One quarter into Donald Trump’s second term and executives just can’t stop saying his name.
The number of earnings calls in which CEOs said “Donald Trump” or “Trump” over the past 30 days has spiked since the same period last year, according to Business Insider’s review of earnings call transcripts collected by AlphaSense.
Trump’s name was said by CEOs in 88 earnings calls over the past 30 days compared to only 5 times in the same period last year.
The CEO of home goods store Restoration Hardware, Gary Friedman, mentioned Trump’s name four times in the company’s earnings call on April 2.
The conversation around Trump has largely been propelled by the tariffs he’s levied on goods imported into the country. For home goods companies like RH, these tariffs have sent stock prices downhill. “Oh sh—t,” Friedman said on the call right after he heard that the company’s stock had plunged 26% in light of Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs which imposed duties on 180 countries.
Instances where CEOs have singled out the word tariffs have exploded since last year. CEOs called out tariffs in 569 earnings calls over the past 30 days compared to just 58 instances last year.
On Thursday’s earnings calls for the first quarter of the year, Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer mentioned “tariffs” 50 times. Bitzer presented them as positive news for the company.
“The tariffs will finally help create a level playing field for Whirlpool,” he said in the call.
Several other companies repeated the word tariffs like a mantra during calls this week. The game and toy company Hasbro referenced tariffs 35 times during its call on Thursday. Consumer goods company Procter & Gamble mentioned them 26 times.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon mentioned tariffs five times on the firm’s earnings call on April 11. Dimon, who told people fretting about tariffs to “get over it” in January, swung to the other side in his latest letter to shareholders this month, noting that tariffs will “slow down growth.”
During the company’s earnings call he walked his January comments back further. “I wish I hadn’t said it. I was specifically referring tariffs relating to protecting national security,” he said. Then, he conceded that “you may need tariffs to help fix some of the problems related to national security.”
EV maker Tesla called out tariffs 25 times. Tesla CEO Elon Musk — who is one of Trump’s advisors — deflected responsibility.
“I just want to emphasize that the tariff decision is entirely up to the President of the United States,” Musk said in the company’s earnings call on Tuesday. “I will weigh in with my advice with the President, which if he will listen to my advice but then it’s up to him, of course, to make his decision.”
Other popular words that have surfaced lately are “mitigate.” It was said by CEOs on 209 occasions in the last 30 days compared to 131 times last year.
The word “uncertainty” has also been popular. CEOs used it in 486 instances compared to 284 last year.
Business Insider via Flourish
