Some stocks have made major swings in the days since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Trump has put U.S. investors on alert with market-moving plans such as tariffs and federal government spending cuts. The S & P 500 is slated to record its worst first 100 days of a presidency since Richard Nixon’s second tenure in the 1970s. Underneath the hood, some names are seeing outsized moves. CNBC screened the S & P 500 to see which stocks have performed the best and worst since Trump came back to the Oval Office in January. To do this, CNBC used closing levels from the Friday before Trump’s inauguration. The worst performers Deckers Outdoor led the S & P 500 down with a 48% plunge over this period. The Ugg and Hoka maker has taken a hit as investors worried that Trump’s plan for levies on imports would hurt the company’s profits. Evercore analyst Jesalyn Wong told clients earlier this month that the majority of Deckers’ manufacturing is likely in China and Vietnam. Despite this rough patch, Wall Street is expecting a rebound ahead. The typical analyst polled by LSEG has a buy rating and an average price target suggesting about 67% in upside. DECK YTD mountain Deckers in 2025 Tesla was also one of the hardest hit names, shedding about one-third of its share value over the 100 days. In addition to concerns about tariffs, the company is facing protests over CEO Elon Musk’s support of Trump’s campaign and leadership of the controversial government efficiency initiative. “When people’s cars are in jeopardy of being keyed or set on fire out there, even people who support Musk or are indifferent [toward] Musk might think twice about buying a Tesla,” Baird analyst Ben Kallo said told CNBC last month. While the majority of analysts surveyed by LSEG have a buy rating on the stock, the average price target suggests shares will sit around flat over the next year. Airlines Delta and United both made the list, with each stock’s shares sinking more than 36%. As consumer confidence slides, investors are questioning if the sector will see a pullback with people expecting a recession ahead. Airlines are seeing weak demand for the second half of the year and turning to sales to incentivize bookings. Additionally, traders are concerned that cuts to government spending and belt tightening from corporations can hurt business travel. Despite the recent downturn, Wall Street sees recoveries ahead. The average analyst for each stock has a buy rating and a price target suggesting more than 30% in upside, per LSEG. The best performers While the broader market has struggled, some names have been able to buck the trend. Palantir has led the index higher in this timeframe, with shares skyrocketing more than 57%. That comes after the buzzy defense tech name was already a top performer last year. The retail investor favorite appears to be a so-called Trump trade that’s been insulated from the tariff-induced sell-off of stocks. Executives have said they see Musk and Trump’s government efficiency work, which is known by the acronym DOGE, as beneficial for the business. “I think DOGE is going to bring meritocracy and transparency to government, and that’s exactly what our commercial business is,” Shyam Sankar, Palantir’s technology chief, said on the company’s earnings call in February. PLTR YTD mountain Palantir in 2025 However, Wall Street is cautious after the stock’s monster run. The typical analyst has a hold rating with a price target suggesting shares can slip close to 18% over the next year, according to LSEG. Netflix is another one of the top performers, with the streamer’s stock jumping more than 28%. The company’s focus has made it largely unaffected by tariffs. After that rally, analysts don’t see much more upside. While most analysts surveyed by LSEG have buy ratings, the average price target implies the stock can rise less than 2% over the next year. Elsewhere, several defensive names were among the outperformers. Tobacco giant Philip Morris surged 40%, while telecommunication stock AT & T rose more than 20%. Both stocks have buy ratings from the majority of analysts polled by LSEG. The typical price target reflects upside of nearly 2% for Philip Morris and about 3.6% for AT & T.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Plug Power — The hydrogen fuel cell developer jumped 24% after signing a deal to issue up to $525 million in secured debentures. The company also issued first-quarter guidance of between $130 million and $134 million, compared with LSEG consensus of $131.6 million. Nio — The Chinese electric vehicle stock popped 5% after Citi added an upside 30-day catalyst watch on the name. Analyst Jeff Chung said he expects Nio to launch new models much earlier than consensus had expected. ADMA Biologics — The biotech stock climbed 10% after gaining Food and Drug Administration approval of its innovative yield enhancement production process in the U.S. This process can increase production yields by 20% from the same starting plasma volume. Nvidia — The chipmaker shed more than 3% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Huawei Technologies will be soon testing its newest artificial intelligence processor, which the company hopes could be