Shares in American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE:AEO) bounced on Monday, not because of earnings or margins, but after Donald Trump chose to hail the clothing company's advertising campaign starring actress Sydney Sweeney, mainly to remind everyone she’s a Republican.
In the posters, the text reads 'Sydney Sweeney has great genes', with a similar video ad where the word 'genes' is crossed out and is replaced with 'jeans'.
It was reported over the weekend that the Euphoria and White Lotus star was registered as a Republican voter before Trump won last year's presidential election.
In a post on Monday morning, following an initial effort that was deleted after getting the spelling of Sweeney's name wrong, the President said the registered Republican voter "has the 'HOTTEST' ad out there".
"It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are 'flying off the shelves'," Trump said in the post. "Go get ‘em Sydney!"
Now potentially a new meme stock for the political right-leaning investors, American Eagle Outfitters stock jumped 14% to $12.36 in early trading on Monday, up 35% since the five-year lows seen in June.
Trump did not fail to use the opportunity to try and score further political points.
"On the other side of the ledger, Jaguar did a stupid, and seriously WOKE advertisement, THAT IS A TOTAL DISASTER," he said.
Jaguar Land Rover chief executive Adrian Mardell last week stepped down after three years in the role and 35 years at the company.
JLR said his retirement had been planned for some time, though no successor has yet been appointed.
The company last month announced plans to cut up to 500 management jobs in the UK and reported a drop in sales in the second quarter, caused partly by a pause on US exports due to tariffs, as well as the planned wind-down of older Jaguar models.
Under his leadership, the UK carmaker announced plans to move its cars to all-electric powertrains, and last year put out a series of new adverts under a reimagined logo and slogan 'Copy Nothing', which were branded 'woke' by right-wing social media commentators and media as some ads featured androgynous models in flamboyant clothing.
In his post, Trump said the Janguar CEO "resigned in disgrace, and the company is in absolute turmoil".
Jaguar, he said, should "have learned a lesson from Bud Lite, which went woke and essentially destroyed, in a short campaign, the company".
Bud Lite sales remain significantly below pre-backlash levels, after being boycotted by the right, though parent Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has far from been destroyed, with revenue increasing last year.
Trump said the "market cap destruction has been unprecedented, with billions of dollars so foolishly lost", though the market cap of AB Inbev is essentially flat.