NEW: Q4 Earnings Reports Reveal Trump’s Tariffs Hiked Prices and Forced Consumers To Cut Back on Spending Arrow

The earnings reports are another sign of Trump's K-shaped economy, with low-income consumers cutting back on spending

Major American companies, including Target, Best Buy, Burlington, and Walmart, expressed continued skepticism about Donald Trump's economy in their Q4 earnings reports, pointing to his reckless tariffs and resulting inflation. Companies said that low-income consumers in particular cut back on spending, while spending among high-income consumers continued - underlining the growing divide between working families and the wealthy elites in Trump's economy.

During earnings calls, executives expressed uncertainty about Trump's trade war, including his most recent actions after the Supreme Court ruled his tariffs illegal, with no signs of easing uncertainty in 2026.

Here's what business executives told their investors during their Q4 and end of year earnings calls:

Companies lamented that they were forced to raise prices because of Trump's tariffs.

Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle: "We continue to evaluate and have taken actions to mitigate the financial impact of tariffs through a combination of price increases, vendor negotiations, resourcing production, and other tactics. For both Spring 2026 and Fall 2026, we increased U.S. pricing by a high-single digit percent. When combined with our other mitigation tactics, our goal in 2026 is to offset the dollar impact of higher tariffs."

Walmart CFO John David Rainey: "We've worked hard to mitigate grocery inflation. As tariff related costs lifted prices across many categories."

Executives say consumers are hesitant to make big ticket purchases, and saw evidence of a K-shaped economy, with low-income consumers cutting back on spending.

BJ's CEO Robert W. Eddy: "Throughout the year, we navigated a dynamic environment marked by a more cautious, value-seeking consumer, tariff-related and geopolitical uncertainties, and broader macroeconomic volatility."

Walmart CEO John Furner: "[T]his quarter, the majority of our share gains came from households making more than $100,000. For households earning below $50,000, we continue to see that wallets are stretched. And in some cases, people are managing spending paycheck to paycheck."

McDonald's CEO Christopher Kempczinski: "[W]e've seen traffic hold up pretty well with upper income consumers and traffic has been pressured with lower income consumers. And of course, lower income consumers are more value and affordability sensitive…But certainly, the expectation for the balance of '26 is that, that low-income consumer is going to continue to be under pressure."

Companies said they pulled back "ambitious sales plans" to mitigate the impact of Trump's tariffs, with little expectations of uncertainty easing in 2026.

Burlington CEO Michael O'Sullivan: "[L]ast year we started out with ambitious sales plans in our home businesses, but we had to shelve those plans in response to tariffs."

BJs CEO Robert W. Eddy: "[W]e had a tougher quarter in our home and seasonal businesses. Those were more subject to tariffs. That is where much of our inventory cuts happened, and those two businesses had negative comps."

Target CEO Michael Fiddelke: "A lot of variables moving on the tariff front, obviously. I think that, you know, that we step into 2026 with those variables moving. We stepped into 2025 with some of those variables certainly moving."

BJ's Executive VP Laura L. Felice: "Tariffs may shape the trajectory of inflation and broader consumer demand, and ultimately influence our results this year."

Home improvement executives warned of a continued frozen housing market as a result of economic uncertainty.

Home Depot CFO Richard McPhail: "Housing turnover has remained at historical lows since 2023, which has significantly reduced demand for projects and other purchases associated with buying and selling a home. Our customers also tell us, they have concerns over general economic uncertainty, including inflation, growing job concerns, and higher financing costs."

Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison: "Consumer confidence remains subdued given inflationary pressures and overall economic uncertainty… a persistent lock-in effect remains in place keeping housing turnover and new home starts under pressure, leading us to expect improvement in both the housing and home improvement markets to be gradual."