a competitor to some of Nvidia’s products. Peloton — Shares advanced 5% on the back of Truist’s upgrade to buy from hold. Truist said the company has cleaned up the “BS” and should start to see a gradual recovery from improving fundamentals. Boeing — Shares of the airplane manufacturer gained about 2% after Bernstein upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform. Analyst Douglas Harned said Boeing “should be on a much firmer path than in 2023” as the company makes progress from scrutiny and supply chain concerns. Boeing is recovering from the 2024 Alaska Airlines controversy, as well as two Boeing 737 Max plane crashes prior to that, the analyst said. Progressive — The insurance stock rose 1% after an upgrade to buy from neutral at Bank of America. Progressive has upside after its recent stock price decline and strong March results, the investment firm said, as it reversed a downgrade earlier this month by the same analyst. On Holdings — Shares of the Swiss athletic shoe company jumped more than 2% on the back of Citi’s upgrade to buy from neutral. The firm said On is one of the best positioned to navigate the tariff uncertainty. Cognex — The machine vision systems manufacturer added more than 2% following an upgrade to buy from hold at TD Cowen. Zscaler — Shares popped 1% after BNP Paribas upgraded the cloud security stock to an outperform rating from neutral. BankUnited — The regional bank stock fell 2%. BankUnited disappointed expectations for net interest income, reporting $233.1 million compared to the $239.9 million anticipated by analysts polled by FactSet. Its net interest margin of 2.81% fell below the consensus estimate of 2.86%, reflecting the “impact of declining rates on a modestly asset sensitive balance sheet,” the company said. On the other hand, earnings of 78 cents per share topped the expected 75 cents per share. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim, Sarah Min, Jesse Pound and Pia Singh contributed reporting.
Shoppers walk through the King of Prussia Mall, as global markets brace for a hit to trade and growth caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose import tariffs on dozens of countries, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 3, 2025.
Rachel Wisniewski | Reuters
America, at the start of 2025, is a tale of two consumers.
Lower-income earners are reining in their transactions to focus on essentials, while the wealthy continue to spend freely on perks including dining out and luxury travel, according to first-quarter results from U.S. credit card lenders.
As anxiety from the opening salvos of President Donald Trump‘s trade policies rippled through the country in recent months, investors and economists have wondered whether declines in consumer sentiment would spill into the real economy. There are some early signs of stress among those who are already more economically vulnerable.
For instance, at Synchrony, which provides store cards for retail brands including Lowe’s and T.J. Maxx, spending fell 4% in the first three months of the year, the company said last week.
That compares to a 6% spending jump at American Express and a similar rise at JPMorgan Chase, both of which cater to wealthier users with higher credit scores than Synchrony. AmEx said its customers spent 7% more on dining and 11% more on first class and business class airfare than a year earlier.
While the “consumer is still in pretty good shape” overall, they are “being selective around how they spend,” Synchrony CEO Brian Doubles told analysts on April 22.
Lower-income card users in particular “started tapering their spend about a year ago,” pulling back on discretionary and big ticket expenses as inflation ate into their buying power, Doubles said.
But so far, credit card lenders catering to wealthier customers have been insulated from concerns about how tariffs, inflation and a possible recession later this year could impact consumer spending.
“It’s fair to say that the high end has held up better, and the low end has pulled back more,” Brian Foran, a Truist analyst covering banks, said in an email. “It’s been a common theme both speaking to credit card companies, and hearing from most of my colleagues covering consumer and retail.”
The split was also visible at Citigroup, a major player in the credit industry. While spending in the division that provides cards for retailers fell 5% in the quarter, plastic that carries the bank’s own brand — a cohort with higher credit scores — saw spending rise 3%.
Both Citigroup and Bread Financial, another provider of store and co-branded cards like Synchrony, said that consumer behavior shifted toward essentials and away from travel and entertainment on concern that tariffs would raise prices for some goods.
The dynamic boosts spending now, but it could mean weaker demand in the future.
“Consumers are buying more electronics, home furnishing, auto parts,” Bread CFO Perry Beberman said last week.
People are “trying to figure out, are they still going to buy that big TV or are they going to make some other choices if inflation comes through at some of the rates they could,” Beberman said. “That’s the real wildcard here.”
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