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7 Top CEOs Speak Their Mind on President Trump

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It is not only through his presidential policy that is setting everyone in the corporate world on their toes, but being featured on President Donald Trump’s Twitter is also what many companies try to avoid.

“CEOs have not seen this much attention, as they have in the last three months in eight years under President Obama. In one sense, they love it, having so called the Business Policy Counsel,” said Bill George, a faculty at Harvard business School and a CNBC Contributor, in a CNBC report. “But on the other hand, they are all afraid of his tweets.  They want to kind of carry favor and many of them are stepping forward.”

Here are some CEOs that mentioned President Trump either in their conference calls regarding their Q4 earnings or interviews with the press.

American Electric Power (AEP - Free Report) – Nicholas K. Akins

“President Trump’s focus of enhancing the ability for manufacturing industries to thrive and produce jobs, well, that’s AEP’s service territory. His Focus on a balanced portfolio of energy resources, including fossil fuels, that’s also AEP’s service territory. So as I said before the election, whether focused on the Clean Power Plan as in Hillary Clinton’s proposals or President Trump’s proposals, AEP should prosper…”

AEP’s stock surged momentarily after the release of Q4 earnings on Jan. 26, 2017. The company has seen an increase of 1.83% to $63.79 per share. AEP is currently down 0.54% since the market opened this morning. American Electric Power is a public utility holding company and is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Boeing (BA - Free Report) – Dennis A. Muilenburg

President Trump’s clearly very focused on enacting policies that will grow the U.S. economy and grow American jobs, and we’re very supportive of that. So I’m encouraged by his engagement. His approach to engaging business, having an open dialogue, discussing the issues, finding solutions, finding ways to grow U.S. manufacturing jobs I think are all very positive. And that engagement is a productive approach. We welcome it. We’ve got a voice at the table.

Boeing, a major aerospace firm that operates in commercial airplanes, military aircraft and space, was one of the companies that President Trump blasted on Twitter.

 

The company is currently up 0.72% at $169.72 per share. Boeing had also just won a $13.8 billion deal from Singapore Airline by looking to provide 39 long-range aircraft to the airline. Boeing is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

CME Group (CME - Free Report) – Terrence A. Duffy

“I also think what’s interesting for 2017 is… some of the European elections that we’re going to see in 2017. As you know, we get a tremendous amount of revenue coming out of Europe. And that is something that, with the elections coming up, I believe in Germany and France this year both, it could be another volatile situation. I’m not saying it’s going to be the same as when President Trump was elected, but that’s something that we could look at. So I think geopolitical volatility could be definitely in the mix…”

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings is the largest futures exchange in the U.S. based on notional value, trading volume and open interest. The company is currently at $121.33 per share after a 0.26%% increase since the opening of the market. CME also announced an increase of 10% to $0.66 on their dividend for Q1. CME is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank.

Chevron (CVX - Free Report) – John S. Watson

“First, in an overall sense, I’ve been very pleased with the agenda that the Trump administration has. We have seen an avalanche of regulation over the last decade, and putting a much more balanced cost/benefit framework in place to assess the value those regulations, freeing up infrastructure pipelines, all of that is quite positive for our business, for the country, job creation, and a lot of things. So that is very much a positive.”

Chevron, the energy company, is regaining after a slight fall towards the end of January 2017.  The company is currently at $112.75 with a 0.2% increase. Chevron is a Zack Ranks #3 (Hold).

Lockheed Martin (LMT - Free Report) Marillyn A. Hewson

Basically, President Trump recognizes that the F-35 is a very large program, it’s the largest program in the Department of Defense. He wants to make … that the American taxpayer is getting the lowest possible cost on the program. And we understand his concerns about affordability, we certainly share that… And it’s not about slashing our profit, it’s not about our margins when we have those discussions

Lockheed Martin Corp., a global advanced-technology enterprise, started the first half of the market with $0.10 increase at $262.66. Germany is likely to move forward with Lockheed Martin on setting up a joint fleet of transport planes with France this week, Reuter reported. The deal could spend up costing 1 billion euros.  LMT is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Nucor (NUE - Free Report) – John J. Ferriola

“We are very encouraged by their discussion about a strong infrastructure bill. Both President Trump and Senator Brown (Democratic) are speaking about something significant in the neighborhood of about $1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. That has a significant impact on steel consumption.”

Nucor Corporation is a steel manufacturer and seller. Nucor’s stock is up more than 2% to $64.39 per share since the opening of the market. Morgan Stanley analyst Evan Kurtz expected Trump’s administration to apply tariffs on Chinese steel, which Nucor will benefit. Nucor is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Under Armour (UAA - Free Report) - Kevin Plank

In an interview with CNBC, Plank described President Trump as a “real asset” to U.S. Companies. The top athlete of UAA, Stephen Curry, has stepped out and criticized the CEO on his remark. The company is currently at $21.68 with a 0.35% decrease.  Under Armour missed their 2016 Q4 revenue estimate. The company reported $1.3 billion while the Zack Consensus Estimate was $1.4 billion.

Under Armour is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Wynn Resort (WYNN - Free Report) - Stephen Alan

“Several of us in our business were sitting within 30 feet of President Trump when he took his oath of office on the platform last Friday. We all believe, and I mean all of us, that the most overwhelmingly important event geopolitically for the next 50 years is liaison, a constructive liaison between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America. That truth is undeniable. That dynamic is unquestioned.”

Wynn Resorts Limited remained flat today with a slight growth of 0.44% to $98.11. The potential tariff on Chinese imports could hurt the companies that operate casino and resort in China as the revenue generated oversea is a significant amount of total revenue. In Wynn’s earnings, 46% of revenue was generated in China. Wynn Resort is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).


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