From prison companies to Tesla: These stocks are soaring off the Trump victory

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN

New York (CNN) — Former President Donald Trump’s projected return to the White House made many shareholders of publicly traded companies a lot richer on Wednesday.

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 saw big gains on Wednesday.

For now though, here are the companies that experienced some of the biggest one-day jumps following Election Day.

Prisons and detention centers

Companies that manage private prisons and detention centers soared Wednesday on 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), surged 42% and 29% Wednesday, respectively.

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 closed 15% higher Wednesday, while competing companies like Rivian (RIVN) and Lucid (LCID) plunged.

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.

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, gained 11.5% Wednesday.

Meanwhile, shares of Discover Financial Services (DFS) popped nearly 20% Wednesday on the expectation that its proposed merger with Capital One (COF), whose shares rose 15%, will sail through under Republican leadership. Thus far, the merger proposed in February has been held up by financial regulators.

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) rose 9%, while shares of JetBlue (JBLU) closed 4% higher.

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 $76,000 and caused crypto-associated stocks to jump. Among the biggest gainers Wednesday was crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), whose shares leapt by 31%.

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), all closed 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 52% 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.

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