Apple Inc. (AAPL: sentiment, chart, options) was treated to an early morning upgrade from Oppenheimer today. The brokerage firm cited relief over Monday's statement from CEO Steve Jobs regarding his recent, mysterious weight loss, which the titan of turtlenecks chalked up to a simple hormone imbalance. Following the update, Oppenheimer noted that a sudden change in leadership is no longer imminent, and added that it's unlikely Jobs would forecast a 6-month recovery unless it were in line with doctors' predictions.

"The 'Apple Community' is now due [for] an update in late spring, but until then the recovery will presumably be allowed to run its course without undue prying," the brokerage said, and upgraded the shares from "perform" to "outperform."

However, Oppenheimer tempered its bullish tone by slashing AAPL's price target from $145 to $135. The new estimate represents a premium of 42.7% to the stock's closing price on Monday, and it's roughly in line with the consensus 12-month price target of $132.63, as reported by Thomson Financial.

Aside from today's upgrade, not all of the news for the iPhone parent is so upbeat. Research firm Genuity Capital observed that fourth-quarter activations of the smartphone at Rogers Communications were down sharply from the third quarter. The major Canadian wireless carrier saw iPhone activations drop 49% to 130,000, despite an expected boost from the holiday shopping season.

While this news is less than stellar, the Jobs relief rally is still in effect during the first hour of trading. At last check, AAPL is up 2.2% at $96.63.