A Shoe-Company Stock Is Snagging Headlines. Thank Tariffs—and President Trump

ETHReserveBank · 2026-03-15T02:28:31+00:00

Shares of Weyco, boosted by President Trump's support for its Florsheim brand, rose 10% in March despite a recent decline in sales. The company faces challenges from rising tariffs impacting costs and profit margins.

ETHReserveBank

2026-03-15 02:28:31

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Key Takeaways

Shares of Weyco, which owns a number of shoe brands, has seen its shares rise this month.
Some of that can be attributed to publicity from a powerful corner: President Donald Trump, who is said to be a fan of the company’s Florsheim brand.

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Why have shares of a company called Weyco been hot this month? It’s gotta be the (president’s) shoes.

Milwaukee-based Weyco Group (WEYS), which owns shoe brands like Nunn Bush and Forsake, were up some 10% in March through yesterday’s close. (They’re down today; read Investopedia’s full coverage of Thursday’s trading here.)

Some of that can be attributed to the interest of a particularly powerful shoe shopper: President Donald Trump, who—according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal and shoebox-loads of follow-up coverage—is a fan of the company’s Florsheim brand. Trump, the story goes, not only likes Florsheims himself but routinely shells out his own money to buy them for staffers, commentators and congressmen.

Weyco, shares of which are up about 10% over the past 12 months, could perhaps use the lift. The company earlier this month said fourth-quarter sales fell year over year as the company raised prices and saw lower North American wholesale volume.

Meanwhile, Weyco has recently made headlines for other connections to the White House: It’s among the companies that has sued for tariff rebates.

What Is a Tariff and Why Are They Important?

Supreme Court Blocked Tariffs, Yet Consumers Won’t See Savings

On a conference call earlier this month, a transcript of which was made available by AlphaSense, executives said tariffs led to cost increases of as much as 50% on some products last year, pressing gross margins.

The Supreme Court recently ruled against some Trump administration tariffs, with the path forward for them still in flux. “We’re expecting continued cost uncertainty in 2026,” Weyco CEO Tom Florsheim Jr. said on the call. “We are prepared to continue to adjust our margin and pricing strategy with the goal of maintaining historical margins.”

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