Wall Street Breakfast Podcast: Trump Targets Pump Prices

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Trump says he wants temporary gas tax suspension to blunt surging pump prices. (00:13) Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) falls as Q1 results miss on both lines. (01:16) Nelson Peltz’s Trian eyes take-private deal for The Wendy’s Company, FT reports. (02:13)

This is an abridged transcript.

President Trump told CBS News on Monday that he plans to suspend the federal gas tax “for a period of time,” in a bid to counter rising prices at the pump as the U.S.-Iran war drags on.

Suspending the excise taxes—$0.184/gal on gasoline and $0.244/gal on diesel—requires an act of Congress, but recent efforts to suspend the gas tax have received little support from legislators.

This does not include state taxes on gasoline which varies.

U.S. gasoline prices have jumped more than 50% since the war began February 28. According to AAA, as of today, the national average is $4.50/gal, and prices almost certainly will remain high as long as Iran successfully blocks access to the Strait of Hormuz.

We’re taking a deeper dive into this topic in the Wall Street Breakfast newsletter. Here’s a link to register.

Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) is down ~14% in early trading after reporting Q1 financial results that missed on both lines.

GAAP EPS of -$0.40 compares to $0.20 in the year-ago period.

Revenue of $608.1M was only ~4% higher than in Q1 2025. However, revenue in the US, by far the company’s largest market, fell 8% year-over-year.

The online healthcare provider was hurt in the quarter by a 6% decline in year-over-year monthly revenue per average subscriber to $80.

On the positive side, subscribers increased 9% YoY to ~2.6M.

Full-year revenue is projected at $2.8B-$3B ($2.72B consensus). Q2 revenue is guided at $680M-$700M ($642.94M consensus).

Trian Fund Management is seeking investor backing for a bid to take Wendy’s (WEN) private.

The Financial Times reported that Trian, in recent weeks, has held discussions with outside investors, including in the Middle East, about financing a potential takeover of the US fast-food chain.

The report said, Trian has not made a formal approach to buy Wendy’s (WEN), and there is no guarantee that the financing discussions will result in a takeover bid.

Trian considered a potential takeover bid for ‌the ⁠burger chain in 2022. In February, he said The Wendy’s Company (WEN) was undervalued and revealed that he had been in talks with potential financing sources regarding possible deals, including an acquisition or other major transactions.

Wendy’s (WEN) is up 4.4% in premarket action after falling 7.4% on Monday.

What’s Trending on Seeking Alpha

Silver surges to biggest gain since February; India’s Modi asks citizens to pause gold buying

Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang reportedly left off Donald Trump’s China CEO delegation

Meta loses tussle in EU’s top court over compensation to Italian publishers

Catalyst watch:

• Notable investor events include the Goldman Sachs Global Staples Forum, S&P Global’s (SPGI) Investor Day, Middleby Corporation’s Investor Day, Pool Corporation’s Investor Day (POOL), DraftKings’ (DKNG) annual meeting, and AAR’s (AIR) Investor Day.

Stock index futures are lower over growing fears of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire collapsing. Investors are also monitoring for a key inflation report.

The fragile, monthlong ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran reached a critical juncture Monday, with President Trump declaring the agreement on “massive life support” after dismissing Tehran’s latest peace proposal.

Crude oil is up 3.5% at $101. Bitcoin is down 1.2% at $80,000. Gold is down 0.7% at $4,699.

The FTSE 100 is down 0.5% and the DAX is down 1.1%.

The biggest movers for the day premarket: Quantum Computing (QUBT) +16% – Shares jumped after reporting Q1 2026 results that featured a massive Y/Y revenue increase and a narrower-than-expected loss.

Economic calendar: