Goldman Sachs Reports Q1 Earnings
These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of the trading day. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures point to a down start for the trading day ahead.
1. President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. military would blockade the Strait of Hormuz sets up a risky new showdown that could draw American forces into a prolonged struggle to control the strategic chokepoint while compounding the global economic damage caused by the conflict. (WSJ)
Iran said no port in the Persian Gulf or the Sea of Oman would be safe if its ports are threatened, after President Trump confirmed that a U.S. blockade on ships entering or exiting Iranian ports would take effect at 10 a.m. ET Monday. (WSJ)
2. Oil prices surged above $100 a barrel on Monday following the breakdown of U.S.-Iran talks and plans by Donald Trump to blockade the Strait of Hormuz… Trump’s announcement of a naval blockade of the strait from Monday is intended to pressure the Iran regime, which has continued shipping oil to key markets such as China during the conflict. But analysts warned a blockade could escalate the conflict. (FT)
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the price of oil and gasoline may remain high through November’s midterm elections,
a rare acknowledgement of the potential political fallout from his decision to attack Iran six weeks ago. “It could be, or the same, or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,” (Reuters)
Taking those first two items together, the hope for ceasefire talks has morphed into what is shaping up to be another round of escalation between the U.S. and Iran, raising fresh questions about the duration of the conflict and higher energy prices, inflation risks as well as the impact to the economy, consumer discretionary spending dollars and corporate bottom lines.
We see that building on what we shared in Friday’s Weekly Roundup about the downside risk to 2026 consensus EPS for the S&P 500, especially for 1H 2026 figures. That growing risk will see us maintain our positions in the Portfolio’s inverse ETF market-hedging positions.
3. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s equity traders posted their second consecutive quarterly record, beating their own previous all-time high by more than $1 billion, as the war in Iran fueled market volatility. The investment bank’s stocks division reported revenue of $5.33 billion for the first three months of the year, passing the $4.31 billion record set in the fourth quarter of last year, the firm said in a statement Monday. (Bloomberg)
On its face, Goldman’s record profit for Q1 2026 speaks to the strength in trading and investment banking revenue, which offset weaker-than-expected results for the firm’s fixed income and currency related operations. On Monday morning’s earnings call, however, we expect the focus to be on backlog of future investment banking fees, which decreased slightly albeit off record levels exiting 2025. Given the slate of very large IPOs expected in the coming quarters, including SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic and others, we’ll be interested to hear Goldman’s comments about the IPO market.
4. Apple is working on several frame styles and a unique camera design for its first smart glasses. Also: The foldable iPhone is on track for a September debut despite fears of production delays, and Apple’s former AI chief is leaving. (Bloomberg)
In his weekly Apple (AAPL) missive, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman primarily focused on Apple’s “display-free” smart glasses and how it fits with the company’s three-pronged AI wearables strategy. Our take is that form factor and battery life will limit adoption until both are solved in a satisfactory model. Gurman also shared that fears Apple’s foldable iPhone, which is being referred to as the iPhone Ultra, will miss the 2026 holiday shopping season are “overblown.” Per Gurman’s conversations with folks at Apple, the company remains on track to announce the device in the first half of September, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max.
Good news but remember the more important catalyst Apple needs to deliver on is the refreshed, AI-enabled Siri.
5. McDonald’s is set to offer a Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer as part of a broader overhaul of its menu of cold drinks at its U.S. restaurants later this year, according to people familiar with the matter and company documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal… McDonald’s plans to sell its new beverages at prices below those of competitors such as Starbucks, Dutch Bros, Sonic and other chains, the documents show. (WSJ)
After shuttering its CosMc’s effort in May 2025, we’re not surprised McDonald’s (MCD) is bringing some of those learnings into its menu to not only attract a wider audience but to deliver a high profit margin item for its franchisees. The energy drink market has been a bright spot, but this move by McDonald’s and Starbucks (SBUX) recent launch of its own caffeinated drinks and the options to add energy shots to other ones is going to make for a far more competitive landscape.
6. The attack surface targeted by Iranian-linked hackers in cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure networks includes thousands of Internet-exposed programmable logic controllers (PLCs) manufactured by Rockwell Automation. (BleepingComputer)
Eurail B.V., a European travel operator that provides digital passes covering 33 national railways, says attackers stole the personal information of over 300,000 individuals in a December 2025 data breach. (BleepingComputer)
Nearly one in three cyber intrusions now involve valid employee credentials, making this a leading attack vector. Armed with stolen credentials and supercharged by AI, threat actors are now operating as a trusted colleague, turning the very identity of your workforce into your greatest vulnerability. (DarkReading)
Cybersecurity stocks have been hard hit, but signals like those, as well as the ones we shared on Saturday, serve as sharp reminders about the expanding scope and scale of cyberattacks as bad actors leverage AI for their purposes. As we navigate U.S.-Iran developments and the real start to the Q1 2026 earning season, the recent sell off has us keeping a close watch on cybersecurity stocks.
7. Economic data today per TipRanks: Existing Home Sales (March)
8. Companies reporting today per TipRanks: AM – Fastenal (FAST) , Goldman Sachs (GS) . PM – FB Financial (FBK) .
Related: China’s Influence Rises as Beijing Becomes Unusual U.S. Ally on Iran
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At the time of publication, TheStreet Pro Portfolio was long AAPL.
