Apple to Replace CEO Cook? Rumors Grow

Apple stock closed at a 52-week low of $390 Friday raising whispers of discontent over Apple CEO Tim Cook to a louder crescendo, according to Forbes.com.

"Wall Street sources," according to the Forbes article entitled "Is Apple Looking for a replacement for CEO Cook?" by Gene Marcial, believe that Apple must get rid of Cook to prevent the stock tumbling from continuing.

Apple reached a high of $702 in September under Cook's leadership, but since then the stock has nose dived. Cook's critics have said he was always just an MBA, but never the right guy for the job because he didn't share the visionary quality that former CEO Steve Jobs built the Apple brand on from the beginning.

Apple investors await for Tuesday's earnings report which could trigger a further decline in trade prices. The company is expected to report an 8 percent increase in quarterly revenue – one of its weakest in years – and earnings per share can fall to 18 percent, according to some.

Forbes does mention that while there is “no available evidence that the board of the once mighty top tech-innovator is officially in such a game-changing mode,” a major drop in stocks Tuesday "may finally signal his exit."

However, to the "surprise" and "astonishment" of Forbes magazine, "most analysts at major Wall Street firms remain generally positive towards Apple."

The thinly-sourced article from Forbes has led to rebuttals from people like Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt, who came to the defense of Apple's Cook.

"Make no mistake, the people who want Tim Cook's head on a spike are not friends of Apple. As far as I know, he still has the deep respect of the analysts who know the company best and – most important – the confidence of the board of directors," Elmer-DeWitt wrote.