7 Great All-American Stocks

These companies do most of their business at home and stand to benefit from the Trump administration’s initiatives.

- Tom Petruno

Since president Donald Trump’s surprise victory in November, Wall Street has been scrambling to identify businesses that have the most to gain under the new administration. The stock market’s broad advance to record highs suggests that investors saw winners almost everywhere they looked. But as Trump’s “America First” themes translate into actual policies, it should become clearer which companies could be the biggest beneficiaries.

We went hunting for potential America First stocks, using several criteria. To start, we wanted companies that derive the vast majority of their sales domestically and stand to do well if Trump makes good on his promise to sharply boost U.S. economic growth.

Then we looked for businesses that would benefit from specific Trump themes—for example, ramping up job creation and stoking wage growth, which could spur consumer spending; increasing outlays for infrastructure projects; and promoting U.S. exports. Other considerations included Trump’s pledge to cut corporate tax rates and his vow to eliminate what he considers excessive business regulation.

We came up with seven companies that we think qualify as great America First investment ideas. Three major caveats: First, there’s no guarantee that Trump’s policies will emerge as promised. Second, even if they do, there’s no assurance that they will work as touted—unintended consequences could turn some likely business winners into stunned losers. Third, record high stock prices may already reflect much of any bump in the profitability of America First companies.

That said, here are our seven picks (share prices are as of February 28; for more data, see the table on page 60).