It was a bit more than an airstrike. The Japanese planned to overrun the atoll in order to deny the US major sea operations west of there. The US learned of the attack after breaking the Japanese naval code, and prepared the ambush to prevent a Japanese victory.
The US Navy sunk all four Japanese carriers involved in the operation, at the cost of just one US carrier. The loss of the carriers, and more importantly, the aircraft and pilots, denied the Japanese of any chance to significantly rebuild their carrier air power. This was a major turning point in the War in the pacific.
Pretty much the entire airfleet that bombed Pearl perished at Midway.