From prison companies to Tesla: These stocks are soaring off the Trump victory
New York
CNN
—
Former President Donald Trump's projected return to the White House is making many shareholders of publicly traded companies richer by the second.
His victory is expected to usher in sweeping changes from the Biden administration, including a tougher stance on immigration and crime as well as a more hands-off approach to regulating businesses. It's also producing significant rallies of individual stocks as well as the overall market.
It's too soon to say whether the gains will last. For instance, Trump has promised to introduce sweeping tariffs that could raise prices significantly on just about everything that isn't produced entirely in the US. That could end up hurting some of the companies that are seeing big gains on Wednesday.
For now though, here are the companies that are seeing some of the biggest one-day jumps following Election Day.
Prisons and detention centers
Companies that manage private prisons and detention centers soared Wednesday off the expectation that Trump will detain more migrants who cross into the country illegally. That would mark a reversal from the Biden administration, which allowed migrants seeking asylum to legally work in the country while awaiting trial.
Shares of two private prison operators, GEO Group (GEO) and CoreCivic (CXW), were each up more than 30% on Wednesday.
Tesla
Elon Musk is poised to be rewarded for his multimillion-dollar donation to Trump's campaign, and efforts to get Trump reelected, with more favorable policies for the companies he owns, including Tesla, SpaceX, X and artificial intelligence startup xAI.
Of those companies, Tesla (TSLA) is the only one that's publicly traded. Shares of the electric vehicle maker were up 14% Wednesday afternoon, while competing companies like Rivian (RIVN) and Lucid (LCID) plunged.
Tesla is expected to benefit from former President Donald Trump's victory. Its CEO, Elon Musk, has campaigned heavily for Trump.
Thibaut Durand/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images
Credit card companies and banks
Trump's victory is expected to result in looser banking regulation. The Biden administration, in contrast, had pushed for stiffer capital requirements aimed at safeguarding the nation's largest banks from failing during times of heightened stress. Bank CEOs, including JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon, heavily criticized the proposal drafted by financial regulators.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
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Based on feedback he received, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, a top financial regulator leading the effort to impose higher bank capital requirements, announced the original proposal would be revised. Still, banks have been on edge because even a small increase in capital requirements could hurt their profitability, since it means they could have fewer funds to lend out.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the nation's largest bank, as well as Goldman Sachs (GS) and Citigroup (C), were all up more than 10% Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, shares of Discover Financial Services (DFS) popped nearly 20% Wednesday on the expectation that its proposed merger with Capital One (COF), whose shares were up 14%, will sail through under Republican leadership. Thus far, the merger proposed in February has been held up by financial regulators.
A Trump administration is expected to approve Capital One's proposed merger with Discover Financial Services.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
Generally, a Trump administration is expected to be more supportive of mergers and acquisitions compared to the Biden administration, which has sought to block many.
As a result, JetBlue had pulled out of its deal to buy Spirit Airlines. But on Wednesday, shares of Spirit (SAVE) were up more than 10%, while shares of JetBlue (JBLU) were up more than 2%.
Crypto stocks
Trump positioned himself on the campaign trail as a pro-cryptocurrency candidate. At a bitcoin conference over the summer, he vowed to hold on to bitcoin the government seizes from criminals rather than auctioning it off, which is the current practice.
His Tuesday win brought bitcoin to a new record high level of over $75,000 and caused crypto-associated stocks to jump. Among the biggest gainers Wednesday was crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), whose shares were up 30%.
Retail and green energy stocks falter
Wednesday wasn't all good news for stocks, though.
Retailers, including Five Below (FIVE), Wayfair (W) and Dollar General (DG), as well as toy manufacturers Mattel (MAT) and Hasbro (HAS), were all poised to close lower Wednesday. Their declines are likely due to fears about Trump's tariffs, which could mean products they sell become more expensive, since many of them are manufactured outside the US.
Green energy stocks saw some of the biggest declines for the day, as Trump is expected to prioritize fossil fuel energy production over other energy sources seen as more environmentally friendly. Shares of solar panel companies Sunnova (NOVA) and Sunrun (RUN) dropped by 50% and 30% Wednesday, respectively. Trump is widely expected to repeal tax credits and other incentives President Joe Biden pushed for in the Inflation Reduction Act.
