The stock value of package delivery companies UPS and FedEx jumped Thursday after President Trump said he opposed more funding for the U.S. Postal Service over mail-in voting.
Stocks for UPS and FedEx each shot up by more than $3 shortly after Trump’s comments about not wanting to give additional funding to the Postal Service. The increase on Thursday represents a 1.5% to 2% jump in stock value for each company. Both companies have also had a stock spike since the end of July.
“It’s basic competition 101. If your competitor, a state competitor, is hurt, it’s an advantage for private companies in the same industry,” said Tim Wu, an antitrust professor at Columbia University. “It’s absolutely a boon for UPS and FedEx. It’s doubtlessly helpful to them.”
In an interview with Fox Business on Thursday, Trump criticized a $3.4 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by House Democrats in May, which provided $25 billion for the Postal Service and $3.5 billion in election assistance to states.
“They want $3.5 billion for something that will turn out to be fraudulent,” Trump said. “That’s election money, basically. They want $3.5 billion for the mail-in votes … They want $25 billion — billion — for the post office. Now, they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.”
The Postal Service has been facing other issues recently. In the past few days, there have been severe mail delays in some parts of the country, including Kentucky and Maryland, due to challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and staffing issues.
