Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and why.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron both reported earnings declines this quarter, and the story breaks into two distinct chapters. Oil prices were soft through the first two months of the year, squeezing margins heading into earnings season. Then on February twenty-eighth, U.S. and Israeli forces struck Iran, sending crude prices sharply higher — too late to rescue quarterly results, but early enough to reshape the energy outlook for the months ahead.
Shifting to tech, Twilio surged nineteen percent after a strong earnings report, reaching its highest share price in four years. CEO Khozema Shipchandler has methodically rebuilt the cloud communications company around artificial intelligence and core product investment, satisfying activist investors who had pushed hard for cost discipline. The market's verdict was unambiguous — this turnaround has legs.
And in corporate leadership, Apple's incoming CEO signaled he will maintain the company's famously tight culture of secrecy, and Wall Street responded warmly. Continuity at Apple carries real weight with investors — the concern was always whether a leadership transition might loosen the operational discipline that has defined the company's product cycles and margin profile for decades. Apparently, it won't.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
