company said Jobs wouldn't appear at MacWorld. The stock recently traded at $94.54, up $3.77, or 4.2%.
"We believe today's health update from Steve Jobs is positive and should help allay concerns regarding the CEO's future with Apple, and allow investors to focus on new products and fundamentals," Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes said in a research note.
Nonetheless, Apple shares have lost - and maybe permanently so - some of their "Jobs premium," which is the value they get from Apple having Steve Jobs as its chief executive.
"We believe at these levels, some of Jobs' departure is already factored into the stock," Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu said. "Just how much, we're just not comfortable saying. No one really knows."
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has suggested Apple shares could lose as much as 25% with the departure of Jobs. Others have estimated 20%. In the second half of December, Apple shares lost 11%.
In a letter Monday to the "Apple community," Jobs disclosed that he has been treating a hormone imbalance that has caused him to lose weight and that he will continue as Apple's CEO during his recovery. The company's board released its own statement expressing its support for Jobs.
An Apple spokesman reiterated Monday that Apple has a succession plan in place in the event Jobs can no longer run the company.
The letter was an unusually candid disclosure for Jobs, who has survived a rare form of pancreatic cancer. Apple doesn't regard Jobs' health as a public matter, but he and the company have been under increasing pressure to make such a statement over the last few weeks as investors traded on rumors he was ailing again.
Stephen Davis, a corporate-governance expert at Yale University's School of Management, said Apple's statement Monday didn't disclose enough. "This involves obviously millions of investors. It's not just the health of one person at issue here, it's the financial health of millions of investors and obviously millions more consumers," Davis said, adding that the company could have better described Jobs' health problems.
Jobs said Monday that his hormone imbalance "has been 'robbing' me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy," adding that "sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis."
"The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment," Jobs said.
Emily Rubin, a gastrointestinal dietician at the Digestive Disease Institute of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, said that could be the proper diagnosis for such a problem.
"Once you find which hormone is imbalanced, and once you find the nutrient he's deficient in, it can be very easily treated through medicine or diet," Rubin said.
Without knowing the specifics of Jobs' case - and certainly Jobs' history of pancreatic cancer could affect any diagnosis and treatment - Rubin said such conditions generally can be treated by pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy or dietary supplements. It typically takes about three to six months to regain sufficient weight, Rubin said. Jobs said it could take until late this spring for him to regain his weight.
Monday's announcement highlights Apple's difficult balancing act to weigh an executive's right to privacy and the rights of company investors. The equation is made even more nuanced given Jobs' unusually important role at the company. Experts have said that unless insiders are trading on news regarding Jobs' health that hasn't been publicly disclosed - an unlikely scenario - then Apple probably isn't violating any laws.
Critics, however, have complained that Apple hasn't been fully transparent about Jobs' health.
For example, last month, Apple eschewed suggestions that Jobs' health had anything to do with his canceling the keynote address at MacWorld, saying instead that it had to do with a shift in how the company markets its products. Yet the announcement from Jobs on Monday suggests that Jobs' health was a concern.
When asked for a comment, an Apple spokesman referred to statements and public disclosures the company already has made.
Overall, Credit Suisse analyst Bill Shope called the Jobs' disclosure "an encouraging revelation."
"It's unfortunate that Mr. Jobs was forced to share his personal health details with the public, but this admission should quell persistent rumors of a terminal illness," Shope wrote in a research note. "Most important, it is now clear that Mr. Jobs believes he can stay on as Apple's CEO."
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com
(Erin White and Peter Loftus contributed to this report.)
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Publié le 05 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones