Supporters call it the Big, Beautiful Boycott: the ongoing movement to call foul on the 47th U.S. president, whether he acknowledges it or not.
The same goes for the companies being boycotted; there’s not much evidence that business boycotts have a long-lasting impact. But for the C-suite, at least, it’s not much fun having strangers demanding penance for supporting a politician’s moves.
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That’s not to say Trump shouldn’t expect boycotts, as he often takes an unconventional approach to communicating his messages and steals the spotlight as a result.
“The president inflicts market instabilities due to his off-the-script comments and social media posts,” says Ashley Brundage, CEO at Empowering Differences and a former DEI officer at PNC Bank. “This is part of his approach in governing as global instabilities increase his own market holdings through his and his family’s business holdings.”
Trump sometimes shares a spotlight with companies that have rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion policies, or made commitments that are politically aligned on public policy. “That list includes household names such as Target, Home Depot, Amazon, Walmart, Tesla, Spotify, Meta (and) Palantir, as well as the fossil fuel/oil and gas sector, various weapons-producing companies, and other large tech and retail firms that have scaled back DEI programs (and) are all under scrutiny as they navigate political pressures,” says Kristin Hull, founder and chief investment officer at Nia Impact Capital, an asset management firm.
How are political protests and consumer boycotts faring in mid-2026? Here’s a snapshot of seven stocks tied to companies viewed by Trump’s critics as ripe for blacklisting and boycotting by vocal protesters:
— Tesla Inc. (ticker: TSLA)
— Target Corp. (TGT)
— Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
— Walmart Inc. (WMT)
— Home Depot Inc. (HD)
— Starbucks Corp. (SBUX)
— Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR)
Tesla Inc. (TSLA)
Trump or no Trump, no company has become more politically polarizing than Tesla, and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX), CEO Elon Musk’s newly minted IPO powerhouse, isn’t far behind.
The electric vehicle maker became a target of boycotts after Musk assumed a prominent advisory role in the Trump administration and helped oversee government spending cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Not helping matters is Musk’s SpaceX IPO haul, which made him Earth’s first trillionaire and did not sit well with the anti-capitalist crowd.
“Elon Musk’s rise to trillionaire status marks a new pinnacle of oligarchy and a dark day for democracy. But this moment of dramatically concentrated wealth was not inevitable. Musk will be a government-backed trillionaire whose fortune was fueled by an era of regressive public policy choices, decisions rigged by a tiny few to fuel their fortunes and overwhelmingly supported by political leaders,” says Nabil Ahmed, senior director of economic justice at Oxfam America.
Yet Tesla and SpaceX’s shareholders aren’t protesting — not after the former has returned over 32% in share gains over the past year and the latter, trading at $160 right now, has a consensus $240 share price target from analysts.
That’s not moving protesters off the soapbox. Many naysayers have spent 2026 arguing that Musk wields too much political influence while simultaneously leading one of America’s largest public companies. Organized demonstrations took place at Tesla dealerships across the country, while activist groups encouraged consumers to delay vehicle purchases or sell their Teslas. Trump has publicly defended Musk, even purchasing a Tesla at the White House to show support.
Year-to-date performance: -6.5% One-year performance: 32.4%
Target Corp. (TGT)
Next to the Musk stocks, Target has arguably become the highest-profile retail boycott of Trump’s second term.
That campaign, sometimes referred to as the “Target Fast,” lasted more than a year before organizers declared it largely complete in March, when the company reaffirmed its commitments to diversity initiatives and community investment. Some are still holding the company accountable, though, claiming management hasn’t made any actual changes.
In early 2025, the big-box retailer faced a boycott backlash after scaling back several DEI initiatives, including workforce diversity goals and supplier diversity programs. Critics argued the company retreated from commitments it made following the social justice movement of 2020, while supporters said Target was simply adapting to a changing legal and political environment.
Rev. Jamal Bryant, is a faith leader who launched the original Target boycott, organized nationwide boycotts and encouraged shoppers to spend their money elsewhere during last year’s season of Lent. Bryant recently said he’s satisfied that Target’s ongoing Belonging program “is the exact same thing” as DEI.
Target shares are now outperforming, and their price is up 36% in 2026 as of June 30.
YTD performance: 36% One-year performance: 37%
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
Amazon has become a recurring Trump-linked boycott target, with consumer activists citing founder Jeff Bezos’ increasingly cordial relationship with the president as the leading reason. Protests heated up after Bezos’ donations to Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 and after some of the Magnificent Seven giant’s labor practices and scaling back of DEI initiatives.
Some have argued that Amazon’s size and market dominance make it an effective target for consumers seeking to send an economic message. That’s led to protesters lashing out with a “Boycott the Bezos Met Gala” campaign last April in New York, targeting Bezos and his wife’s posts as honorary co-hosts of the gala. Leading up to the event, the advocacy group Everyone Hates Elon stoked the protest fires with posters throughout New York City that criticized Amazon’s ties to Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) via Amazon Web Services.
YTD performance: 3.3% One-year performance: 8.6%
Walmart Inc. (WMT)
America’s largest retailer, which has an $861 billion market cap as of mid-2026, has also been swept into the broader anti-Trump consumer movement, for similar reasons that boycotts targeted Amazon.
