American Eagle stock soars after Trump calls actress Sydney Sweeney ad 'hottest'

Thanks to President Donald Trump, the American Eagle-Sydney Sweeney “great jeans” controversy has given way to Wall Street euphoria.

American Eagle shares jumped over 23% on Monday after Trump praised the brand’s new denim ad featuring actress Sydney Sweeney. The campaign — with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans”, sparked controversy online for its wordplay on "genes," with critics accusing it of promoting eugenics.

Trump called the ad the “HOTTEST” on the market and a win against “woke” advertising. Despite the stock bump, American Eagle is still down 21% for the year, facing weak sales and rising tariff costs, reports NBC news. The company maintains the ad is simply about jeans.

The ad campaign uses a play on words to describe Sweeney’s “great genes".

I think Sydney Sweeney looks great in these jeans. Very on trend for this fall too. As far as the play on words, she also has great genes. She’s beautiful and has a great body. American Eagle ad department did nothing wrong and neither did she. The jeans have sold out.… pic.twitter.com/uvtBb3dwHt

— 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘™️ (@CL4WS_OUT) July 29, 2025

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color,” Sweeney says in the ad. “My jeans are blue.”

In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the “HOTTEST” ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are “flying off the shelves.” Go get ‘em Sydney! On the other side of the ledger, Jaguar did a stupid, and seriously WOKE advertisement, THAT IS A TOTAL DISASTER! The CEO just resigned in disgrace, and the company is in absolute turmoil. Who wants to buy a Jaguar after looking at that disgraceful ad. Shouldn’t they have learned a lesson from Bud Lite, which went Woke and essentially destroyed, in a short campaign, the Company. The market cap destruction has been unprecedented, with BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SO FOOLISHLY LOST. Or just look at Woke singer Taylor Swift. Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!). She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT. The tide has seriously turned — Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

And while Trump’s words are boosting the company’s stock, his trade policies have threatened its profit margins.

Chief Financial Officer Michael Mathias told investors on an earnings call in May that tariffs would cost the company $40 million as it tries to mitigate their impacts, says the report.