Iran tensions, Palantir earnings, Musk’s SEC settlement and more in Morning Squawk

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Happy Tuesday. Yesterday was a busy day for Amazon‘s top brass: CEO Andy Jassy joined CNBC’s “Mad Money,” while executive chairman Jeff Bezos was the honorary co-chair and lead sponsor of last night’s Met Gala.

Stock futures are rising this morning after a losing day on Wall Street.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Tensions in the Middle East ratcheted up yesterday, pushing the precarious ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran closer to the brink. Worries about escalation in the conflict sent oil prices surging and stocks tumbling in Monday’s session.

Here’s what to know:

• The United Arab Emirates said Monday that it was under attack from Iranian missiles and drones.
• The U.S. reportedly said it sank six Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran’s state media denied the claim.
• President Donald Trump warned yesterday that Iran will be “blown off the face of the earth” if it targets U.S. vessels in the vital maritime passageway.
• Kalshi traders are now betting that traffic in the strait won’t normalize until at least August.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 550 points yesterday — its worst day in more than a month — as rising oil prices weighed on sentiment.
• But crude prices are lower this morning after Danish shipping company Maersk said one of its ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz under protection from the U.S. military.
• Follow live markets updates here.

Palantir surpassed Wall Street’s top- and bottom-line expectations for the first quarter yesterday, reporting 85% revenue growth in the period — its fastest sales increase since going public in 2020.

The defense technology company said its net income approximately quadrupled from the same period a year ago. Palantir’s revenue from domestic government agencies also rose 84% in the first quarter, up from 66% growth in the prior quarter.

CEO Alex Karp told CNBC that he anticipates the company’s U.S. business — which includes government and commercial clients — to double again next year. Palantir raised its guidance for the full year, now expecting $4.2 billion to $4.4 billion in adjusted free cash flow.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday agreed to settle its lawsuit against Tesla CEO Elon Musk over alleged securities violations ahead of his purchase of Twitter. If the agreement is approved by the judge, Musk’s revocable trust would pay $1.5 million to the SEC in civil penalties.

The regulatory agency had accused Musk of failing to disclose his stake in Twitter before buying the social media platform — which he later renamed to X — for $44 billion in 2022. Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, said the settlement vindicated the billionaire entrepreneur: “A trust vehicle has agreed to a small fine for being late on one filing.”

Meanwhile, the trial between Musk and OpenAI entered its second week yesterday. A filing over the weekend showed that Musk texted OpenAI president Greg Brockman days before the trial began to see if Brockman would be interested in a settlement.

Eli Lilly has long been seen as the leader of the GLP-1 market. But with the rise of weight-loss pills, investors are rethinking what type of products — and which companies — will dominate the space.

Within four months of its launch, Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill has been taken by tens of thousands of patients, most of whom are new to the GLP-1 category. On the other hand, Eli Lilly’s competing pill Foundayo appears to have had a more modest rollout.

Elsewhere in the health sector, insurers have been showing signs of recovery in their first quarter earnings reports. But as CNBC’s Annika Kim Constantino notes, incomplete medical cost data will make the second quarter a make-or-break period for names like UnitedHealth, Elevance and Cigna.

Amazon announced a new initiative yesterday that will allow outside businesses to deliver materials and products using its supply chain networks. As CNBC’s Laya Neelakandan reports, the move comes as the e-commerce giant looks to beef up its services business.

Shares of UPS and FedEx tumbled more than 10% and 9%, respectively, following the news, as investors worried about increased competition in the logistics industry. Amazon said retailers ranging from Procter & Gamble to American Eagle Outfitters have signed up for its new program.

Speaking of Amazon, its CEO Andy Jassy said on CNBC’s “Mad Money” last night that investors will benefit from the company’s artificial intelligence spending. “When you have shifts that are this momentous … you want to bet big,” he said.

— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger, Sean Conlon, Spencer Kimball, Justina Lee, Jordan Novet, Lola Murti, Lora Kolodny, Matt Peterson, Ashley Capoot, Angelica Peebles, Elsa Ohlen, Annika Kim Constantino, Laya Neelakandan, Alexa LoMonaco, Yun Li and Sam Meredith contributed to this report.

Davis Giangiulio assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.