Trump tariffs prompted big market slide. So why did Duke Energy’s stock rise?
The stock market nose-dived Thursday just a day after President Donald Trump announced expansive tariffs on nearly every product imported to the U.S.
It was the single worst day Wall Street has seen since the height of COVID in March 2020. And almost every Fortune 500 company in Charlotte took a hit. Almost.
Amid the turmoil, Duke Energy actually saw an increase in its share price Thursday, ending the day up 3.66 at $124.05. Meanwhile, the other local Fortune 500 companies took a shellacking.
LPL Financial, Lowe’s, and Nucor all saw significant drops in share prices. Bank of America saw one of the steepest drops in percent share change, down 11.06%.
So why did Duke Energy stock go in the opposite direction?
Well for one thing, the utility doesn’t really rely on imported goods to operate. And with the increasing amount of homes Duke Energy serves and the growth of data centers powering A.I., its stock is far more secure, according to Matthew Metzgar, an economics professor at UNC Charlotte.
“The reason all these other stocks were dropping was because a lot of these industries were dependent on imports for raw materials,” Metzgar said. “Duke Energy on the other hand really isn’t dependent that much on imports, so the tariffs aren’t going to have a massive negative effect at least immediately on that… It’s a more stable bet than some of these other companies.”
To be sure, a single day of trading is just a snapshot in time, and there’s no guarantee how Duke Energy shares will fare as the trade war drags on.
Still, Thursday’s bright news for Duke Energy also was a welcome way for the company’s new president and CEO, Harry Sideris, to start his tenure. He succeeded longtime CEO Lynn Good on April 1.
Duke Energy ranks No. 148 on the latest Fortune 500 list of biggest U.S. companies by revenue. The utility company serves 8.4 million customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Duke Energy has more than 26,000 employees, including about 4,500 in its Charlotte headquarters.
Trump tariffs and economic uncertainty
Trump’s tariffs — taxes put on imported and exported international goods — are broad but at the simplest level, a 10% tariff will be placed on all U.S. imports, effective Saturday, April 5.
From there, amounts and dates vary. A 25% tariff was placed on foreign-made cars and parts, which took effect Thursday. Trump imposed an additional 34% levy on Chinese imports, bringing the base tariff rate to 54%.
Canadian and Mexican imports are exempt from the sweeping 10% tariff but there are still 25% tariffs on goods from these countries with the exception of oil and energy products.
All of these have led to economic worry and uncertainty, causing the stock market to tumble.
The S&P 500 fell by 4.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 4% and the Nasdaq saw its highest decline since March 2020 with a 6% decrease.
In early trading Friday, stocks in the U.S. and around the world continued tumbling in the wake of Trump’s tariff moves.
One thing Trump’s tariff plans excludes is some energy products and a variety of minerals and chemicals used in energy and manufacturing. That may be another reason Duke Energy and other energy stocks were spared so far.
“The uncertainty is a huge factor, and again I think that’s one of the reasons analysts went for these energy stocks,” Metzgar said. “Beyond Duke Energy, if you look at the other power companies, Exelon Corp, they’re all high compared to the market...
“At least we know over the next six months that electricity demand is not going anywhere. They’re not dependent on trade and that’s a relatively safe bet.”
But with how Trump’s plans are ever-changing, Metzgar is unsure if anything will remain a safe bet. Even Duke Energy.
When the market closed Friday, it’s share price fell to $118.93, down 4.13% from Thursday’s closing price.
Observer business editor Adam Bell contributed to this report
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 11:18 AM.
