American Eagle shares jumps as Trump touts Sydney Sweeney jeans ad

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American Eagle Outfitters Inc. shares surged after U.S. President Donald Trump came out in support of a controversial ad from the company and called her a “registered Republican.”

The spot, with the actress Sydney Sweeney, is the “HOTTEST ad out there,” Trump said in a social media post. He added American Eagle jeans are “flying off the shelves.” Trump deleted an earlier post, in which the actress’ first name was misspelled

The stock jumped as much as 18%, the biggest gain intraday since May 12. Through last week’s close, the shares had declined 36% this year.

The apparel retailer launched an ad blitz in July with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” One of the campaign’s videos plays on the same-sounding word “genes” as Sweeney zips up her jeans and intones that “genes are passed down from parents to offspring often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour.”

“My jeans are blue,” she adds, flashing her blue eyes at the camera.

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When American Eagle initially announced the ad campaign on July 23, shares rose as investors cheered the company snagging a deal with Sweeney, whose popularity has surged after appearances in TV shows such as White Lotus and Euphoria. In the following days, the gain eroded after critics said the ad’s focus on the genes of a White, blond woman conjured up the racist theory of eugenics. Other social media users have said critics are reading too much into the ads.

Representatives for American Eagle didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Last week, the company said the spot “is and always was about the jeans” and will “continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way.”

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It’s still unclear how American Eagle’s ad campaign will impact sales. Analysts will be watching the company’s performance during the important back-to-school shopping season.

Since mid-July, sales and web traffic at American Eagle Outfitters have been accelerating, while visits to stores has been slowing, according to data from Bloomberg Second Measure, Similarweb, and Placer.ai.

Through July 27 — the latest data available — those positive trends have continued. Visits to American Eagle’s website have also accelerated, the data show. However, trends at Abercrombie & Fitch Co., an American Eagle competitor, have been similar over the same period.

Trump said in his post that Sweeney is “a registered Republican.” While the actress hasn’t spoken about her political affiliation, public records show a person with her name and birthday registered to vote as a Republican in Florida in 2024.

— With assistance from Matt Townsend.