Apple’s next CEO, Warsh’s confirmation hearing, the psychedelic stock surge and more in Morning Squawk

Happy Tuesday. President Donald Trump will join CNBC’s “Squawk Box” for a live interview at 8:30 a.m. ET this morning. Watch live on CNBC or CNBC+.

Stock futures are rising after a down day on Wall Street.

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

Apple had a surprise announcement last night: John Ternus, the company’s hardware chief, will replace CEO Tim Cook in September. Cook will move to the role of executive chairman.

Investors told CNBC that they were shocked by the announcement but saw Apple’s decision to tap a hardware-focused executive as a positive sign. As CNBC’s Jennifer Elias notes, Ternus inherits Apple’s artificial intelligence problem: Wall Street broadly views Apple as lagging its megacap peers in AI. Making up that gap will be a defining challenge for the company’s new chief.

Apple shares ticked lower in extended trading, putting the iPhone maker’s modest 2026 gain at risk. The company’s stock has soared more than 1,930% since Cook took the helm from Steve Jobs in 2011.

Speaking of succession, it’s Kevin Warsh’s big day in Washington, D.C. Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell as the chair of the Federal Reserve will face the Senate Banking Committee for his confirmation hearing this morning.

Here’s what to know:

• In remarks released ahead of the hearing, Warsh said the Fed should remain independent from political influence — with some qualifiers.
• He added that the Fed “must stay in its lane” and avoid moving into fiscal or social policy: “Simply stated, Fed independence is largely up to the Fed.”
• Warsh will have to walk a fine line between supporting Trump’s push for lower interest rates and showing that he would not be influenced by political pressure in setting monetary policy.
• At this morning’s hearing, the former Fed governor will likely face questions over his connections to Silicon Valley and his wealth.
• Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has vowed not to support Warsh’s confirmation until the criminal investigation into Powell is resolved.
• Follow live updates on the hearing here.

The Nasdaq Composite ended its longest winning streak since 1992 yesterday. The S&P 500 also retreated in Monday’s session, marking the broad index’s first negative session in six.

The declines came as Trump threatened Iran with military force ahead of the ceasefire’s expiration tomorrow, adding some uncertainty back into the stock market. A source familiar with the matter told CNBC yesterday that a U.S. delegation “plans to travel to Islamabad soon” for more peace talks, even as it remained unclear whether Iran would participate.

But small-cap stocks bucked the downtrend, with the Russell 2000 climbing to new intraday and closing highs. Follow live markets updates here.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group jumped more than 7% this morning after it delivered a top- and bottom-line beat for its first quarter and raised its 2026 earnings outlook.

A key metric helping the nation’s largest insurer was its improved management of medical costs, which have surged in recent years. The company’s medical benefit ratio — a metric that compares medical expenses relative to premiums collected by insurers — also fell in the first quarter. A lower ratio typically yields higher margins for the insurer.

The report builds on what already has been a strong April for UnitedHealth, following the government’s confirmation of a higher-than-expected 2027 payment rate for Medicare Advantage plans. As of Monday’s close, the stock was up nearly 20% this month.

Investors are psyched about psychedelics after Trump signed an executive order accelerating research and access for drugs such as psilocybin, MDMA and ibogaine. Compass Pathways shares surged 42% for their best day on record yesterday, while AtaiBeckley shares climbed more than 21% for its best day since July.

As CNBC’s Brandon Gomez notes, the question is now whether psychedelics will face the same bureaucratic challenges as cannabis. Shawn Hauser, partner at cannabis law firm Vicente LLP, called the process of governmental review “slow and frustrating.”

U.S. importers could see more than $160 billion in tariff refunds after the Supreme Court struck down many of Trump’s levies in February. Here’s how much some of the biggest retailers could be getting back, according to Citi:

— CNBC’s Jonathan Vanian, Jennifer Elias, Kif Leswing, Jeff Cox, Matt Peterson, Sean Conlon, Kevin Breuninger, Brandon Gomez, Jennifer Elias, Annika Kim Constantino and Tobias Burns contributed to this report.

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