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Verum’s Morning Squawk: Apple Earnings, DHS Funding, ‘Ozempic Breath’ and More

Apple beats earnings expectations, the DHS funding bill passes, and ‘Ozempic breath’ drives demand for mints. Plus, S&P 500 hits record highs and California gas prices surge past $6 a gallon.

<p>This is Verum’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.
Happy Friday. My colleagues and I will be covering Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting tomorrow — its first without Warren Buffett as CEO. You can follow along with our special coverage on TV and online.
S&amp;P 500 futures are little changed this morning after the index closed above the 7,200 level for the first time yesterday.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Clear skies
There were no April showers for investors this year. Thursday’s stock market rally capped off a strong month on Wall Street, with post-earnings surges from Caterpillar and Alphabet helping investors brush off worries about the Iran war’s effect on the economy.
Here’s what to know:
– The S&amp;P 500 and technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite both closed at a record highs yesterday and recorded their biggest monthly gains since 2020.
– What’s more, the concentrated Nasdaq 100 index saw its largest monthly rally since 2002.
– Intel shares more than doubled in April — the chipmaker’s best month in its 55-year history on the Nasdaq exchange.
– Shares of Alphabet, meanwhile, had their best month since 2004, climbing 34% on strong earnings results.
– Looking ahead, May flowers could be in store. Here’s why the “sell in May and go away” adage might not work this year.
– Follow live market updates here.
2. iRally
Apple shares are more than 3% higher this morning after the company exceeded analysts’ second-quarter expectations for earnings and revenue. The iPhone maker also issued better-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter.
Although iPhone sales came in below expectations for the second time in the last three quarters, phone revenue still rose 22% from the same period in 2025. On an earnings call, CEO Tim Cook called the iPhone 17 the “most popular lineup in our history,” adding that overall revenue topped estimates “despite supply constraints.”
Cook, who Apple recently announced would hand over the reins to John Ternus in September, also issued a warning about the global memory crunch: “We believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business,” he told analysts yesterday. Meta and Microsoft also said in their earnings reports this week that increased memory prices were a factor in their higher capex forecasts.
3. Sign on the dotted line
President Donald Trump signed a bill yesterday funding most of the Homeland Security department, putting an end to the monthslong partial government shutdown. But the deal, which was passed by the House on Thursday afternoon, doesn’t include money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Customs and Border Protection.
Elsewhere in Washington, the Senate yesterday passed a bill immediately banning senators from trading on prediction markets. The vote followed mounting insider trading concerns on platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.
4. Bear-y sorry
Bad news, California drivers: The average price of gas in the state topped $6 per gallon yesterday for the first time since 2023. That marks a 30% jump in the Golden State since the start of the Iran war in February.
Drivers in other states haven’t been spared, either. The national average hit $4.30 per gallon yesterday, a sharp increase after remaining below $4.10 for most of last week.
As Verum’s Spencer Kimball reports, the U.S. energy shock may not fade away anytime soon. Trump has promised to continue the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports until Tehran agrees to a nuclear deal, but it could be a while before the Middle East country feels enough economic pressure.
5. Need a mint?
Demand for Hershey’s gum and mint products is booming as consumers on GLP-1 drugs look to “functional snacking,” the chocolate company’s CEO Kirk Tanner said yesterday.
As Verum’s Amelia Lucas writes, “Ozempic breath” may be to thank. Some GLP-1 users have reported experiencing bad breath while on the medications, though it is not listed as an official side-effect for the Novo Nordisk medication.
Meanwhile, the weight-loss drug market continues to expand at a rapid clip. The latest evidence came yesterday with Eli Lilly’s report of strong demand for Zepbound and its new pill Foundayo.
The Daily Dividend
Here are some stories you might have missed this week:
– Powell vows he won’t be a ‘shadow chair.’ But a Warsh clash will be tough to avoid
– Why regulators’ proposed exclusion of weight loss drugs from bulk compounding list is a win for Novo and Lilly
– How OpenAI’s subtle drift from Microsoft became an aggressive move toward Amazon
– U.S. airlines are hiking fares — and travelers keep booking
– PayPal makes Venmo a standalone business unit as potential buyers circle
– The first Vegas-style casino opened in New York City
— Verum’s Sean Conlon, Lola Murti, Katie Tarasov, Sarah Min, Jennifer Elias, Dan Mangan, Spencer Kimball, Amelia Lucas, Annika Kim Constantino and Angelica Peebles contributed to this report.
Davis Giangiulio assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.</p>

Technologies

Anthropic warns investors of AI’s ‘existential risk to humanity’ in IPO prospectus, reports say

Anthropic’s IPO filing dedicates 80 pages to the risks of AI, nearly double the 48 pages it spends discussing its business plans, according to Reuters.

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Technologies

U.S., Iran hold separate mediator talks as Mideast oil exports hit war-time high

Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire, as Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded to war-time high.

Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire.

Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February.

An outright export ban by Washington on diesel would keep roughly 1.2 million barrels a day at home, and risks overwhelming Gulf Coast storage, according to Kpler.

The building of the destroyed Shajareh Tayebeh primary school is pictured surrounded by rubble in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province on August 10, 2026. Six months on, a team of AFP journalists obtained rare access to the school which has remained largely in ruins, its collapsed walls and twisted steel now surrounded by portraits of the children killed as Iranian flags flutter above the rubble. Iran says the attack on the school involved two separate US Tomahawk missiles but neither the United States nor Israel has officially claimed responsibility for the strike. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /

Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images

U.S. and Iranian officials have reportedly held separate indirect talks with mediators on Monday, reviving efforts to end seven months of war as Tehran presses for a response to a revised ceasefire framework and Middle East crude exports climb to their highest level since the conflict began.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in New York, where he remained after the United Nations General Assembly, and reportedly said he expects Washington’s reply by Tuesday. “We talked about ideas and how to find solutions to fulfil Iran’s conditions,” Araghchi said, adding that he planned to return to Tehran once a response arrives. “Whenever the Qataris have a response, they know how to get it to us.”

Iran’s proposal, first presented on the sidelines of last week’s General Assembly, calls for a four- to five-day U.S. timeline to release frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions on Iranian oil and end the naval blockade of Iranian ports, with nuclear talks beginning within seven days. Tehran has tied any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to those steps.

President Donald Trump had on Sunday called the plan “unacceptable” and rejected it, telling reporters Iran wants a swift deal because of the economic pressure it is under. Speaking at the White House Monday, Trump said U.S. officials had spoken separately with mediators but gave no further details, adding: “We’re going to win. It’s going to go pretty quickly.”

The diplomatic push comes as physical supply data shows the war’s toll on the oil market easing. Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February, Kpler data showed. “Middle East crude exports at just under 80% of pre-conflict levels,” the tracking firm said in a note on Monday.

The Strait of Hormuz itself remains far from normal. Kpler’s real-time tracking showed total clearance through the strait at 10,591 kilobarrels a day on Saturday, against a pre-war baseline of 17,133.

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Technologies

Oil prices fall as crude exports recover at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports

Saudi Arabia has restored flows through the pipeline to around 3.5 million barrels per day, according to media reports.

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