“Most of the time, the CEO has to answer for a company’s cratering stock price. Investors clamor for accountability when things go bad, and typically a stock’s decline is the direct result of a deteriorating business,” Evan Niu writes for The Motley Fool. “Dropping share prices should usually be commensurate with aforementioned fundamental deterioration, if there is any. That’s not always the case, though.”
“Investors should stop trying to blame Tim Cook for Apple’s [AAPL] fall,” Niu writes. “Cook has delivered numerous records for shareholders. Both holiday quarters that he has presided over set all-time highs for all of Apple’s most relevant performance metrics (other than share price). In nearly every quarter, Cook has put up iPhone unit sales higher than anything Apple ever reported under Steve Jobs. iPad units under Cook have also soared to levels unseen under Jobs.”
Niu writes, “Last quarter was quite literally the strongest quarter Apple has ever posted in terms of revenue, net income, and unit volumes for the iPhone and iPad, even if it wasn’t enough for investors… None of the above comparisons to Steve Jobs are intended to suggest Cook is better than Jobs overall as a CEO; Cook is just different. Rather, investors need to refocus on the company’s fundamentals over the share price when assessing CEO quality. In those aspects, Cook has performed admirably.”
Read more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Ah, it’s always nice to start the day out with a bit of sanity, for a change.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
The bizarre campaign for ousting Apple CEO Tim Cook – April 22, 2013
Apple searching for Tim Cook replacement? Apple BoD may have begun secret search for new CEO, sources say – April 22, 2013
Tim Cook: The (Negative) $250,000,000,000 man – April 21, 2013
Maybe they should fire a load of people, or cut costs. That’s been the route to success for so many other companies after all.
Work for Samsung part time, do you?
No. I am sarcastic though.
Based on the ratings mxnt41 has gotten for the two posts above, it looks like (as of 3:45 PM Eastern US) there are 12 visitors here who get sarcasm, and 12 who don’t. 🙂
When Tim was up , Apple is at this price .blame him for what .
U dont blame those mothetfuckers setting AAPL target price $1000 and now 300 ?
What???
Please, MDN, ban this illiterate moron from your site. His vulgarity and stupidity know no limits. His “opinions” add no value to the discussions here.
There are two Apples here, Apple the company that is on track, doing gangbuster business with the best team in history. And then there is APPL the stock that is manipulated by the fearful and the greed. The two really have little to do with each other.
Raymond, you might try learning to speak-a da English before posting here.
Eihhh?? AAPL down over 40% from it’s peak, that’s 250 BILLION USD folks, like 1 MSFT or 1 GOOG ffs..heckuva job Timmy heckuva job!
And with zero debt and loads of cash, Apple can continue to innovate and focus on great value products and the user experience , without having to sweat it out at all !
If there ever was a reason and justification for sitting on this mountain of cash, THAT IS IT.
Yes, because Tim is responsible for the stock manipulation going on. Right, sure. Makes a TON of sense to blame him for that, rather than praise him for making Apple a stronger and more profitable company than it was when he took over.
I stand by my belief that the blatant stock manipulation has been an attempt to force Cook into giving up Apple’s cash stockpile. Because he hasn’t capitulated, now they are trying to remove him from that position so that he either gives in to save his job, or is replaced by someone who will.
Anyone who blames Tim Cook for what’s going on with AAPL, and ignores the immense success he’s been with Apple, is no friend of Apple.
That’s like blaming the basket weaver, because the balloon is not full of hot air. That’s exactly what $700 was, HOT AIR.
When it comes to Apple’s price, Apple is not calling the shots. Neither did Steve Jobs.
Stupid unscrupulous people are trying to burn the company in an assassination attempt to get at the cash.
THIS IS AN ENRON EVENT
Let’s put some people in jail. You scum-sucker, are playing the game. Either you are for Apple, or you are for the money. If you are for the money, why don’t you go take a swim in the sand oil fields, because that’s where you belong.
Same BS post as yesterday, anonymous cretin.
The ONLY difference between ZZZJobs and Cook is the sound of their respective voices. Unfortunately for Cook his sounds like he’s about to go to sleep, but that has nothing to do with his competence.
Nobody is better suited to run Apple today than is Cook. What he is going through reminds me of when UCLA’s basketball coach John Wooden retired. Nobody remembers his replacement. The difference between Wooden’s replacement and Cook though, is that Cook is turning out better numbers than did Jobs.
It just goes to show how shallow Apple ‘fans’ are. They have met the enemy, and it is them.
I’m an Apple fan, and I think Tim Cook is great. *shrug*
Funny how the Mac-hating pundits are after Mr. Cook while they Ballmer a free pass.
There are a significant number of die-hard Apple users and investors here who are underwhelmed with Cook’s timid approach at management. The Apple community deserves better.
THANK YOU Evan Niu!
