Highlights for the morning: oil rises, Apple beats forecasts, Reddit surges in profits

The July Brent contract rose 0.6% to $111 a barrel. Apple and Reddit reported better than expected and gave strong forecasts, while Tesla disclosed more than $570 million in revenue from deals with other Elon Musk companies. On these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of May 1.

July Brent crude futures rose 0.6% and traded above $111 a barrel. The June contract jumped to $126 a barrel before expiring on Thursday, but fell back to $114 by the close of trading. The market is supported by persistent geopolitical risks and uncertainty around the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, CNBC reports

Donald Trump's administration is trying to circumvent the requirement to authorize a military operation, saying the truce with Iran effectively ended hostilities and nullifies the 60-day deadline. The president is required by law to withdraw troops within that time after notifying Congress of their deployment if lawmakers did not approve the operation, as was the case with Iran. At the same time Trump keeps pressure on Tehran, the latter threatens to strike in case of a new attack, and the situation around the Strait of Hormuz and negotiations on the nuclear deal remains a key factor for the market, CNBC points out.

Apple's earnings and revenue for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, which ended March 28, came in better than expected, CNBC reported. Profit amounted to $2.01 per share against forecasts of $1.95), revenue reached $111.2 billion against a consensus of $109.7 billion. The forecast for the next quarter also exceeded market expectations - revenue growth should be 14-17%, the company said.

Revenue from iPhone sales totaled $56.99 billion against expectations of $57.2 billion.

Apple also announced a $100 billion buyback and raised its dividend to $0.27 per share.

Reddit reported significantly better than expected, writes CNBC. Revenue last quarter rose 69% to $663 million, while net income rose to $204 million from $26 million a year earlier. The second-quarter outlook also beat Wall Street estimates, which supported the stock's rise of more than 12% in the post-market.

Strong results were driven by online advertising and data licensing deals (including partnerships with Google and OpenAI), while the company maintains low capital expenditures. The number of daily users reached 126.8 million, and revenue per user was ahead of forecasts, the channel said.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said his company may be one of the most underappreciated beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom. "There is no artificial intelligence without real intelligence. Knowledge has to come from somewhere, and Reddit is one of the key sources of that information that both AI and humans need," he said on CNBC.

Tesla earned more than $570 million from sales to Elon Musk's other companies last year: about $430 million was provided by xAI and another $143 million by SpaceX, Bloomberg reports, citing a disclosure. Earlier it was reported that SpaceX could have purchased Cybertruck models for more than $100 million.

Musk's businesses are increasingly connected: xAI is buying power grids from Tesla, the automaker is integrating chatbot Grok into its cars, and the companies are discussing joint chip production, the agency points out. In the first few months of 2026 alone, Tesla received about $78 million more from xAI, Bloomberg notes.

The head of Meta Mark Zuckerberg explained the planned layoffs of 10% of employees by the growing costs of AI development: according to him, the company has two main areas of expenditure - computing infrastructure and personnel, and increased investment in the first requires a reduction in the second, writes Reuters. Zuckerberg did not rule out further layoffs in the second half of the year.

Meanwhile, discontent is growing within Meta, with employees criticizing management for a lack of transparency in decisions and parallel initiatives, including the use of employee action data for AI training, Reuters reports.

President Trump announced that the U.S. will lift duties and restrictions on Scotch whisky, calling it a gesture in honor of the visit of King Carl III and Queen Camilla, Politico writes. The decision is also aimed at strengthening ties between producers in Scotland and the U.S. state of Kentucky, where bourbon is produced.

The lifting of duties was a response to months of lobbying of the industry: the US is the largest market for scotch, and Scottish producers annually buy barrels from Kentucky for aging, the publication specifies. Trade restrictions hit both sides - exports of scotch to the U.S. fell by 15% and American whiskey by 19% - and the authorities expect that the easing of conditions will support the market.

- Japan's broad Topix index was up 0.1 percent, while the Nikkei 225 was up 0.6 percent.

- Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange are closed due to holidays.

- The Korean stock exchange is also down.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added nearly 1 percent.

- Futures on the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2 percent, while Nasdaq Composite futures were up 0.1 percent.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor