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Albert Pujols sees only one clear way for Trevor Bauer to pitch in the majors again.

“Football unites the world. FIFA unites the world. You unite the world. We unite the world,” Infantino said.

Swift was spotted wearing a $325 blue and white pinstripe dress during an NYC outing with her dad, Scott Swift, on Monday.

Swift was spotted wearing a $325 blue and white pinstripe dress during an NYC outing with her dad, Scott Swift, on Monday.

J-Lo is taking a walk down memory lane with her famous movie jobs: maid, wedding planner and more.

J-Lo is taking a walk down memory lane with her famous movie jobs: maid, wedding planner and more.

The family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the 14-year-old girl who was allegedly murdered and dismembered by D4vd is going through "indescribable pain" after learning the horrid details of how she allegedly died.

Goldman Maps Retailer Exposure To Working-Poor Consumers As Gas Soars

With the nationwide average gasoline price accelerating above the politically sensitive $4-per-gallon level, and the consumer backdrop for low-income households darkening, Goldman analysts published a note on Wednesday identifying which big-box retailers have the greatest exposure to working-poor households.

"Our economists expect spending headwinds from higher inflation to weigh on growth for the rest of the year," Goldman Sachs Managing Director Kate McShane wrote in the note. She covered how Goldman analysts raised their Brent forecast for the fourth quarter of this year and the gloomy backdrop facing consumers.

She continued, "Moreover, higher headline inflation is set to erode household spending power, particularly among lower-income households that spend roughly four times as much on gasoline as a share of after-tax income compared to the top quintile."

She explained in more detail:

We expect the bottom-income quintile to lag the aggregate US household with +4.2% DPI growth in 2026 (vs. +4.7% aggregate) as our economists continue to expect tepid job growth. Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits, and now greater exposure to the increase in gasoline prices are cost headwinds to this income cohort. Our pre-savings DCF expectations for the bottom quintile remain unchanged at +0.8% for 2026, well below the +3.7% aggregate growth rate.

Higher energy prices do drive a headwind to our Consumer Discretionary Cash Flow model, and accordingly we estimate that a $10/barrel change in fuel prices equates to a ~18bps impact to consumer spending power, all else equal. The magnitude of the recent, rapid change in fuel prices may drive a ~88bps headwind for consumer discretionary spending power in FY26, if higher fuel prices hold (~$120/barrel). Taking this one step further, we use the breakdown of consumer income cohorts to estimate the impact across the income-quintiles assessed in our 2026 Consumer Outlook, and find a ~225bps potential headwind from the YoY change in crude oil prices (~$120/barrel vs a simple average of ~$70 in 2025) on the lowest-income consumers, or ~135bps headwind at ~$100/barrel. As such, we see an over ~50bps headwind for consumer discretionary spending power for US households in aggregate in 2026, and ~135bps headwind for the bottom-quintile, assuming ~$100/bbl pricing holds. 

With that context in mind, McShane and her team analyzed the demographic exposure of major big-box retailers and found that Dollar General, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, and Dollar Tree are among the retailers most exposed to working-poor households.

Walmart, Five Below, Target, and BJ's Wholesale Club showed more modest exposure, according to the analyst.

"We also note that historically, during periods of elevated gas prices, DG has benefited from its close-proximity store model, which offered a convenient alternative for cost-conscious customers looking to avoid drives," McShane noted.

However, she said, "However, given the rise in digital retail, WMT's membership program Walmart+ may diminish this advantage as customers can now purchase same-day delivery." 

With the national average for gasoline above $4, we have already detailed emerging shifts in consumer behavior at gas stations and convenience stores. Actual demand destruction should set in at $ 5+ gas.

Read:

• Here's What Happened Inside Gas Stations When Gas Hit $4

• Here's What Happened Inside Convenience Stores When Gas Hit $4

Professional subscribers can read the full consumer note at our new Marketdesk.ai portal

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/30/2026 - 17:30

Since August, the program has issued 163,906 citations, according to the SFMTA.

NY Post readers discuss late-night host Jimmy Kimmel getting slammed for boorish comments about first lady Melania Trump.

Fed up with bumbling delivery drivers and Google Maps fails, one California homeowner took matters into the sky.

Whooping cough is spreading at this California school, infecting several people with the ancient disease, as health officials warn about the dangerous illness.

Ann Arbor City Council voted 10-0 in December to remove the street watch signage, declaring they no longer served a public safety purpose or reflected the city's push for inclusivity.

It’s not a typo.

After the Mets placed Kodai Senga on the 15-day Injured List with right lumbar spine inflammation and Luis Robert on the 10-day Injured List with lumbar spine disc herniation, NYU Langone Sports Orthopedic Surgeon Daniel J. Kaplan, MD, joins Brandon London to break down the differences between these injuries, as well as the recovery processes. Full...

McGraw's name-drop drew applause from the audience at Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” live event on Wednesday.

McGraw's name-drop drew applause from the audience at Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” live event on Wednesday.

A wild man broke into a restaurant in Hermosa Beach to drink wine and wreak havoc on Wednesday after he was caught allegedly dining and dashing earlier this month.

This comes amid controversy surrounding tensions between the CEO an journalists and resurfaced reports of his involvement in a domestic dispute.

Apple Drops After Mixed Results: America, Europe Revenue Miss; Iphone Sales Disappoint, But China Surges Again

Ahead of today's AAPL earnings report, we've had a mixed picture from Mag 7 earnings so far: GOOGL soared to a record high, MSFT and AMZN both dropped (although they recovered much of their losses throughout the day) and META crashed, all on different reads of their capex. Which leaves AAPL to complete the picture of the big 5 megacaps (with NVDA set to report in a few weeks). As we previewed earlier, focus today will be on how soaring memory prices are impacting the company's profit margin, as well as hearing from new CEO John Ternus.

With that in mind, here is what the company just reported for its fiscal second quarter:

• EPS $2.01 vs. $1.65 y/y, beating estimates of $1.96
• Revenue $111.18 billion, +17% y/y, beating estimates of $109.66 billion 
  • Products revenue $80.21 billion, +17% y/y, beating estimates of $79.26 billion
  • IPhone revenue $56.99 billion, +22% y/y, barely beating estimates of $56.98 billion
  • Mac revenue $8.40 billion, +5.7% y/y, beating estimates of $8.13 billion
  • IPad revenue $6.91 billion, +8% y/y, beating estimates of $6.65 billion
  • Wearables, home and accessories $7.90 billion, +5% y/y, beating estimate $7.72 billion
• Services revenue $30.98 billion, +16% y/y, beating estimate of $30.37 billion

Broken down by product...

... we see that iPhones remain the juggernaut, and coming at $56.99 billion, they just barely beat estimates of $56.98 billion.

While Mac sales beat expectations modestly, pent up demand for the M5 MacBook Air, M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pro and of course the hot-selling MacBook Neo, should have resulted in a bigger beat. Perhaps it’s because the machines didn’t launch until late in the March quarter -- and the memory shortage. 

Looking across product lines, we saw annual growth in every segment, with a more than $10 billion year-over-year jump for the iPhone and a $4 billion increase on services. Growth in the other segments, like the Mac, iPad and wearables/home/accessories, was about $500 million give or take.

Taking a closer look at the Geographic breakdown, a few regions stood out, most notably America and Europe where revenues missed:

• Americas rev. $45.09 billion, +12% y/y, missing estimate $45.82 billion
• Europe revenue $28.06 billion, +15% y/y, missing estimate $29.08 billion
• Japan revenue $8.40 billion, +15% y/y, beating estimate $7.38 billion
• Rest of Asia Pacific revenue $9.14 billion, +25% y/y, beating estimate $8.76 billion

The revenue miss in the US and Europe will lilkely not be greeted well by the market, even if - for the second quarter in a row - it was offset by a solid beat in China:

• Greater China rev. $20.50 billion, +28% y/y, beating estimate $18.91 billion, even if the beat was smaller than last quarter's Chinese blowout.

Yes: it was all about China, because while sales in the US actually missed for the second quarter in a row, it was that country where no number is ever cooked - pardon the pun - where revenues (mostly iPhone revenues) grew an impressive 28% to $20.5bn, beating estimates of a $18.91bn number...

... yet which in context seems very, very fishy, and makes one wonder if Cook cooked numbers with Xi's help for the second quarter in a row.

Even Bloomberg notes that "China appears to be the key driver of Apple’s (limited) upside this quarter, with strength there likely underpinning the company’s broad-based outperformance."

Last but not least, and in fact first when it comes to profit margins, Services revenue rose 16%...

... to $30.98 billion, beating estimate of $30.37 billion

Going down the income statement: 

• Total operating expenses $18.90 billion, +24% y/y, above estimate $18.47 billion
• Research and development operating expenses $11.42 billion, +34% y/y, above estimate $11 billion
• SG&A operating expense $7.48 billion, +11% y/y, above estimate $7.46 billion
• Gross margin $54.78 billion, +22% y/y, above estimate $53.2 billion
• Cash and cash equivalents $45.57 billion, +62% y/y, below estimate $48.96 billion

Some more details from the press release: 

• IPhone hit a March quarter revenue record, fueled by “extraordinary demand” for the iPhone 17 lineup, Cook said
• New March quarter records for operating cash flow and EPS achieved, CFO Kevan Parekh said
• Generated Nearly $54 Billion in Operating Cash Flow
• Announces new $100 billion stock buyback

Commenting on the quarter, Apple outgoing CEO Tim Cook said that revenue was up primarily due to the “extraordinary” demand for the iPhone 17 line (even though revenue in America and Europe missed). He also cited the MacBook Neo, which he says is “captivating customers all around the world", to wit: 

“Apple is proud to report our best March quarter ever, with revenue of $111.2 billion and double-digit growth across every geographic segment. iPhone achieved a March quarter revenue record, fueled by such extraordinary demand for the iPhone 17 lineup. During the quarter, Services achieved yet another all-time record, and we were excited to introduce remarkable new products to our strongest lineup ever. That included the addition of the iPhone 17e and the M4-powered iPad Air, along with the launch of MacBook Neo, which is captivating customers all around the world.”

“Our strong business performance during the March quarter generated over $28 billion in operating cash flow and drove new March quarter records for both operating cash flow and EPS,” said Kevan Parekh, Apple’s CFO. “Continued strong customer demand for our products and services once again helped us achieve a new all-time high for our installed base of active devices across all major product categories and geographic segments.”

Apple did not give the spotlight to John Ternus, the incoming CEO, in this announcement. But we’re sure to hear something about the transition on the earnings call starting at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Still, his fingerprints are all over these results as the hardware chief the last half-decade.

Of note, AAPL - perhaps seeking to rub it into the noses of the cash flow negative hyperscalers who are now blowing all their capex on chips - authorized an additional $100 billion stock buyback.  The company also declared a cash dividend of $0.27 per share of the Company’s common stock, an increase of 4 percent. 

Last but not least, there has been no color on the memory situation and its impact on Apple in this release. We’ll hear more about that on the call. Apple said things would progressively get worse throughout the year. 

“This is a fairly boring report, w/Asia, Services, and margins all bright spots while the top line pressure in the Americas and Europe will be areas of focus (the lack of iPhone upside is a small negative too),” Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge writes in a report. 

Apple stock is muted, down a little over 1% after hours, and a far cry from the big swing that options traders were pricing in.

Tyler Durden Thu, 04/30/2026 - 17:07