Donald Trump’s victory was a engine so that the progression of American stocks continues. Investor euphoria has supported further increases in Wall Street’s main indexes and many of their companies, as in the case of automakers, which have risen 36% since the election, boosted by the spectacular rise of Tesla, which is close to the 40%. % since the elections. But not all sectors are experiencing this post-election period on the stock market in the same way, since Companies linked to pharmaceutical production see their prices contract by 8% on average since the nomination of Americans to the polls. We must not forget Trump’s decision to appoint the famous anti-vaccine Robert F. Kennedy Jr. secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, in its acronym in English).
Pharmaceutical companies are taking the biggest hit in US stocks due to uncertainty about their future with Trump at the helm of the White House. From Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management they specify that the markets continue “waiting for Senate approval” for this Trump signaturebut that “they did not seem convinced, because the candidate believes that vaccines are dangerous and also wants to limit the prices of expensive drugs.” And John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s nephew has been very outspoken, not only with his anti-vaccine stance over the years, but also with his criticism of the pharmaceutical industrywhich is of particular concern to investors.
American economist and columnist Bloomberg, Tyler Cowen points out that there has been a lot of talk about the damage this future secretary could cause to public health, but that, on the other hand, “HE said very little about the economic damage this could cause at the head of one of the most important branches of the administrative state.” And it is that “health expenditure represents more than 17% of the American economy“, argues the economist.
Retail and biotechnology
This has led investors to reduce their exposure to health-related companies. of the main American stock market benchmark. Inside the S&P500the sector dedicated to retail pharmacies, the S&P 500 Drug Retail Index, is the one who has seen his fall the most quote since polling stations openedwith the S&P 500 Biotechnology Indexbecause market doubts particularly concern these two areas.
The reference following the retail of drugs have fallen by 11% over the last eighteen days. Note that in this selective ranking of the 500 largest companies in the United States There is only one company dedicated to retailwhich is Walgreens Boots Alliance.
At the same time, the biotechnology index fell by almost 10% during this period, driven in particular by the bleeding who lives modern. The vaccine producer has fallen 29% since Election Day; It is the most bearish of all its counterparts. Next comes AbbVie, the research subsidiary of the Abbot group, which recorded a drop of 14.3%, while Amgen And Biogenic they lost 8.9% and 8.5% respectively.
However, the price of the S&P pharmaceutical wholesale group has increased by 12.6% in almost three weeks, one of the rare exceptions within the sector. Another index that is recording increases is that of health equipment, which adds 2% to the stock market.
Coming back to the declines, they also affect, to a lesser extent, the healthcare establishment index and the S&P Pharm index. He the sector dedicated to medical care loses 8%considering the fall of its two main companies, HCA Healthcare, down 8.4% these days, and Universal Health Services, down 5.4%. He pharmaceutical index accumulates declines of 4%which softened after touching 6%, despite the fact that the main companies in the sector are with their prices colored of red: Pfizer falls 9.5%, Eli Lilly gives up 7%while Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson lost 2%. Viatris and Bristol-Myers stand out from the declines, adding 16% and 5% to their prices since the election.
Piper Sandler analyst David Ansellem says Robert Kennedy “clearly believes that the relationship between industry and government is corrupt” and interprets that the new HHS secretary will “essentially attempt to give a hammer for the regulatory ecosystem that has contributed to the vast and productive biopharmaceutical R&D ecosystem” in the United States. Furthermore, Ansellem believes that “the sector risks remaining under pressure as long as this appointment is at stake”.
The issue that primarily concerns the Piper Sandler expert is “consumption taxes, which have been a topic of particular interest to RFK Jr. in recent years, “and what they mean for Ansellem.”one of the most important regulatory innovations in the history of the biopharmaceutical space“, which made it possible to achieve “significant stability and a certain level of transparency in the process of reviewing drugs before their introduction.”
In Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s CV, he emphasized for his role in defending the environmentnotably for his fight to clean up the Hudson River. Although he is now more recognized for his conspiracy theories, ranging from vaccination causing autism to the ineffectiveness of fluoride in protecting dental health. Added to this is that he is the founder and president of Children’s Health Defense, a non-governmental organization that campaigns not only against vaccines, but also against pharmaceutical companies and 5G networks, among other causes.
In Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s CV, he emphasized for his role in defending the environmentnotably for his fight to clean up the Hudson River. Although he is now more recognized for his conspiracy theories, ranging from vaccination causing autism to the ineffectiveness of fluoride in protecting dental health. Added to this is that he is the founder and president of Children’s Health Defense, a non-governmental organization that campaigns not only against vaccines, but also against pharmaceutical companies and 5G networks, among other causes.
These are precisely the same messages that he has been defending since his presidential candidacy for Democratic Party in 2023. This year, he split from his family’s flagship party and became an independent candidate, although it wasn’t until August that he moved closer to Trump, leading him to renounce going to the polls to support the candidacy of the business magnate. His political speech focused on eradicating the “chronic disease epidemic” in the United States, according to Kennedy himself, and that will be the goal of your project”Making America Healthy Again“(Make America Healthy), Your Way.
