• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

2

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

3

Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds

1

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

2

Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998

3

Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
FinanceKamala Harris

Which industries will thrive—or be in the crosshairs—in a Biden-Harris administration, according to analysts

Anne Sraders
By
Anne Sraders
Anne Sraders
Down Arrow Button Icon
Anne Sraders
By
Anne Sraders
Anne Sraders
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 13, 2020, 10:16 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The speculation is over.

With Joe Biden’s announcement of his vice president pick, Kamala Harris, investors now have a clear picture of the Democratic ticket for 2020. And according to Wells Fargo Investment Institute’s senior global market strategist Sameer Samana, that’s helped take a little tail risk off the table.

“If [Biden] had gone with, let’s say, an Elizabeth Warren, who would have been viewed as much more, call it, ‘anti-financials’ [and] a little bit more on the regulatory front, that would have been seen as a negative,” he tells Fortune. “What the Harris pick does is it maybe trims the tail just a little bit in terms of, ‘Now that we know it’s Harris, and we know it’s not someone who was anchoring the progressive wing of the party, some of that tail risk has been removed.’”

While Harris’s appointment as running mate does put to bed the possibility of a far more progressive ticket, in general, “vice presidential candidates rarely have a significant impact on financial markets,” UBS Global Wealth Management’s head of Americas fixed income Thomas McLoughlin wrote in a note Tuesday. “We do not expect the U.S. equity or fixed-income markets to react abruptly to the selection because the choice was adequately telegraphed as a real possibility for weeks,” he writes.

But that doesn’t mean investors aren’t pondering what a Biden-Harris administration might look like—and which industries might be most sensitive to the duo’s proposed policies.

For months analysts have been positing what Biden may mean for stocks (JPMorgan, for one, suggested he could be a positive for markets). But perhaps the headline concern for those on Wall Street (and corporate America) is Biden’s resolve to raise corporate taxes.

Yet analysts at JPMorgan wrote in July that the “headline risk might be greater than actual policy,” and Samana concedes a massive tax hike is unlikely to happen (at least anytime soon) “while there’s still an overall sluggishness to the economy.”

Some industries that might actually be impacted by a Biden-Harris ticket, though, include pharmaceuticals. At this point, Medicare for All is pretty much off the table, but President Trump’s fight to lower drug prices will likely be carried on by a President Biden, Samana suggests, meaning potential headwinds for Big Pharma.

Meanwhile, although tech has been a hot-button industry as of late, with continued calls for more crackdowns on privacy and regulation, Biden’s choice in Harris might actually be good for Big Tech. As Fortune‘s Jeff Roberts recently reported, with Harris’s ties to Silicon Valley and seemingly toothless calls to break up tech, “Harris is infinitely preferable to the tech industry than Biden’s other choices, as well as the Trump administration, which has attacked Silicon Valley relentlessly,” Roberts writes.  

Samana also notes a Biden-Harris presidency would mean “a pendulum swing back a little bit more toward the progressive side” and points out energy and environment-sensitive industries would likely be in the crosshairs. “If you’re an old-school energy company, things are probably only going to get harder for you. If you’re more oriented toward solar, wind, or electric vehicles, then you could see how government policies kind of tilt in your favor,” he notes.

Indeed, analysts at JPMorgan wrote in July that stocks like Tesla, Nikola, and FirstSolar are poised to be outperformers during a Democratic reign, while oil and gas producers like Apache and Pioneer Natural Resources may underperform.

Meanwhile, raising minimum wage to $15 per hour (an item long on Biden’s platform) could be a negative in the eyes of Wall Street, Samana suggests, as it could mean a “hit [to] corporate profitability” that “would possibly spook financial markets.” And while analysts at JPMorgan wrote a higher minimum wage might be a “neutral to positive” for S&P 500 companies, especially health care and tech, it “could create additional stress between companies that are able to absorb higher wages vs. those with lower pricing power/scale,” with stocks like Macy’s, Marriott International, and Kroger likely to lag. But on the flip side, Samana points out a hike in wages could also “be offset by greater consumer confidence and consumption.”

While it remains to be seen how campaign promises and policies actually shake out (and how they might impact investors), strategists like Samana note the finalized ticket “continues the understanding that a President Biden would be kind of a return to the political norms that existed prior to a Trump presidency,” he suggests. “The Harris pick further cements that.”

About the Author
Anne Sraders
By Anne Sraders
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

Chad Hurley and Steven Chen wearing suits
SuccessWealth
YouTube’s founders split over $650 million when they sold to Google in 2006—had they held out, they could have taken a slice of $550 billion
By Preston ForeJuly 3, 2026
13 hours ago
Photo: Paris, france
Environmentclimate change
Brutal heatwave in France is killing 2,000 people per week, undertakers are overwhelmed, and health agency says there’s worse to come
By John Leicester and The Associated PressJuly 3, 2026
13 hours ago
Photo: World Cup fans drinking.
EconomyEconomics
On Wall Street, analysts increasingly don’t believe the U.S. government’s ‘misleading’ job numbers
By Jim EdwardsJuly 3, 2026
16 hours ago
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters after signing an executive order dealing with automobile repairs with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in the Oval Office at the White House on June 29, 2026 in Washington, DC.
EconomyFed
Trump is already causing a headache for his new Fed chairman, saying the central bank’s board is ‘hostile’ and ‘doing the wrong thing’
By Eleanor PringleJuly 3, 2026
17 hours ago
A $75 billion valuation, 75 million global customers and on its way to America—Revolut is London’s disruptor extraordinaire
EuropeLetter from London
A $75 billion valuation, 75 million global customers and on its way to America—Revolut is London’s disruptor extraordinaire
By Kamal AhmedJuly 3, 2026
17 hours ago
Man in a black hat and jacket
InvestingSpace Exploration
Elon Musk can’t sell a single SpaceX share for a year—and then all the locks crack open at once
By Amanda GerutJuly 3, 2026
17 hours ago

Most Popular

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
Law
Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
1 day ago
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
AI
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 3, 2026
20 hours ago
Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
Economy
Economists have found an answer to slowing cognitive decline: Avoid retiring early, study finds
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 2, 2026
1 day ago
On Wall Street, analysts increasingly don’t believe the U.S. government’s 'misleading' job numbers
Economy
On Wall Street, analysts increasingly don’t believe the U.S. government’s 'misleading' job numbers
By Jim EdwardsJuly 3, 2026
16 hours ago
$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time—he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch
Success
$25 billion CEO says one-hour interviews are a waste of time—he puts candidates through six hours of tests and wants them to order wine at lunch
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 3, 2026
20 hours ago
Current price of oil as of July 2, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 2, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 2, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.