You nailed it with what the stupid anal-ists jobs are.
It’s like a twist on the old joke, “The surgeon did an admirable job, however the patient died on the operating table.” No matter how wonderful the surgeon was, no family member is happy with that result. It goes the same for Apple investors. We are always looking for someone to blame and don’t like to hear things like, “It’s just the fate of how things turn out.” Humans like to find something or someone to blame to feel a little more in control.
So, to hear someone say, no matter how right they are, “Tim Cook has done an admirable job” and then look at Apple’s rapidly collapsing share price, makes it that much harder to swallow. It honestly doesn’t make much sense for individual investors to grasp how the results can turn out so poorly. For me, it’s hard to grasp the whole stock market has somehow turned against Apple. It makes it sound like a conspiracy theory which is rather far-fetched.
Except that all the reasons to get rid of Tim Cook are disingenuous ones. Apple continues to make loads of money and what other metric really matters? Last time I checked it seemed to be what capitalism was all about. In this respect (and many others) Apple slays all it’s competition. Also in the service and loyalty categories. It’s more like “the patient survived and is incredibly healthy but the relatives were really hoping he’d also have powers beyond those of mortal men afterwards!”
HEHEHE!
If you don’t believe in conspiracies, you shouldn’t be in the stock market. Investors themselves created this mess. I understand that it’s hard to swallow for some when the person to blame is the man in the mirror, but believing the FUD allowed the market manipulation to work.
You have a bunch of “big guys” in Wall Street and then there’s you. You’ll have to play by their game and buy and sell accordingly… It has NOTHING to do with Apple.
If you don’t know the rules of the gambling game, stay out. The rule is, The house always wins. Let me spell it out for you slow people. The house isn’t Caesar’s Palace in Vegas, it’s Wallstreet. They don’t care about you, they only care about your money and how soon they can get it from you.
If you don’t like the rules, stay out of the game. If you think you got what it takes to beat the street and its finely tuned manipulation machine, go ahead and play, but don’t blame Apple for your dearly departed cash.
I am an Apple fan since 1983. My whole company runs on Macs. I upgraded my personal iPad and MacbookPro to Retina display when they became available. I have iPhone, AppleTV, iPod touch, nano and 27″ display. However, I am very disappointed with Tim’s performance. He runs with an operation management mentality, not exactly as an administrative visionary to guide directions, and was unable to keep and work with tech talents. Many of who are prima donnas (a pain in the other end, honestly). iPhone’s interface is getting stagnant. No matter how good the numbers are in sales and profits, Tim has to manage the stockholders’ interest. After all, it is a public company. Yes, I own Apple stock and bias.
Wait a minute… TECH TALENTS!!?! Are you freaking kidding me? Call them market manipulators. And call yourself a sucker.
Don’t be an ass. Investors are responsible for their own interests. They have the agency and responsibility, and it only belongs to them, NOT Tim Cook, not Apple Inc, not me, or anyone else.
If you screw yourself by being greedy and end up with nothing, its your fault. Apple and TC are doing what they need to be, working on Apple products, services, and software. And probably the NeXT big thing, coming soon to an Apple Store you in 2015.
I’m so sick of this. If anyone thinks the last two years are all because of Tim Cook they’re crazy. Apple is still running off of a product roadmap and product pipeline of Steve Jobs.
Do you think everything over the past 2 years was just invented in a matter of a few months and then released as a result of Tim Cook? Cook has inherited a mature company’s product roadmap and product pipelines.
In other words, he’s riding Steve Jobs’s wave, and that wave will eventually fizzle out. When it does, and only then, will Tim Cook be truly tested.
I’m not bashing Cook and I have no idea how this will turn out, but don’t give him credit for products that were invented in Jobs’s time.
Ya ya, people cite how the stock reached such high levels under Cook, but it had nothing to do with him. It was on a steady trajectory to hit those highs with Jobs because of great products and the growth that went along with it.
What you’re seeing in the stock is some manipulation. Yes, that’s true. But it’s a fizxling out wave.
I love Apple and am excited about what they have in store. But it’s not clear Tim Cook is the guy.
Can he make deals (e.g., Apple TV)?
Can he spawn breakthrough products like the iPhone?
None of these questions have been answered.
Until Cook is literally strung up in Tiananmen Square on a metal structure and Steve drives back into the parking lot in Cupertino, Wally’s Street is gonna be an Apple hater.. That’s what they’re paid to do. They don’t make money on Apple’s success or failure, they make money on what big money players PERCEIVE is going on with Apple… This week – it’s Tim’s hide.. Next week – it’s the iPhone 26 that’s 1.2 hours behind schedule that WILL cause a catastrophic failure of 29 economies around the globe in 2035…
These people are idiots… They have NO concept of reality OR the technology markets around the world.. You listen to them – you WILL get burned..