In particular, Walmart felt the wrath of protesters and boycotters due to ICE enforcement at parking lots adjacent to Walmart stores. The boycotts gained steam in Los Angeles earlier this year, as immigrant-rights coalitions linked boycott calls to high-profile ICE enforcement activity they said was happening in multiple Walmart locations in and around the city, referred to by some as “enforcement hotspots.”
In March, Walmart heiress Christy Walton entered the fray with a New York Times full-page advertisement urging the Trump administration to release undocumented immigrants being held by ICE who don’t have a criminal record. A digital version of the ad cited a 2025 Cato Institute study claiming that 73% of people in ICE custody since October 2025 had no prior criminal record. Walton has steered about $500,000 into conservative anti-Trump political action committees (PACs) in recent years and publicly backed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
YTD performance: 2.1% One-year performance: 16.8%
[Read: 8 Top Nancy Pelosi Stocks to Buy]
Home Depot Inc. (HD)
Like Walmart and Amazon, Home Depot has angered immigrant-rights groups, leading to boycott efforts over ICE raids at company locations throughout 2026, with the Los Angeles area as a particular hot spot. The advocacy group Boycott Home Depot has led the way, urging consumers to cancel their Home Depot credit cards and shopping accounts, and to “adopt a day labor center” on the group’s website.
Home Depot denies taking sides in the ICE debate, issuing a statement: “We ask associates to report any suspected immigration enforcement operations immediately and not to engage for their own safety.” The note goes on to say, “We aren’t notified that immigration enforcement activities are going to happen, and we aren’t involved in them. In many cases, we don’t know that arrests have taken place until after they’re over. We’re required to follow all federal and local rules and regulations in every market where we operate.”
The boycott followed another Home Depot protest, the People’s Union-led boycott launched in July 2025 over the company’s dismantling of its DEI program earlier that year. John Schwarz, founder of the People’s Union, accused Home Depot of distancing itself from DEI efforts.
With a market cap of $355 billion as of June 30, Home Depot isn’t suffering from the boycotts, but its 2026 share price has underperformed, largely due to expanded macroeconomic trends, including high interest rates and lower housing turnover, which have delayed high-end home-improvement projects.
YTD performance: 3.9% One-year performance: -1.3%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX)
Starbucks has periodically faced consumer boycotts from across the political spectrum for years, but the coffee king has been particularly targeted in several recent anti-Trump consumer campaigns.
From the left, labor organizers like Fight for a Union and the People’s Union have railed against Starbucks’ corporate restructuring, labor disputes and perceived political accommodations. “Starbucks is failing customers,” claimed Fight for a Union in a September 2025 Facebook post. “Starbucks is showing its true colors by aligning with Trump and his billionaire cronies. Tell Starbucks to stop playing politics and focus on fixing the real problems in their stores.”
Labor unions also weren’t happy with Starbucks’ recent decision to close hundreds of stores across the U.S., Canada and Europe in a fiscal turnaround move. Starbucks Workers United, a labor group representing hundreds of stores’ workers, said in a statement that baristas had no input on the decision and that “fixing what’s broken at Starbucks isn’t possible without centering the people who engage with the company’s customers day in and day out.”
SBUX has rebounded in 2026, gaining 23%, driven by robust operational growth. The company expects to post quarterly earnings of 65 cents per share, up 30% from the year-ago quarter.
YTD performance: 22.8% One-year performance: 14.2%
Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR)
Palantir, an artificial intelligence software provider with government clients, has reportedly been partnering with ICE since 2013. Palantir provided ICE with systems, such as its Falcon surveillance system and Investigative Case Management, which the nonprofit American Immigration Council says were used for workplace raids, enforcement operations and investigations into asylum seekers. Boycotters cite multiple issues, including using AI and data mining to help ICE identify, track and deport suspected noncitizens.
Trump’s critics were also reportedly vexed by Palantir’s close ties to GOP funding supernova Peter Thiel, who was influential in Trump’s choice of JD Vance as his running mate back in 2024.
“Palantir’s pattern-finding capabilities have long been central to ICE’s most aggressive tactics, raising concerns that ImmigrationOS could enable similar or expanded practices,” the American Immigration Council stated.
No doubt, PLTR shares are taking a beating in 2026, down 34% year to date. After returning 135% in 2025, 340% in 2024 and 167% in 2023, that’s a big pullback. Still, Wall Street is bullish on the stock, with 14 top analysts calling for a $186 price target, indicating a hefty 60% potential upside.
YTD performance: -34.4% One-year performance: -14.4%
Avoid Making Portfolio Decisions Based on Boycotts
Investors may decide to support companies for personal reasons (or not), but practically speaking, trading on emotion doesn’t have a good track record. The smarter investors trade on fundamentals.
“I personally don’t want to get left in the dust by not choosing to follow the cash,” Brundage says.
There may be some exceptions, like values-based investing, or environmental, social and governance investing, which is no longer fringe. “It’s mainstream,” says Javier Palomarez, founder and CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council. “If an investor believes a company’s political stance jeopardizes its brand equity, talent acquisition or customer loyalty, factoring that into their portfolio is not just rational, it’s responsible.”
However, Palomarez cautions against blanket decisions. “Not every company linked to a polarizing figure is a bad investment, just like not every progressive brand is bulletproof,” he says. “Understand the market, the consumer and the direction of growth, then decide.”
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7 Companies Being Boycotted Over Trump Policies originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 07/01/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
