Wu says in his note that Apple looks to be on track to have sold 29.5 million iPhones during its first financial quarter of 2012, up from his firm’s previous prediction of 28 million devices. Wu hasn’t changed Mac or iPad sales expectations, which remain at 5.2 million and 13.5 million units respectively, but the increased iPhone sales lead him to anticipate $38.8 billion in revenue, and $10.34 in earnings per share. Before today, Agee had been modelling $37.7 billion in revenue and $10 EPS.

The numbers are relatively conservative when compared to the bigger picture. Fortune rounded up a collection of analyst expectations ahead of today’s call on Sunday, and found that the average revenue prediction among independent analysts was $43.14 million, with $12.01 EPS and 33.35 million iPhones sold. Among institutional analysts, of which Wu is one, Fortune found average revenue estimates were at $39.23 million, with $10.19 EPS and 30.25 million iPhone sold. Wu’s new numbers will alter those figures slightly upward, since his original, more conservative estimates figured into Fortune’s calculations.

Apple generally makes a point of being conservative with its own estimates of financial performance going forward, but Wu suggests in his note we might not see as modest an outlook as usual. That’s because the iPhone 4S launched in China on Jan. 12, Wu says, and because his supply checks suggest an iPad 3 launch is very near, which could definitely boost next-quarter performance. The 4S launch in China, which sparked riots and caused Apple to shut down physical retail store sales, certainly seems to have been met with strong demand.

We’ll have coverage of Apple’s quarterly earnings and the company’s conference call with executives right here, so check back to see how expectations match up with reality.

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Exxon, an oil company, has seen its market cap steadily drop from a high of around $500 billion in 2009, while Apple’s has grown exponentially in that same time frame, thanks to successes like the iPhone and the iPad, along with a computer arm that has seen steady increases in sales. Market cap tends to reflect performance, and there’s little denying that Apple has been putting on quite a show in recent years, including a very successful last quarter.

Apple managed to handle the U.S.’s recent credit rating downgrade by the S&P with a bit more resilience than most, which probably helped it achieve this milestone today. But despite a bit of a resurgence yesterday for Apple, performance wasn’t so hot today for either company. Apple closed down 2.76 percent compared to yesterday, while Exxon fell further with a 4.41 percent drop.

Now that Apple’s on top, it just has to stay there. Continuing to do what it has been doing should be a pretty good way to accomplish that, but the company also appears to be hedging its bets with expert legal maneuvering. Considering that most analysts still have very ambitious target prices, it should stand a good chance of staying ahead for the near future.

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The stock price of the iPhone and iPad maker hit $400 a few times Monday, but closed at $398.50. Today shares opened at $400 and peaked earlier this morning at $404.48.

There’s no mystery where the boost is coming from. Apple’s stock value has been swinging steadily upward since the introduction of the original iPad in late January 2010. Since then, Apple shares have grown 96 percent. Most recently, Apple reported blow-out third-quarter 2011 earnings last week, on the back of sales of more than 20 million iPhones and 9 million iPads in just three months.

Apple’s market capitalization is the number that Wall Street has been eyeing perhaps even more closely. As of Tuesday, Apple is worth $374.18 billion, making it the second-most valuable company in the world after ExxonMobil. While Apple is close, Exxon still has a pretty sizable lead, closing today with a valuation of $415.52.

But there’s at least one good reason to believe Apple’s value for shareholders isn’t going to lose steam anytime soon: Still expected sometime later this year is the next iteration of the iPhone.

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The source also says that Tim Cook, Apple’s COO and the man in control of the company while Jobs is away on medical leave, still runs the day-to-day operations of the computer and electronics manufacturer. Meanwhile, Jobs works on big picture items from home, like testing devices, product plans and key strategy. In fact, the WSJ maintains that he was instrumental in the recent iPhone OS 3.0 update, revealed last month.

That’s not the surprising news, though. According to their sources, Jobs is also hard at work developing a new device, one that’s been hinted at many times before. Yes, it’s the elusive Apple tablet that has fanbois basically salivating. The device, if real, will be sized larger than an iPod touch or an iPhone but smaller than a Macbook (something we’ve heard about before), and it does seem to agree with recent reports of Apple ordering a significant number of 10-inch touchscreens from Taiwan.

Regardless of whether the recent reports are real, Apple seems to have recovered from the initial damage done from Jobs’ original announcement of his absence. Investor confidence has been restored by the company’s continued strong performance, and many analysts suspect this leave-taking was only the first step towards a permanent transition of power, done gradually to soften the blow.

Frankly, I’m a little worried that this new report is an intentional leak by investment groups to artificially draw down stock prices before the new iPhone’s launch to encourage larger gains. Investors might see the news as proof that Jobs was actually behind the company’s recent success all along and lose the shaky new confidence they’ve found in the current acting management. It’s not like investment bankers are above using Apple’s Internet community following to manipulate stock performance.

Maybe I’m just jumping at ghosts, but the whole WSJ article seems designed to renew fears about the state of the company in a post-Jobs era, right down to the parting suggestion that Apple managers seem to be showing a renewed interest in Silicon valley recruitment agencies. It’s exactly the kind of unverifiable suggestion that could make a skittish investor get cold feet and pull out. We’ll see how the market responds soon enough, since the WSJ article is spreading like wildfire across the Apple blogosphere as we speak.

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Even though that remark was funny, and got a rousing round of applause, I do believe that Steve Jobs was serious: he is not as sick as all the pundits proclaim, nor is his health in any great danger. But yesterday, Apple’s stock price plummeted briefly due to reports from CNN’s iReport.com that Jobs had just had a massive heart attack and had been rushed to the hospital. Both claims turned out to be completely untrue. The really interesting part turned out to be how Apple’s shareholders reacted.

In addition to their being a temporary drop in Apple’s stock price there was also an overall drop as the stock closed for the weekend at 97.07…its lowest close in nearly 18 months. The SEC is investigating and ireport.com is cooperating fully by handing over any information they have gathered on Johntw, the poster who put up the “fradulent” story.

I don’t understand why the stock market is so volatile as to let the rumors posted on a site where the claim to fame is “Unfiltered. Unedited.” change how money is invested. Maybe iReport was going to add “Untrue. Unethical.” to the tagline, but they ran out of room, and had to settle on the first two. This could very easily be someone who thought they could make a quick buck by posting the story, buying some Apple stock, and then selling it when everyone found out it was fake. It will be interested to see what the SEC finds.

Here’s to hoping Steve Jobs stays healthy for a long time and that AAPL stock starts the trek back upward before the 21st when the 4th Quarter earnings call is scheduled.

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