How tariffs swiftly became one of the biggest issues for Corporate America, in one chart
The macroeconomic environment is “dynamic,” “volatile” and “uncertain,” company executives say.
As earnings season for the first quarter of this year comes to a close, something has become abundantly clear: tariffs are an active curveball and executives are finding very creative ways to describe it.
President Trump’s on-again, off-again trade policies have made it difficult for companies to plan ahead, with some companies declining to give guidance because why spend time projecting something under circumstances that are almost guaranteed to change shortly after your earnings report, or even during the earnings call. Mentions of the word “tariffs” in earnings calls skyrocketed this quarter, data from FactSet shows.
While it’s the decisions of one government that these executives are referring to, you’ll often hear it referred to as the “macroeconomic environment” being “uncertain,” “dynamic,” or “volatile.” It’s wild times we’re living in and it can be hard to translate that into sterile corporate jargon, but that didn’t stop Corporate America from trying.
Here are some of the most valiant attempts we spotted this quarter:
“Our businesses remained resilient in the midst of increasingly dynamic and complex geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions in the first quarter. As we look ahead, we expect more volatility and uncertainty, particularly related to global trade developments, which we expect will increase our supply chain costs.” — PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta
“Before moving to our financial guidance, I want to acknowledge the dynamic macro environment and note that our range reflects the potential for a wider set of outcomes.” — Meta CFO Susan Li
“We delivered modest organic sales and EPS growth this quarter in a challenging and volatile consumer and geopolitical environment.” — P&G CEO Jon Moeller
“Despite the challenging and unpredictable macro environment, our first-quarter results demonstrate the staying power of our strategies and resiliency in our model.” — Wingstop CEO Michael Skipworth
“Tesla is not immune to sort of the macro demand for cars. So, when there is economic uncertainty, people generally want to pause on buying, doing a major capital purchase like a car. But as far as absent macro issues, we don’t see any reduction in demand.” — Tesla CEO Elon Musk
“I mean we’re obviously not immune to the macro environment... And maybe to zoom out, I would say we have a lot of experience in managing through uncertain times, and we focus on helping our customers by providing deep insights into changing consumer behavior that is relevant to their business.” — Google CEO Sundar Pichai
