(Yahoo Finance) – Shares in renewable energy firms plunged after Donald Trump won a second term as president of the United States on a platform that promises to boost fossil fuels and undo the green agenda of his predecessor.
US clean energy stocks suffered in pre-market trading in New York, especially solar firms. Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NOVA) was down more than 23%, while First Solar Inc (FSLR). and green hydrogen equipment maker Plug Power Inc. (PLUG) each fell around 14%.
“Trump back in the White House is not what any clean energy company in the US would want,” said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James.
The president-elect has vowed to take aim at US offshore wind efforts as one of his first measures after taking office. While campaigning, he also promised to lift restrictions on domestic fossil-fuel production, and said he plans a wide array of tariffs on imported goods. That could drive up inflation and eventually lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, making renewable investments more expensive.
At the same time, while Molchanov expects that higher tariffs on imported solar panels would hurt US companies in the sector, he doesn’t see Trump or the Republicans getting rid of clean energy tax and investment credits since they are widely appreciated.
“I’m pretty optimistic about the carrots staying in place no matter what,” he said.
Across the Atlantic, Danish wind firms Orsted A/S and Vestas Wind Systems A/S also slid, as did Germany’s RWE AG and Italy’s Enel SpA.
“The world has changed in the past 24-hours,” Rob West, chief executive officer at research company Thunder Said Energy, wrote in an emailed note. “Momentum behind many energy transition themes has been slowing in 2024. It is now harder to see a re-acceleration.”
A second Trump term would be a stark contrast to the presidency of Joe Biden, who set an aggressive target to decarbonize the country’s power grid, vowed to reach 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 and introduced sweeping climate legislation that favored renewable energy sources.
Citigroup Inc. analyst Jenny Ping said in a note that she sees offshore wind “potentially more at risk” compared to other renewable technologies. Such farms require federal approvals and are particularly vulnerable to executive action. It’s still possible that the renewable power industry could expand significantly under Trump, as it did during his first term in office.
“We expect to see initial sentiment hit across the renewable sector, but expect this to be short-lived as market would likely take this as a buying opportunity for stocks that already reflect little in way of growth,” Ping said.
(Updates with analyst comments from third paragraph.)
