It hurts the shareholders of Vestas and Ørsted that the incoming US president, Donald Trump, announced on Tuesday evening Danish time a halt to new wind turbines on American territory and at the same time threatened punitive tariffs on Danish goods if Greenland does not become part of the US. The two green shares are trading on Monday morning around five percent lower than at the close of trading on Tuesday.
According to Jacob Pedersen, head of equity research at Sydbank, there is a direct causal connection between Trump's statements and the price drops.
- It is already known that Trump is not a fan of wind energy, but investors are nervous, and therefore such news often leads to a strong reaction in the market. And it has been given an extra boost this time in that he not only thunders against wind turbines, but also specifically at Denmark and mentions a punitive tariff on Danish goods, he estimates.
However, he is a little surprised that the price drops are as big as they are.
- The shares have already fallen a lot since Trump became president, and therefore the price should already reflect a new and grimmer reality for the companies, he says.
Tariffs will not hit Vestas and Ørsted
That the reaction may also be too strong is underlined by the fact that a possible tariff on Danish goods will probably not mean much to the two companies.
- The largest Danish companies - including Vestas - have a production setup in the US, which means that they can supply the US market without having to import components or goods from Denmark. That is also why Novo Nordisk is actually rising today. But underneath the top layer are a lot of small and medium-sized companies that export to the US, and they risk being hit by this, he says.
In November 2023, Ørsted decided to drop two planned offshore wind projects in the US, partly due to delayed deliveries and rising interest rates. However, the company has several other US projects under development, and Ørsted also operates the Block Island Wind Farm and South Fork Wind offshore wind farms on the US east coast.
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