Hi Reader, here's what you need to know for April 29th in 3:03 minutes.

☕️ Finimized over a chemex at The Green Bean in Yerevan, Armenia (17°C/63°F ☀️)

Today's big stories

Apple's earnings beat expectations late on Wednesday, and its popularity in China played a big role
The US president’s mooted tax hike on the 1% could cause problems for one of your favorite investment strategies – Read Now
Facebook posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings late on Wednesday, as its ad business continued to fire on all cylinders

Globe-Trotter

What’s Going On Here?

Ugh, Apple’s going to be talking about how it “found itself” in China for years: the tech giant reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings late on Wednesday, and its stock initially jumped 4%.

What Does This Mean?

There’s been huge demand for iPhones all over the world lately, with revenue coming in 16% higher than analysts predicted. Apple’s 5G-enabled models were particularly popular in China, whose transition to 5G networks – and, presumably, its population’s transformation into lizard people – is fully underway. In fact, that spike in demand might’ve been why Apple’s overall revenue beat expectations by 16%. And while the company opted not to offer an earnings forecast for this quarter, it did raise its dividend and promise more share price-boosting buybacks to come.

Why Should I Care?

Zooming in: The future is subscriptions.
A major focus for Apple’s investors is its subscription services: think Apple TV, Apple Music, and the App Store. The company’s increasingly been pivoting toward the segment, which comes with steadier sales and much higher profit margins than hardware. So it’s no wonder investors were upbeat about Apple's results: its services revenue grew by a better-than-expected 27% compared to the same time last year, and the company’s profit was almost 40% higher than investors had forecast.

The bigger picture: The present is still iPhones.
In the grand scheme of things, demand for newer, more expensive iPhones is actually sinking. And since iPhone sales still make up half of Apple’s total revenue, the company’s trying to offset that drop by selling more of its cheaper models. That strategy might’ve got a shot in the arm on Wednesday: the US president introduced a new plan that calls for $800 million in tax cuts and credits, which should give lower-income families more money to spend on life’s little luxuries.

You might also like: Three visions of Apple’s future, and how they affect its valuation.

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2. Analyst Take

Why A Tax Hike On The 1% Could Hurt One Of Your Favorite Strategies

What’s Going On Here?

The US president hasn’t been backward in coming forward about his keenness to raise taxes on major corporations and the country’s 1%.

And just last week, a proposed increase in US taxes on capital gains – a.k.a. personal investment profit – spooked markets.

The good news is that the long-term impact on stocks is likely to be muted, even if it does make it through Congress and into law. No guarantees there.

The bad news is that it could hit your portfolio in another way: by disrupting some of last year’s best-performing stocks, as well as a hugely popular strategy that depends on them.

So that’s today’s Insight: why everyone’s so nervous about the mooted tax hike, and whether you should be too.

Read or listen to the Insight here

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