The most surprising winner in the stock market following Donald Trump's surprise win to become president-elect may be the New York Times Co.
Since Trump won the election, shares of the company are up more than 9 percent as of Friday's close, and it was up 2 percent in early trading Monday.
This is surprising for a few reasons.
1. The Times newspaper was loudly wrong about the chances of a Trump presidency, with its data journalism unit declaring with near certainty that Trump would lose. This inaccurate read on the outcome would seemingly ding its credibility.
2. The fundamentals of the Times as a business remain shaky. On Nov. 2, the company reported revenue was down 1 percent on a year-over-year basis in the third quarter, with ad revenue down 8 percent. Net income was down 97 percent.
3. Trump repeatedly attacked the newspaper during the election and has shown no signs of letting up. In the first weekend since becoming president-elect, Donald Trump spent some of his down time tweeting out complaints about the Times:
Typically, investing in a company that is in the cross hairs of the president is a bad idea. (Even so with presidential hopefuls: Just look at how pharma stocks cratered during the election every time Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders said something bad about them.)
In this case, however, Trump's antagonism towards the Times might be good for business.
In response to Trump, the Times' PR department said it was experiencing a "surge in new subscriptions, print & digital," with trends looking "4X better than normal."
In a twist, the Times might be for Trump what Smith & Wesson has been for President Barack Obama.
Many people were fearful Obama would win restrictive gun legislation and rushed out to buy guns, pushing Smith & Wesson to all-time highs. (Since Trump won, Smith & Wesson has cratered.)
Maybe people are worried Trump is going to restrict the Times in some way and are thus rushing out to buy subscriptions to the Times as a sign of support for the publication.