U.S. Brands Lose Over $740 Billion in Stock Value Amid Surging Anti-American Sentiment

April 21, 3:44 pm

President Donald Trump's tariff policies and trade wars have fueled a wave of anti-American sentiment. Since the start of the year, America's reputation has plunged in 38 out of 42 nations polled worldwide, with consumer markets in Canada and Europe seeing some of the biggest declines. However, the growing hostility has also sparked a significant backlash against American brands, causing them massive reputational and financial blows.

According to data presented by AltIndex.com, the seven U.S. brands the worst hit by this backlash have lost a staggering $740 billion in stock value in just a month and a half.

Stock Losses Near the Size of Switzerland's Economy

America's plunging reputation amid Donald Trump's trade wars is becoming a heavy burden for the U.S. brands. Since Trump took office in January, the average net favorability of the United States has fallen by roughly 20 points worldwide, with consumers across the countries boycotting U.S. brands in protest. This backlash has already cost U.S. companies a lot, both in money and reputation.

According to an Axios survey based on more than 19 million articles reviewed in 2024, and during the first three months of 2025, 12 out of 16 U.S. brands suffered a sharp drop in global sentiment following President Trump's inauguration.

FedEx, Chevron, and WB/ Discovery were the worst hit, each seeing their global sentiment drop by more than 30% since January. Coca-Cola and Tesla were not far behind, with their sentiment plunging by 28% and 23% in this period, respectively. Statistics show the AI giant Nvidia suffered a considerable 18% decline, followed by Starbucks (-6%) and Amazon (-4%). Walt Disney, Walmart, Google, and Uber were also on the downside, with their global sentiment falling between 1% and 10%.

This widespread reputational damage was followed by a massive stock value drop. According to AltIndex analysis, seven U.S. brands most impacted by the surging anti-American sentiment saw their combined market value plunge by more than $740 billion in just six weeks, a figure close to the GDP of Switzerland.

Tech giants Nvidia, Amazon, and Tesla are the biggest losers, suffering $310 billion, $200 billion, and $125 billion losses in this period, respectively. All other companies in the group saw much smaller losses, with Chevron losing $44.2 billion, Starbucks $36.4 billion, and FedEx and Warner Bros. Discovery shedding around $13 billion each.

Coca-Cola is the Only Exception Among the Losers

Interestingly, Coca-Cola is the only major U.S. brand whose global sentiment dropped while its stock value increased. Since the beginning of the year, the company's sentiment plunged by a massive 28%, the fourth largest decline among the surveyed companies. However, Coca-Cola's stock value jumped by $2 billion over the past month and a half.

On the other hand, only four surveyed U.S. companies saw their global sentiment rise this year, with McDonald's as the absolute leader. Since the beginning of the year, McDonald's sentiment jumped by an impressive 32%, nearly tripling Meta's 11% gain. OpenAI and Apple rounded out the list of winners, posting sentiment increases of 6% and 5%, respectively.

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